Pistorius Defense to Call Pathologist as Murder Trial Resumes
Oscar Pistorius’s lawyers plan to call a forensics expert as their opening defense witness before the Paralympic gold medalist testifies in his murder trial.
Jan Botha, a pathologist, may be the first to testify as the defense starts its case today because he has “personal difficulties,” Brian Webber, a lawyer on Pistorius’s legal team at Ramsey Webber Inc. in Johannesburg, said April 4 by e-mail. “The court or the state may not accept our request.”
South Africa’s Criminal Procedure Act requires that the defendant who chooses to take the stand must do so at the beginning of the defense’s case unless the court finds a compelling reason not to, Marius du Toit, a criminal defense lawyer in Pretoria, said in a March 26 e-mail.
Pistorius’s trial for the murder of model Reeva Steenkamp is resuming at the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, after Judge Thokozile Masipa declared a postponement on March 28 because one of her assessors fell ill. Double-amputee Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day last year, and three gun-related charges. He says he thought she was an intruder when he shot her through a locked toilet cubicle door in his bathroom.
Masipa will give a final judgment, with help from the assessors, because South Africa doesn’t have a jury system. The trial, which is being broadcast live on radio and TV, started on March 3. Known as the Blade Runner because of his J-shaped prosthetic running blades, Pistorius has been free on 1 million rand ($94,000) bail since February last year.
Weapons Obsessed
The state rested its case on March 25 after prosecutor Gerrie Nel sought to portray Pistorius as obsessed and reckless with weapons and having a quick temper. Witnesses testified how he shot through the sunroof of a car and in a Johannesburg restaurant.
The athlete ordered six firearms, including a Smith & Wesson (SWHC) 500 revolver and a semi-automatic rifle, Sean Rens, a firearms trainer, told the trial on March 17. The order was canceled about a month after he shot Steenkamp, Rens said.
Neighbors of Pistorius in the Silver Woods Country Estate gated community where he lived in Pretoria have testified that they heard a woman’s screams and gunshots shortly after 3 a.m. local time. Defense lawyer Barry Roux argued that the screams were made by Pistorius when he realized who he had shot.
Standing Position
Steenkamp was standing when the first hollow-point bullet broke her hip bone, then she fell on top of a magazine rack in the toilet, police ballistics expert Chris Mangena said in testimony on March 19. She was struck by two more bullets from Pistorius’s pistol, in the arm and the head, he said.
Mangena said that since the first bullet caused Steenkamp to fall from a standing position, it was probable that there was a delay after the initial shot before the final three were fired. The position of her arms showed Steenkamp may have been trying to shield herself after the first shot was fired, he said.
The charges have derailed the running career of the winner of six Paralympic gold medals and cost Pistorius sponsorship deals with Nike Inc. (NKE) and Luxottica Group SpA (LUX)’s Oakley.
Pistorius was the first double amputee to compete at the Olympic Games in London in 2012.
Source: bloomberg
