Dewani's sexuality inadmissible as evidence: judge

The judge in the trial of Indian-origin British businessman accused of killing his wife on their honeymoon today ruled that e-mails between him and an unnamed third party relating to his conflicting sexuality were inadmissible as evidence.
The state had raised the issue to highlight the fact that Shrien Dewani, who admitted at the start of the trial that he was bisexual, could have had a motive for hiring three people to kill his wife Anni while they were on honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010.
But Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Jeannette Traverso ruled that it was irrelevant and inadmissible, saying that "Dewani's conflicting sexuality was not in dispute".

Dewani, 34, is standing trial in the Western Cape High Court and is accused of being the mastermind who hired the three men to kill his 28-year-old Indo-Swedish wife in a staged carjacking.
Dewani fought four-year long lengthy battle to avoid extradition from his native Britain to stand trial, but was eventually brought to Cape Town earlier this year.
He also underwent psychiatric observation before being declared fit to stand trial.

Other witnesses included Mark Roberts, a cybercrime officer from the UK, who gave expert evidence about a laptop used by both Anni and Shrien.
He highlighted that there were accounts for both the Dewanis on the laptop, which was frequently used to access gay sites.

Warrant officer George Leon Stefanus was also grilled about his interaction with Dewani on the night of the murder as he recorded his statement in Dewani's room at the prestigious Cape Grace hotel.
Stefanus said there were several emotional outbursts by Dewani during this process.
The court also heard from Maria Moretti, the owner of Golden Clutch, a business in the city buying foreign currency, that arrangements had been made to secure 10,000 Rands for Dewani.
In earlier evidence, convicted killer Mziwamadoda Qwabe testified that a pouch with 10,000 Rands had been found in the vehicle in which Anni Dewani was killed in what was to have looked like a botched hijacking.

He said Dewani had promised to pay 15,000 to kill Anni.
The trial which started last week has been adjourned until October 20 because a member of the prosecution team had contracted chickenpox.