David Ashley Price v The State

The applicant, David Ashley Price, was convicted in the South Eastern Cape High Court on two counts of fraud. He sought leave to appeal against his conviction, but both the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal refused leave. He then applied to the Constitutional Court for special leave to appeal. The constitutional issue raised concerned the trial judge’s treatment of the applicant’s evidence that his failure to provide certain information to the police was an exercise of his constitutional right to remain silent under section 35(1)(a) of the Constitution. The trial judge rejected this explanation and treated the applicant’s silence as unacceptable in the circumstances.

Special leave to appeal was refused.

The case illustrates the Constitutional Court’s approach to applications for special leave to appeal in criminal matters, particularly where an alleged constitutional infringement would not affect the outcome of the conviction. It confirms that the Court will not decide constitutional questions in the abstract where no practical benefit would result for the applicant.