Accused in North West fatal beating to face re-trial after hung jury

Morris Roberts, on trial for beating another man to death at Wanakai, North West District, will have to be retried after a jury yesterday failed to reach consensus on whether he is guilty or not of the crime.

Roberts was remanded back to prison by Justice Navindra Singh, who presided over the trial at the High Court.
Roberts, called ‘Moses,’ was on trial for killing Martin Daniels on August 16, 2009, at Wanakai, North West District.
Counsel for the state Tishana Lake, who appeared in association with Natasha Backer, argued that Daniels was hit with a piece of Wood by Morris in the wee hours of the morning, which caused him to die.

However, after spending hours deliberating on the evidence in the case, the 12 member jury panel could not return with a unanimous verdict.

The jurors had even returned to the courtroom at one point in their deliberation for further direction from the judge but this still did not assist them in arriving at a unanimous decision.
Attorney Kevon Bess represented Roberts.