Cape Town - The man dubbed The Camps Bay killer has been granted leave to appeal his conviction and sentence for the murder of his American girlfriend, Gabriela Kabrins Alban, and his legal team said he was pleased with the news.
According to court papers submitted by Diego Novella’s legal team via his appeal petition, he said the sentence was too harsh and that his cognitive ability was impaired by the intake of certain substances.
Novella’s lawyer, William Booth, told Weekend Argus Novella’s appeal would be going ahead: “The Heads of Argument will be submitted next. Thereafter, a date set down for the Hearing of the Appeal will be allocated by the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
“I have consulted with my client, and he is extremely happy with the outcome, as we felt that the conviction and the sentence was wrong. Hence the reason why we have appealed.”
He argues via his appeal petition that he should have been granted a lesser sentence than 15 years due to his personal circumstances, and that there was sufficient mitigating factors.
During the trial, Novella pleaded not guilty to the murder.
He further contends that he did not intend to kill Alban but that he was in an abnormal mental state as a result of hallucinogenic substances, which had affected his ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
He explained that he had been in a lengthy relationship with Alban since 2013, and that she moved to live with him in 2014 from Guatemala and that they had been in South Africa in 2015 to seek medical treatment for her illness known as Lyme disease.
He conceded he was arrested in July 2015 in Cape Town, the same day when Alban’s body was discovered by hotel staff in Camps Bay.
Novella, who is imprisoned at Brandvlei Prison in Worcester, said it was always his intention to appeal his sentence from the time he was convicted.
“This is clear from the fact I instructed my legal practitioners to apply for leave to appeal in the Western Cape High Court on September 6 2018,” he stated.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Novella said this application was delayed.
He further claims the State did not have enough toxicology reports available to provide an accurate assessment of his intoxication prior and after the murder.
He also states that blood was not taken from him for proper testing of his intoxication.
“I submit that in the regard, the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that both my cognitive and cognitive mental facilities were fully functional at the time of the said offence.
Novella also added extracts from psychiatrist Sean Kaliski, who indicated his “controls were not what they were normally.”
Alban’s murder rocked Cape Town after she had been found with a hair iron between her legs, which was close to her private parts, and there was faeces on her body.
During the sentencing, the court heard Novella had expressed no remorse and portrayed himself as the victim, and blamed his conduct as a result of drug consumption.
The news of the leave to appeal his conviction and sentences came just a week after DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Social Development Dan Plato revealed that, via their annual report of 2022/ 2023, the total number of GBV victims accessing psychological support services were 24 388.
Plato said the number significantly higher than the target of 18 525.
“The decrease of violence and trauma against women, children and LGBTQIA+ persons remain a challenge for our whole society to grapple with, and one which the Western Cape Government takes extremely seriously,” he said.