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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
15 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
3.9 |
Year Crime: |
2009 |
Year Convicted: |
2013 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
South Africa |
County or Region of Crime: |
Western Cape |
City of Crime: |
Cape Town |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Thandi Sheryl Maqubela was wrongly convicted on November 7, 2013 of murder in the death of her husband, Patrick Maqubela, in his apartment in the Bantry Bay area of Cape Town, South Africa. Patrick was a judge, and his decomposed body was found in his apartment on June 5, 2009. Thandi Maqubela and Vela Mabena, a chaplain with the South African National Defense Force, were arrested on March 25, 2010, and charged with Patrick's murder. The prosecution of Maqubela and Mabena was based on the prosecution's narrative they collaborated in suffocating her husband. Their defense was Patrick died by natural causes. Professor Saayman, a special pathologist testified that it couldn't be determined to a scientific certainty whether Patrick died from natural causes or suffocation, but he further testified that the probable inference to be drawn from the medical evidence was that "there was a substantially greater likelihood" that the pathology in Patrick's heart "could have caused his death" and that "the probabilities are that his heart killed him." Prof. Saayman testified: "I come to the conclusion that a doctor or a pathologist should first and foremost consider, from a probability perspective, natural causes as being the cause of death in this particular case." The trial Court found the medical evidence about Patrick's cause of death was inconclusive to a scientific certainty, even though the Court acknowledged that comprehensive medical evidence about Patrick's post-mortem condition did not exclude the reasonable inference of sudden death by reason of cardio-pathology (ie, a natural death). However, because it was deemed Maqubela had demonstrated mendacity, she had by an unknown and medically undetectable means caused her husband's death. Maqubela, who had been released on bail pending the outcome of her trial, was taken into custody after the verdict in the Western Cape High Court. Her codefendant, Mabena, was acquitted of murder and released. On November 20 she was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her murder conviction. Maqubela appealed. On September 29, 2017 the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa set-aside Maqubela's conviction and ordered that she be found not guilty on the basis the prosecution failed to introduce sufficient evidence to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court ruled the trial court erred by applying the scientific standard of scientific certainty in determining Patrick's cause of death was inclusive, instead of applying the judicial standard of the assessment of probability. The trial evidence established that by the probability standard Patrick died from natural causes, and therefore there was no murder. The court also ruled that the trial court erred by relying on evidence of Maqubela's 'consciousness of guilt,' because in the absence of any other evidence, it could not pove an unlawful killing beyond a reasonable doubt. With her acquittal, Maqubela was released after serving 3 years and 11 months in custody. Maqubela had also been convicted of forgery of a document purporting to be her husband's will, and fraud upon her husband's estate for relying on the forged will. She was sentenced to concurrent 3 year prison terms for those two convictions, to be served consecutive to her 15 year sentence for murder. Maqubela did not appeal those convictions, which were the basis for the trial court to find that she had a "consciousness of guilt' and had acted mendaciously." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On September 29, 2017 the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa set-aside Maqubela's conviction and ordered that she be found not guilty on the basis the prosecution failed to introduce sufficient evidence to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court ruled the trial court erred by applying the scientific standard of scientific certainty in determining Patrick's cause of death was inclusive, instead of applying the judicial standard of the assessment of probability. The trial evidence established that by the probability standard Patrick died from natural causes, and therefore there was no murder. The court also ruled that the trial court erred by relying on evidence of Maqubela's 'consciousness of guilt,' because in the absence of any other evidence, it could not pove an unlawful killing beyond a reasonable doubt." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
58 |
Age When Released: |
62 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Maqubela v The State (821/2015) [2017] ZASCA 137 (South Africa Supreme Court of Appeal, 9-29-2017) (Reversing conviction based on new medical evidence her husband died of natural causes.)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.justice.gov.za/sca/judgments/sca_2017/sca2017-137ms.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
"Thandi Maqubela spends first night in jail, By SABC, SABC.co.za, November 8, 2013" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/99fab80041bf94bbb182f3270c4cf1a0/Thandi-Maqubela-spends-first-night-in-jail-20131108 |
Information Source 3: |
"SCA overturns Thandi Maqubela’s conviction, SABC.co.za, September 29, 2017" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/4ced578042ca146f801eb041e1ca7689/SCA-overturns-Thandi-Maqubelas-conviction |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org