Windhoek High Court Judge Claudia Claasen yesterday ruled that certain admissions a Khorixas resident made are inadmissible.
Barnabas Nawaseb is accused of killing his common-law wife and mother of his two children with a pickaxe.
This means the alleged admissions the accused made to the police shortly after his arrest may not be used in the trial as evidence.
While Judge Claasen did not provide the reasons for her decision, and only read out the order, it is clear that she agreed with the defence that the admissions were made before the accused was advised of his Miranda rights.
These include the right not to incriminate himself or that he is not obliged to say anything, and that anything he said would be used as evidence against him in court.
After State Advocate Basson Lilungwe wanted to introduce the admissions as evidence, Legal Aid lawyer Petrus Grushaber, who appears on behalf of Nawaseb, objected to the admissibility of the admissions.
He informed the judge that the admissions were made without his client being informed of his legal rights. This led to a mini trial to either prove or disprove that the admissions were obtained lawfully.
After Judge Claasen made her ruling, the trial was postponed to 2-6 December for continuation.
Nawaseb remains in custody at the Section for Trial awaiting inmates at the Windhoek Correctional Facility.
He is charged with one count of breaking and entering with intent to murder and murder for allegedly breaking into the residence of his former girlfriend, Metihisia Tanises, and bludgeoning her to death with a pick-axe handle after she ended their relationship. He claimed self-defence, and said he only hit her with the pickaxe to stop her from grabbing his privates.
He submitted a plea explanation to the court in which he admitted beating the deceased with the back of the pickaxe, but denied intention to kill her.
While the State alleges that Barnabas broke into the house of the deceased, and intentionally killed her because she ended their relationship, he claims she assaulted him by grabbing his testicles, and he hit her to force her to let go of his private parts.
