Reagan Cheslin Collis, Jamal Meyer and Elvino Levert Crafford face four counts of murder following the fatal shooting of two police officers and two women in Reiger Park.
Image: Simon Majadibodu/IOL
The lawyer representing three men arrested in connection with the killing of two police officers and two women in Reiger Park has urged the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court to play CCTV footage that he says could support his clients’ alibi defences.
Attorney Samkele Kuzani made the application during formal bail proceedings for Reagan Cheslin Collis, 23, Jamal Meyer, 24, and Elvino Levert Crafford, 27.
The three appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court this week, facing charges arising from the shootings on August 7 in Reiger Park which claimed the lives of Anti-Gang Unit officers Constables Thapelo Tlomatsana, 29, and Sphiwe Sibeko, 28, as well as civilians Roleen Lessing and Jaydin Margerman.
Police have said the officers were conducting crime-prevention patrols in the area when they heard the gunshots which killed the women. They drove towards the source of the gunfire and were allegedly ambushed.
Kuzani told the court that the footage was important to establish where the three men were at the time of the shooting.
He asked the magistrate to allow the footage to be played in court, saying it would show that Collis was at home when the shooting occurred and that Meyer and Crafford were not at the scene.
“Your Worship, for the purposes of justice, I find it to be very prudent that those videos be played in court,” Kuzani said.
He said the footage would play a critical role in determining what happened on August 7.
“My main concern, Your Worship, is that only alleging on the affidavit that there is video footage and it is not played, it does not put my clients in a position which will be legally good, so to speak,” he said.
State prosecutor Matthews Rampyapedi said the State was not disputing that some of the accused had alibis for the night of the shooting.
However, he questioned whether the footage would assist all three men.
Rampyapedi said the footage provided to the State was limited and appeared to show only the inside of a yard at a particular time.
“It does not show what happened entirely on the street,” he said, adding that the footage did not show the entire incident and that, if it was the footage referred to by the defence, it had limited evidential value.
Regarding Crafford, Rampyapedi said: “We don't deny that he has got an alibi for the seventh. We are not disputing that.”
CCTV footage that the defence says could challenge the State’s case against three men accused of killing two police officers and two women in Reiger Park is at the centre of their formal bail proceedings.
Image: IOL Graphics / ANA Studios
Kuzani maintained that all three men had alibis and that the CCTV footage could assist the court in assessing their versions.
According Collis' affidavit read in court, Meyer was not at the scene when the shooting happened and only arrived later. Meyer gave a similar account, saying he was not there during the shooting but arrived later.
Crafford, meanwhile, said he was never at the scene.
Kuzani argued that the footage should therefore be viewed by the court rather than assessed solely on the basis of descriptions contained in the affidavits.
He argued that the footage could assist the court even on matters the State was not disputing.
“Let's have it played. Let's have the court making a decision.” Kuzani said refusing to play footage that could potentially support the men's versions would be unfair.
The magistrate subsequently granted the application for the CCTV footage to be played in court.
In his affidavit, Collis alleged that police officers tortured him for more than three hours in an attempt to force him to confess to the killings.
He said officers placed a plastic bag over his head while he was lying on his stomach and tightly handcuffed.
“They put plastic over my head, said I must confess to the crime. This happened for more than three hours,” he said.
Collis alleged that officers recorded the incident on video.
“I was sure I was dying from this torture.”
He said he eventually told police he had killed the two officers and two women and implicated Meyer, but later retracted the confession.
Collis said the confession was false and had been made because of the alleged torture.
“This is definitely not true,” he said.
The allegations of torture have not been established in court.
Collis told the court he was at home with friends when the shooting happened.
They were eating and sitting outside the house but within the property, he said.
CCTV footage from the property would support his alibi.
“I have a defence of alibi and this makes the State's case very weak against me.”
He intended to rely on three video recordings showing that he was at home at the time of the incident.
Collis described himself in one of the recordings as wearing a white hat, maroon jersey and brown shoes.
He also said he went outside after the shooting and attempted to assist the occupants of a Volkswagen Polo Vivo.
“The motor vehicle in which the two women were driving was rolling. I had to assist them. In all honesty, I had not shot them. In all honesty, if I had shot them, I would not see the need to help them,” he said.
Collis said more than four witnesses could support his version of events.
He denied possessing a firearm or any other dangerous weapon and said no firearm used in the killings had been found in his possession.
“It would be very stupid of me to kill the police officers right in front of where I stay, knowing very well that there are cameras,” he said.
Collis told the court that he lives with his mother, grandmother and siblings. He is unemployed, has a five-month-old child and left school after Grade 9.
He said he intended to plead not guilty to the charges.
Collis said he had no previous convictions but had several criminal matters pending against him, including a murder case in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court, two counts of attempted murder in the Boksburg Regional Court and two counts of robbery in the same court.
He said the matters were at trial stage and that he had been released on bail in each of them. Some charges, he said, had also been withdrawn by the State.
Collis said he had complied with his bail conditions and had never attempted to evade his trials.
He argued that he should be granted bail because he posed no danger to the public, would not interfere with witnesses or evidence, and had a valid residential address.
According to the source, Collis was inside his grandmother's house when the shooting occurred.
The footage allegedly shows another man, wearing a dark hoodie and red tracksuit trousers, shooting the two women before fleeing in a silver-grey Volkswagen Polo.
The source further claimed that Collis was later seen confronting the alleged gunman and saying: “I saw you.”
IOL has seen the footage.
The source also said that Collis and his associates had a longstanding rivalry with a gang known as the Sour Boys, and had received threats from the group just hours before the shooting.
It is alleged that the attack may have been intended to target Collis and his associates.
These allegations have not been tested in court.
Reagan Cheslin Collis, 23, is accused of killing two Gauteng Anti-Gang Unit officers in Reiger Park.
Image: Timothy Bernard/ANA Studio
Kuzani also read the affidavits of Meyer and Crafford, who both denied involvement in the killings.
Meyer said he was at home when the shooting occurred and only went to the scene afterwards.
Crafford similarly said he was at home at the time of the shooting and was never at the scene.
The two men face the same charges as Collis under the doctrine of common purpose, with the State alleging that all three participated in the crimes.
Collis, Meyer and Crafford said they could each afford R2,000 bail.
The presiding officer postponed the bail applications to September 8.
The CCTV footage is expected to be played in court on that date, when the formal bail proceedings will continue.
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