Post date: Mar 12, 2014 4:25:11 PM
A forensic expert tells South Africa's High Court that Oscar Pistorius wasn't wearing his prosthetic legs when he used a cricket bat to break door the toilet door after he fatally shot his model-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The athlete's defence team argues police contaminated the crime scene.
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (MARCH 12, 2014) (CARTE BLANCHE POOL) - Oscar Pistorius was on his stumps when he smashed down a locked toilet door to reach his shot girlfriend, a South African police forensic expert said on Wednesday (March 11), countering the Paralympic star's claim he was wearing his prosthetic legs at the time.
Wielding the cricket bat in his hands, police colonel Johannes Vermeulen knelt down before swinging it at the wooden door in a court reconstruction to show the angle of the marks and to suggest they could only have been made by someone much shorter than him.The 27-year-old double amputee is charged with the murder of model and law graduateReeva Steenkamp, after he shot her through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day last year.
Prosecutors want to prove that it was a premeditated killing, but Pistorius says he was defending himself from what he thought was an intruder who had broken into his gated-community home in the capital of the crime-ridden country.
At his bail hearing last year, Pistorius justified shooting because of the extreme vulnerability he felt because of his disability.
However, in his affidavit he stated that he had put on his prostheses before smashing down the door.
Vermeulen disagreed.
"The marks on the door are actually consistent with him not having his legs on and I suspect they must be similar to the height that he was when he fired the shots," he told the court.
Defence lawyer Barry Roux countered by suggesting that even with his legs on, Pistorius would not be swinging a bat at the same height as an able-bodied person.
Roux also heaped scorn on the state's evidence, again accusing police of shoddy detective work, after Vermeulen testified that police reassembled the broken door with a temporary adhesive.
"The door was brought up from the bathroom in a body bag. The panels were loose," the police colonel testified, adding he received both the door and the cricket bat in materially different condition from how they were found at the scene.
Vermeulen also said he did know where the door had been kept immediately after it was removed from Pistorius' house.
Roux said the door was marred by "serious marks" while with forensics.
"So we see police shoe prints, looks like it, consistent with," he asked Vermeulen.
"Yeah," the witness replied.
"How did that come about?" asked Roux.
"I don't know. I would not be able to say how that shoe prints came," said Vermeulen.
Roux continued, "And did you see the shoe prints?"
"No I did not see. There were faint marks on the door on top at one stage but not as clear as these ones," Vermeulen replied.
"How did they disappear?" Roux quizzed.
"I don't know," replied the witness.
Pistorius' lower limbs were amputated as a baby but he overcame the disability to become the "fastest man on no legs", winning gold medals at both the Beijing andLondon Paralympics.
Close-up photographs of the damaged door were shown in court, as well as scuffs on the autographed cricket bat, prompting a Tweet from former South African test cricketerHerschelle Gibbs: "Just saw my signature on the bat used by the accused in Oscar trial...lol".
Pistorius's defence is looking to sow doubt about the quality of the police work in the case, particularly around its handling of evidence.
At last year's bail hearing, Roux dismantled the lead detective on the case, Hilton Botha, accusing him of contaminating the crime scene.
Botha, who backtracked on details such as the distance of witnesses from Pistorius' home, was later pulled off the case when it emerged he was facing seven attempted murder charges for opening fire on a minibus full of passengers.
Crowds outside the Pretoria court had mixed reactions to the evidence that has so far been presented to the court.
"Oh the guy is guilty. Like, he's guilty. Cause he committed murder. According to the constitution Chapter 2 of the constitution it states that everyone has the right to live, yes," said Pretoria resident Laurence Manu.
Another onlooker, Sanele Modisele said, "The reason why I came here is because I just want to know, like, what's going on with Oscar Pistorius and the case."
When she was asked why she screams, she replied.
"Why? Because, because I love him. That's the thing, yes."