Shrien Dewani's admission that he was bisexual is a ploy by the Indian-origin British businessman, accused of plotting the murder of his Indo-Swedish wife, to "knock the wind out of the prosecutions' sails", according to criminal law experts here.
Dewani is facing charges in the Western Cape High Court of being the mastermind behind the killing of his wife Anni while they were on honeymoon in Cape Town four years ago in an apparent staged hijacking in which he was unharmed.
Three others charged with the murder are already serving lengthy prison sentences.
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Dewani admitted to the court when the trial started on Monday that he was bisexual.
He also admitted that he had been surfing gay websites a day after his wife was killed.
Ulrich Roux, a criminal law expert, told the Afrikaans daily Beeld that Dewani provided details about his sexual orientation and preferences at the start of the trial so that he would not have to admit or deny it later.
"He can depend on the fact that his version has been given from the start and that he played open cards with the court," Roux said.
Theo Broodryk, lecture in Procedural Law at the University of Stellenbosch, said this was a strategic decision of the defence to avoid Dewani's sexuality coming to light from the evidence of state witnesses.
"This removes the element of surprise to a certain extent, an attempt to pre-empt the state in this regard," Broodryk told the daily.
Dewani's admission also referred to having had sex with German male prostitute Leopold Leisser, who is expected to testify at the trial.
Roux said it was still uncertain whether Leisser would testify about Dewani admitting to him that he was unhappy with his wife and in his marriage.
"Without that evidence, and if the state is not going to try to prove that he was unhappily married, (Dewani's) sexual tendencies will not really be important," said Roux.
However, Broodryk said that this would be important if it was argued as a motive for the murder.
Another criminal law expert, William Booth, said it was clear that the defence wanted to counter any allegations that a broken relationship and a marriage on the rocks was the reason why Dewani would want to arrange his wife's murder.
"An accused's sexual orientation should actually have nothing to do with a criminal case. If someone has a particular sexual preference, it does not mean the person is guilty of murder," said Booth.
In an earlier affidavit to Scotland Yard, Anni's cousin and confidante told of how she had told her of her unhappy marriage and how Anni was affected when Shrien twice resisted her sexual advances.
