google ad

google ad

Monday, June 30, 2014

Oscar Pistorius murder trial: live - Telegraph.co.uk


09.31 Nel immediately asks why Dr Versfeld only consulted with Pistorius after Pistorius's testimony in court in May.




South African chief state prosecutor Gerrie Nel gestures as he explains a possible scenario into how Oscar Pistorius might have fired on girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (ANTOINE DE RAS/AP)


09.26 Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is now cross-examining the witness.


09.22 We have resumed once again, with Dr Versfeld concluding that Pistorius has serious difficulty standing, balancing and walking without his stumps.


His ability to turn around or flee or ward off danger is seriously impaired.


09.14 The demonstration has been concluded and the court briefly adjourns once again in order for everyone to reassemble.


09.12 Walking on his stumps causes impanted heel pads to slip, causing Pistorius "severe pain" and likely to make him fall, says Dr Versfeld.


Pistorius has in fact not been asked to balance on his stumps again, but the defence have simply shown his stumps up close to the judge and assessors.


The level of detail of the examination of Oscar Pistorius's exposed sutmps appears to be causing Judge Masipa some problems:


09.09 Unfortunately we are not allowed to show the demonstration on camera. Judge Masipa has joined the defence witness Dr Versfeld and the court assessors at the lavatory door for a close view of the demonstration.


09.04 Pistorius's lawyer Barry Roux has once again asked his client to stand at the lavatory door, still assembled in the counrtroom, on his stumps in order to show his lack of balance.




Oscar Pistorius arrives at court in Pretoria (EPA)


The court briefly adjourns to allow Pistorius time to change out of his prosthetic limbs.


08.55 The report being presented by Dr Versfeld is emphasising Pistorius's vulnerability while on his stumps - i.e. when he is not wearing his prosthetic limbs.


"I balance better in the light", Versfeld reads, quoting the words of Pistorius.


Pistorius has said the lights were all switched off in his home when he shot Reeva Steenkamp, mistaking her for an intruder.


Versfeld also adds that Pistorius baths rather than showers because he slips over so often without his prosthetics, and that he can be knocked over by hids dogs when on his stumps.


08.45 Dr Versfeld, currently giving evidence, first met Pistorius 27 years ago when he was an infant, and has remained close to the Paralympian's family ever since.


He is currently describing conversations with Pistorius in which the athlete described his standing on his stumps is painful and causes problems with his balance.


Quote I struggle to carry something when I'm on my stumps because I struggle to balance, I need my arms to balance.


I fall once or twice a week. I will go to the loo in the night on my stumps but won't go into the house.


The defence say the prosecution are wrong in their claim that Pistorius was on his stumps when he broke down the door with a bat.


Pistorius's lawyer Barry Roux earlier in the trial asked Pistorius to conduct a demonstration of swinging a cricket bat against door to prove he was on his prosthetic legs when he broke it down, rather than on his stumps as the prosecution claimed. .


08.40 To recap briefly, both sides have accepted the key findings of the panel's report, that Oscar Pistorius knew right from wrong at the time of the shooting and did not suffer from any disorder of defect that affected his ability to act accordingly.


Both retain the right to challenge factual statements from the reports and examine its authors in court, once they have had sufficient time to read and consult on its findings in more detail.


08.37 Surprisingly judge Masipa says she was only handed the report this morning and has not even looked at it yet.


With that, we are back under way, with Barry Roux calling his next witness, Dr Gerald Versfeld, the orthopedic surgeon who amputated Pistorius's legs, who does not wish to have his evidence televised.


08.35 Defence Barry Roux is asking for more time to go through the report and consult upon it, but says the findings of the report are not in dispute.


08.33 Prosecutor Gerrie Nel says the psychiatrist report has found that Oscar Pistorius did not have a mental disorder or defect that would have affected his behaviour.


This would suggest we will be able to continue with the trial this morning.


Quote Mr Pistorus did not suffer from a mental illness or defect that would have rendered him criminally not responsible for the offence charged.


