An accused in the disappearance of Joshlin Smith was subjected to intense cross-examination on Tuesday over specific details included in his confession to police.
Jacquen Appollis, accused number one, alleges that he was tortured by police and then instructed on what to say in his statement. He claims detectives told him to implicate himself, co-accused Stevano van Rhyn, Joshlin’s mother Kelly Smith, and a woman known as “Maka Lima” from Middelpos.
Appollis, Van Rhyn, and Smith are on trial in connection with Joshlin’s disappearance.
Judge Nathan Erasmus questioned why Appollis included certain descriptive elements in his statement if it was supposedly dictated by police. “Why did you find it necessary to add all those details on the fly?” the judge asked.
Appollis’s defence responded, “I had to make it sound like a story, my lord.”
State prosecutor Aradanha Heeramun argued that the additional details made the confession appear credible, suggesting they could be grounded in truth.
The court is currently deliberating on whether the confession can be admitted as evidence in the trial.
