Oscar Pistorius left the witness box in tears twice today during a fierce line of questioning from the state prosecutor who accused him of doctoring his testimony to fit evidence at the scene.
'You're not using your emotional state as an escape are you?' Mr Nel said
Mr Nel also tried to pin Pistorius on whether he intended to shoot at the intruder, stating that he did not fire a warning shot. He alleged the runner changed his aim with his 9mm pistol to ensure that he hit Reeva Steenkamp as she fell back against a magazine rack after the first shot. (An image of the four bullet holes in the toilet door through which Pistorius shot his girlfriend seen above)
'You never gave them a chance, in your version,' Mr Nel said, building the prosecution case that Pistorius shot to kill. Please continue. This lawyer made some valid points...
Pistorius said he fired four times through the closed toilet door in his home last year after hearing a 'wood' sound that he mistook for the door being opened by an intruder who was about to attack him.
The athlete said that, in retrospect, the noise he probably heard was the magazine holder being moved by his girlfriend.
Mr Nel said Pistorius killed Miss Steenkamp intentionally after a fight and is lying about fearing an intruder.
He said Pistorius heard Miss Steenkamp, struck by the first shot, fall against the magazine rack and that he used that sound to adjust his aim.'I'm saying you heard the magazine rack and you changed your aim,' Mr Nel said to the Paralympic champion. 'I wouldn't have heard anyone fall inside of the toilet while I was shooting,' Pistorius replied to Mr Nel, though directing his gaze to Judge Thokozile Masipa, who will decide on the verdict.
Pistorius said he searched desperately for Miss Steenkamp in the dark bedroom after the shooting, feeling across the bed, on the floor next to it and behind a curtain before realising it might have been her in the toilet.
Mr Nel asked Pistorius why he did not turn on the lights and also check to see if the bedroom door was open and if Miss Steenkamp had fled that way as gunshots had been fired.
'It's one of the things that make your version unbelievable,' Mr Nel said.
Earlier, Pistorius broke down after being asked to repeat what he said as he moved towards the bathroom where he shot Reeva Steenkamp after hearing a noise he thought was a burglar.
'I screamed "get the f*** out of my house",' he wailed in a high-pitched voice. Mr Nel alleged that Pistorius shouted the same words at Miss Steenkamp during a row.
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| Prosecutor Gerrie Nel |
Pistorius said he searched desperately for Miss Steenkamp in the dark bedroom after the shooting, feeling across the bed, on the floor next to it and behind a curtain before realising it might have been her in the toilet.
Mr Nel asked Pistorius why he did not turn on the lights and also check to see if the bedroom door was open and if Miss Steenkamp had fled that way as gunshots had been fired.'It's one of the things that make your version unbelievable,' Mr Nel said.
Earlier, Pistorius broke down after being asked to repeat what he said as he moved towards the bathroom where he shot Reeva Steenkamp after hearing a noise he thought was a burglar.'I screamed "get the f*** out of my house",' he wailed in a high-pitched voice. Mr Nel alleged that Pistorius shouted the same words at Miss Steenkamp during a row.
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| Investigating officer Captain Mike van Aardt (right) is asked by state prosecutor Gerrie Nel (centre) to demonstrate the opening and closing of the door through which Reeva Steenkamp was shot |
Pistorius wept uncontrollably, prompting the judge to adjourn the hearing to allow him to compose himself.After the judge left the courtroom, Pistorius stood sobbing with his body trembling and turned away from the gallery.Mr Nel also tried to pin Pistorius on whether he intended to shoot at the intruder, but the 27-year-old said he did not intend to do so and that he was terrified at the time.'I didn't have time to think about what I wanted to do,' Pistorius said.That prompted Mr Nel to question whether Pistorius was changing his legal strategy from 'self-defence' to 'involuntary action'.