[Pistorius was] capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act and acting in accordance with his appreciating of the wrongfulness of his act.


If the court will allow us as far as the findings are concerned, I think we both accept the findings of this panel... there may be submissions in this regard later... but for now to enable the court to proceed, it is accepted by the state, the findings...


08.32 We are under way - prosecutor Gerrie Nel is up first, confirming that the panel appointed by the court to assess Pistorius's mental health has provided the necessary reports - one from the three psychiatrists, another from the panel psychologist.


08.28 Ominous signs from the courtroom for the defence team, according to the Telegraph's Aislinn Laing:


However, prosecutor Gerrie Nel seems rather more relaxed - could this be inidicative of the mental evaluation update we are about to hear about?


08.23 Pistorius has taken his seat in the dock, with his family lined up behind him, as we prepare to resume.


While we wait, eNCA has published a touching look at Sheila Pistorius, Oscar Pistorius's mother , based on an interview with close family friend Gillian Silcock


Quote She was just a normal mom who loved her kids, fought for them, fought medical aids, got Oscar prosthesis, grew with him.


One day she was looking out of the kitchen window and Carl was playing around and Aimee was toddling around and Oscar was stomping around in the dog’s bowl.


She shouted out of the window, 'Oscar get out of the dog’s bowl! You’re wetting your feet!' And then she realised that he didn’t feel that, and she just said, 'carry on in the dog’s bowl Oscar.'


08.17 Oscar Pistorius has arrived at the Pretoria courtroom, flanked as usual by a scrum of press photographers




@alexhart7


08.14 The families are now arriving in court ahead of this morning's proceedings:


08.10 The judge and both legal teams have already been handed the report, and will have spent the weekend assessing its contents.


It is currently unclear how much detail of the report will be read out in court this morning.


08.00 The Pretoria courtroom will resume at 08.30am this morning with the psychiatric report being handed in before - assuming no new issues are raised by its authors - the defence will continue its case.


07.30 Professor Stephen Tucson, a South African criminal barrister, explains why the outcome of Oscar Pistorius's mental evaluation expected this morning could have major implications for the outcome of his trial:


Quote The evaluation has two aims, to determine if the accused is fit to stand trial, and at the time he pulled the trigger, what his criminal capacity was.


The psychiatrists will find whether he had the disorder and whether that diminished his capacity for criminal responsibility.


If they find that it did, that’s a highly mitigating feature. It’s not exculpatory, he would not be acquitted but he would not be judged so harshly.


Culpable homicide might come into play because if the judge believes his version, that he did not intend to kill Steenkamp but an intruder, she might allow for his diminished capacity to play a part. Culpable homicide comes with no mandatory sentence so he could escape prison altogether.


07.15 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius.


The trial is expected to resume with the defence case's remaining witnesses today after a month-long study of the athlete's mental health is understood to have been completed and a report submitted.


Here's Aislinn Laing, our southern Africa correspondent, on what to expect today:


The trial was suspended last month after more than six weeks of evidence when Mr Pistorius was ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric evaluation at the Weskoppies psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Pretoria.


The probe of his mental health was ordered after a psychiatrist called by his defence team said he had a Generalised Anxiety Disorder which might have affected his behaviour on the night of the shooting.


Three psychiatrists and one psychologist have observed the 27-year-old undertake ordinary tasks at Weskoppies over the past month as well as interviewing him and his family and friends about his upbringing and life as a high-level sportsman.


They have submitted a report of their findings to lawyers for the defence and the prosecution, and on Monday it will be presented to the court.


They can either confirm the diagnosis of GAD, diagnose Mr Pistorius with a different or additional condition, or dismiss any illness altogether.


If the panel that evaluated him have disagreed in their findings, they could be called to give evidence. However, it is understood that they are unanimous in their finding, and Mr Pistorius' defence team is planning to resume its case.


Among witnesses expected to be called are another psychologist who examined the athlete, and potentially friends of the couple.



No comments:

Post a Comment

googlead