Judge grants 2-week break in Pistorius trial Oscar Pistorius
Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius

The judge in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial has ruled that proceedings will adjourn for two weeks and resume on May 5 following a request from the prosecution.
Yesterday, chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel requested a two-week adjournment citing prior commitments and Easter holidays. The athlete’s defence did not object to his request.
Granting his application, Judge Thokozile Masipa said the trial, which started on 3 March and was estimated to run for three weeks, has made considerable progress and both legal teams have made themselves available “way beyond the time that was initially estimated”.

Judge Masipa told the court she considered the consequences for Pistorius, before adding “the postponement is only for seven working days” and “that can hardly cause the accused any prejudice, especially since he is out on bail”.

Pistorius was released on bail of one million rand (£73,000) in February last year.
Judge Masipa urged counsel to continue working on their cases through the holidays ahead of their closing arguments, noting the record runs over 2,000 pages, much of which is “technical” evidence from expert witnesses.

Defence counsel Barry Roux told Pretoria’s High Court he will call between 14 and 17 witnesses, and expects to finish presenting evidence by                                             mid-May.

Pistorius is accused of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp following a domestic dispute in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year. He claims he shot and killed his girlfriend in a case of mistaken identity, thinking she was an intruder.

The case continues.
Meanwhile, Pistorius did himself more harm than good when he took the witness stand, lawyers said.

Throughout five gruelling days on the witness stand, the Paralympic gold medallist contradicted himself, a nail in the coffin for his defence, said lawyers watching the case.

Criminal lawyer William Booth said Pistorius made textbook mistakes in the witness stand, adding that he was evasive, did not answer questions, and was argumentative.

During his cross-examination Pistorius changed his testimony to say he fired the shots at the door accidentally.  “He suddenly went on his own, he now got angry with Nel and he now is going to take him on,” said Booth. “I think it’s a desperate man.”

Speaking from Cape Town, Booth said: “His lawyer tried in re-examination very briefly to resurrect things, but I think he was probably sensible to leave alone.
“The more questions you ask somebody like Oscar, it could actually get worse,” he said.

Booth said: “I think in retrospect they’re probably regretting calling him as a witness . . . but the point is that he had to testify in his defence – he was the only witness to the incident.”

Initially, Pistorius had said he believed he was under attack by an intruder when he fired four shots at the toilet door. That strategy sought protection for the use of deadly force under the principle of self-defence.

But in his cross-examination, the 27-year-old athlete changed his testimony to say he fired the shots at the door accidentally.
An accident is an entirely different defence, suggesting involuntariness.

Pistorius has also suggested he was not thinking rationally when he fired his 9mm pistol at a toilet door behind which was his girlfriend, Steenkamp. He said he “didn’t have time to think”.

His testimony went downhill the moment he took the stand, said Martin Hood, a Johannesburg-based criminal lawyer. “He went into a dangerous situation with his firearm, safety disengaged, and he proceeded down the passage in what he described as a tactical manner,” said Hood. “So all of his decisions were conscious, intentional decisions.”

Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to intentionally killing Steenkamp, as well as to three other charges related to the reckless discharge of a firearm in a separate incident and the unlawful possession of ammunition. — AFP

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