Oscar Pistorius Trial: The Bulldog Lets Up, A New Witness takes the Stand


By Oliver Ngwenya    16-Apr-2014 01:05 UTC+02:00
Photo: Time

Photo: Time

The dog seems to have finally gotten tired of the bone and seems to be letting it go. This is what appeared in the case of Oscar Pistorius who is standing trial for the murder of his former girlfriend in Pretoria on Tuesday. Gerrie Nel, the bulldog finally let his interrogation drop and allowed Oscar to step off the witness stand.

What images during the trial is that while the prosecutor attempted to show that Oscar was using his emotional vulnerability to avoid answering the prosecution’s questions, Oscar was more prepared for him and seemed more composed and was consequently more able to answer these questions. The big question was that he had an intention of shooting the gun on that fateful morning and that he knew exactly who was behind the door because Reeva was actually in conversation with the accused. This, according to Nel, was augmented by the evidence of the forensic evidence that, when she was shot, Reeva had been facing the door. Bulldog Gerrie focussed on the fact that the screams that the neighbors heard were from Reeva and not from Oscar as he was trying to lead the country to believe. Oscar was able to keep his composure and stood his ground, insisting that he was the source of the screams. When quizzed by the prosecutor why he had screamed while he was still looking for Reeva and not when he had found her body, Oscar replied matter of factly that he had not seen any reason to scream then.

When Nel suggested that Oscar had shifted his aim to ensure that he shot Reeva after he fell onto the magazine rack, Oscar shot back that she had not fallen onto the magazine rack and that the police had moved equipment around in order to further their theory of the events on that fateful day. This followed a point in which Oscar seemed to have come out the better where Nel was accusing Oscar of deliberately firing his gun knowing that he was shooting at his girlfriend. Oscar’s response was that he had not thought at all but that the gun had gone off of its own accord. To this the notorious prosecutor noted that the defendant was changing his earlier statement of shooting to protect himself and his girlfriend to shooting involuntarily.

After Oscar stepped down, Barry Roux called Roger Dixon, a former police forensic expert who told the court that he had conducted sound and vision tests which had put to nought the evidence provided by Pistorius’ neighbors. In addition, while he agreed that the marks on Reeva were consistent with her falling onto a wreck, he also added weight to the defence’s contention that the police had moved things around the house.

The state requested the court adjourn to May the fifth and Judge Masipa would rule on that on Wednesday.


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