He later said Pistorius did not fire a warning shot. Pistorius said that when he shot he had no idea who was behind the door, in response to Mr Nel's remark that he did not know whether a child, an unarmed burglar or more than one person could have been in the toilet.'You never gave them a chance, in your version,' Mr Nel said, building the prosecution case that Pistorius shot to kill.Proceedings were halted on another occasion when he wept while denying that he intentionally shot his girlfriend.When pressed to state what his defence was, Pistorius said: 'I heard the noise and I did not have time to interpret it and fired out of fear.Mr Nel replied: 'You know exactly what you were doing, you fired at Reeva. You fired at her.'Fighting back tears, Pistorius cried out 'I did not fire at Reeva' - forcing the judge adjourn the hearing.
When he returned to the stand, Mr Nel accused Pistorius of crying not out of grief for his girlfriend, but because he was getting his testimony confused.'I'm going to argue that you got emotional because you got your defences mixed up,' Mr Nel claimed, saying the Olympian he had changed his account from one of self-defence to involuntary action.Mr Nel said the only explanation for why Miss Steenkamp was standing up against the door when she was shot was because she had been running away from Pistorius.'All the screams and shouts were at her,' Mr Nel said. 'She fled for her life'.The prosecution has said Pistorius's account of a mistaken shooting is a lie. Earlier, Mr Nel told the court: 'Today, I'm going to prove your version of events is untrue. That you tailored your version, concocted your story.'Your version is so improbable that it cannot reasonably possibly be true.'
He went on to claim that Pistorius had argued with Miss Steenkamp shortly before the shooting.
'It's the state's case, Mr Pistorius, that she wanted to leave and that you weren't sleeping, you were both awake,' said Mr Nel.
'That's not correct my lady, that's untrue,' Pistorius replied softly.
'There was an argument,' Mr Nel said, drawing another denial.
The prosecutor's relentless questioning has elicited tears and taut replies from the world-famous double amputee, who insists he and the 29-year-old model were in a loving relationship.
Mr Nel also complained that Pistorius was being evasive and challenged him: 'Today I pick up you're not sure about things, is anything wrong?' Nel asked. 'You're fine?'
Pistorius grew increasingly restless during the morning, wiping his face, pinching the bridge of his nose and clenching his jaw.
Later, Mr Nel accused Pistorius of being a stickler for detail on some matters, in contrast to his frequent statements in court that he could not remember aspects of his evidence.
Mr Nel noted that Pistorius earlier said he warned Ms Steenkamp to call police about an intruder in a whisper, contradicting later evidence that he spoke in a 'low tone'.
The prosecutor also said blood spatter evidence indicated that the athlete's statement about the location of a duvet in the bedroom was false.
Pistorius has said the duvet was on the bed and that police photographs of the bed cover on the floor suggest that police moved it there after the shooting.
Mr Nel said a pattern of blood drops on the duvet and on the carpet nearby show that it was on the floor before police arrived, and that its location amounts to evidence that the couple had been having an argument.
The prosecutor also alleged that Miss Steenkamp was in the process of getting dressed in the midst of the night-time argument and wanted to leave Pistorius's house shortly before the shooting.
A pair of jeans strewn on the bedroom floor showed Miss Steenkamp was putting them on, Mr Nel said, and contrasted with her character as a neat person who would not leave clothes lying around.
Pistorius responded that Miss Steenkamp was neat, but he said the jeans were inside out and therefore showed that Miss Steenkamp had not been in the process of donning them.
Mr Nel also questioned why the athlete did not give fuller details of his account in his bail statement last February, days after he killed Miss Steenkamp.
Pistorius had said then that there was a noise from the bathroom that caused him to think that people had broken into his house, but did not explain until later that it was the bathroom window sliding across and slamming against the frame.
The athlete said on Monday that he was on medication and traumatised while in a jail cell at the time of his bail statement, which could account for any discrepancies with his later evidence.
Mr Nel also said it was improbable that, in Pistorius's story, Miss Steenkamp did not ask him why he was getting out of bed in the middle of the night to retrieve fans from the edge of the balcony.
Culled from UK Daily Mail
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