Rodrigues lawyer bribe claim to be probed

According to a report in The Mercury, the teenager, who said Dina Rodrigues had masterminded the murder, has told the Cape High Court that he wanted to tell the truth, but his previous advocate Charles Simon had offered to pay the cash Rodrigues had promised the accused if he did not testify. Simon had allegedly said he would arrange for Rodrigues’ attorney Tommy Vavatzanidis to find the money. Now the Cape Bar Council is taking steps to get a transcript of the evidence and it will launch an immediate investigation into the allegations against Simon. ‘We have to investigate it. These allegations are in the public domain. A witness has said it under oath,’ said Council Chairman Aston Schippers. However, he emphasised that the Cape Bar would first have to establish whether the allegations were true. Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)

The shocking testimony emerged during questioning by Caryl Verrier, the youth\'s lawyer, about why Simon closed his case without his testimony last year, says an SABC News report. The youth testified that he asked his former lawyer about the R5 000 that was owed to him and his co-accused by Rodrigues, who allegedly hired them to kill Leigh-Norton, after which Simon said he would arrange the money, if the youth did not testify. Full SABC News report