Murder accused uses anti-Semitism in his legal battle

MOIRA SCHNEIDER

In the Western Cape High Court last Wednesday, the accused was being cross-examined about whether he was fit to stand trial and could appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions. The state was asking about a report, completed by three psychiatrists and a psychologist at Valkenberg Hospital, prior to the trial starting.

Novella started to claim that the report was not accurate, said Judith Cohen.

Cohen, a human rights lawyer, has taken up the family’s cause. She attends most of the court hearings and is helping to co-ordinate a support group, Justice4Gaby, to ensure a presence at court.

According to Cohen, the accused said the contents of the report were not objective. “When he was asked why forensic psychiatrist Professor Sean Kaliski [who was called by the state to testify on his observations of the accused when he was at Valkenberg], was not objective, the accused reportedly said: ‘Professor Kaliski’s religion is Jewish and Gabriela’s family is also Jewish, so at a certain point when he was giving his declaration, he gave you a thumbs up, Public Prosecutor’.

“He then said: ‘Because of that, because he is Jewish, as Gabriela’s family, he didn’t give a 100% objective declaration, M’Lord. . Even during meals, lunch recess, they went out together to have lunch,’” according to the court transcript.

“There is absolutely no truth in that statement,” Cohen stresses. “The court then asked the accused how he knew Professor Kaliski was Jewish and he said: ‘Because of his name, M’Lord.’

“It then came out that his lawyer, William Booth, had mentioned to him that Professor Kaliski was speaking with the parents outside court,” says Cohen.

In his exchange on the matter with Judge Vincent Saldanha, Novella later said: “I am not against the Jewish religion in any way. I also have Jewish ancestors.”

Says Cohen: “It’s interesting that this has come up once again because it’s one of the oldest forms of anti-Semitism. If you need a scapegoat, when you run out of everything else, bring up the Jewish issue.

“For the parents to sit there and be insulted based on the fact that they are Jewish and that there is this conspiracy amongst Jews against him… He keeps referring to a conspiracy against him that he is found guilty.

“He must be aware from media reports that those of us who sit in the gallery come from the Jewish community and that the parents are receiving support from the Jewish community,” she adds.

“The accused is now in another way insulting the family after having caused them so much harm, particularly in relation to the extremely brutal manner in which he killed her.”

When state prosecutor Mornay Julius asked him on Wednesday who had killed Gabriela, an only child, the accused had reportedly said: “It was my hands but not my mind.”

An exhausted sounding Howdy Kabrins, Gabriela’s father, said: “There never was such a lunch; that’s misinformation,” in response to the accused’s apparent reference to Kaliski having lunch with the parents. “The accused made the assumption that the tribe of Jews was talking, therefore how could the psychiatrist be objective?

“It had anti-Semitic overtones and undertones. I’ve never experienced that in this kind of setting – it was completely shocking.”

On this score, Kabrins recalls going through the accused’s home in Guatemala when he went to collect his late daughter’s possessions. “We found anti-Semitic literature, pamphlets. I don’t know if we kept those or not, but the FBI was with us when we found them,” he recalls. “They saw it.”

On the accused’s alleged assertions, Kabrins says that he “has been trying to discredit all the information these past several days because he has no defence”.

That same day in court, Novella had addressed himself to Gabriela’s mother, Doris Weitz, telling her that he understands how she must feel. He added that he wanted to acknowledge Gabriela’s grandparents and named them.

“He then turned to me and mentioned my mother, Rose Kabrins, and my father, Reuben Kabrins,” said Kabrins.

“When he started talking to the two of us, Doris and I, we both got up and walked out of the courtroom – we’re not interested in his coming to Jesus or whatever else he’s trying to do.

“There’s nothing he can possibly say – nothing.”

“I think [Novella] said that because Professor Kaliski is Jewish and the deceased’s family, or some of them, are Jewish, he felt that his evidence might support their contention that he murdered Gabriela,” Booth says of his client’s outburst.

“He did say that he’s not anti-Semitic; he says he’s got nothing against Jewish people,” he adds. “He’s not saying that he feels that because somebody’s Jewish, they can’t be objective. I certainly would be the last person to even support any argument along those lines.”

Moreover, he states, the defence has engaged psychiatrist Professor Tuviah Zabow, who is Jewish, as an expert witness.

“Whether or not Kaliski is objective is something I will have to argue after considering all the evidence. Certainly, it’s not going to be argued that because he’s Jewish, he’s not objective – I will never argue that.

“I will argue on his evidence and cross-examination, on contradictions and probabilities and all the facts that I must look at as a lawyer to determine whether somebody is or isn’t telling the truth. I would not argue that because somebody is of a particular religious group, that that per se equals bias or prejudice.”

Says Cohen: “The case has been going extremely slowly, with numerous delays – from witnesses being ill to the defence attorney being ill to witnesses not available. There has been a lot of stop-start in the past few weeks and this has been exceptionally stressful for the parents of the deceased.

“For them it feels like torture going to court every day.”