Court drama last week
Day 6:
Cross- examination of security guard Pieter Baba concludes. Barry Roux confronts Baba with phone records which he says prove Oscar Pistorius had called security first, but Baba insists he called first after reports of shots at Pistorius’s home. Baba asks why Pistorius did not activate his alarm if he was afraid of an intruder.
Judge Thokozile Masipa bans all tweets, live streaming and live broadcasts of the “graphic” evidence of state pathologist Professor Gert Saayman.
Saayman testifies that any of the three shots which hit Steenkamp in the head, upper right thigh and right arm could individually have caused her death. She also had numerous small abrasions caused by wood splinters. He testifies that the “Black Talon” ammunition that was used “mushrooms” on impact to cause maximum tissue damage. He says the remains of vegetable matter and cheese in her stomach shows she probably had her last meal two hours before her death.
Day 7:
Judge Masipa lifts the restriction on live tweets and blogs. Cross- examination of Saayman concludes. He testifies that Reeva would have experienced a flight- or-fight reaction to the shots in her arm and thigh and could have screamed in fear but the head shot would have caused immediate incapacity and death.
Oscar’s former friend Darren Fresco testifies that Pistorius was “furious” and had an argument with a traffic officer for touching his gun after they were stopped for speeding. Afterwards Pistorius, without warning, fired a shot out of the sunroof. Fresco asked Pistorius if he was “f...ing mad” but Pistorius just laughed.
Fresco also testifies about an incident at Tasha’s restaurant when Pistorius asked him to pass his pistol under the table. He insists Pistorius replied “okay” when he said there was “one up” (a bullet in the chamber), but Pistorius fired a shot while taking the bullet out of the chamber and pulling the trigger “to make sure it is safe”.
Day 8:
Fresco testifies that Pistorius had kept his unholstered pistol between his legs while they were travelling at over 200km/ h. He claims he took a photo on his cellphone of Pistorius driving at 260km/ h but later admits he was driving. Barry Roux accuses him of engineering false evidence against Pistorius.
Forensic analyst Colonel Gerhard Vermeulen testifies that Pistorius was on his stumps when he fired the shots and broke down the bathroom door with a cricket bat. He concedes Pistorius might have been on his prosthesis when wielding the bat. Vermeulen admits he never tested if marks on the door could have been made with the prosthesis; that he overlooked splinters from the door; and that some photos showed a clear police foot mark on it. He admits the door was removed from the scene, does not know where it was stored and that there are new marks.
Day 9:
Vermeulen concludes his evidence. He cannot say what happened to a box of watches that disappeared from Pistorius’s house. He admits he never did tests with Pistorius’s prosthetic legs to see if they could have caused a mark on the door. Roux says there was still a piece of sock embedded in the door.
Colonel Schoombie van Rensburg testifies that he found Reeva’s covered body at the foot of the stairs. He called Warrant Officer Hilton Botha to the scene and they followed the blood trail upstairs. There was a spent cartridge in the passage to the bathroom, another in front of the bath and another in front of the toilet door. They found a cocked gun, ready to be fired, in front of the bath with a piece wood from the door, a cricket bat and a bloody towel.
Day 10:
Colonel Van Rensburg testifies that ballistics expert Colonel H S Motha handled Pistorius’s firearms with his bare hands. He then put on gloves. He says he removed the toilet door the next day. He sealed it in a body bag and stored it for over a week on the floor in front of his desk . He admits one of Pistorius’s watches disappeared from the crime scene but is unaware that a second watch was stolen. He says he started an inventory of exhibits on the second day.