Oscar Pistorius is expected to take the stand as his trial resumes this week in a defence relying on forensic experts and South Africa’s notoriously high crime rate to explain how and why he shot dead his girlfriend.
[full]The first defence witness on Monday will be Jan Botha, a pathologist, rather than Pistorius, according to Brian Webber, one of the athlete’s lawyers.
“We don’t have a choice,” said Webber, speaking by telephone. “The pathologist has personal reasons for why he has to take the stand first.”
Court resumes after Judge Thokozile Masipa called a week adjournment in the murder trial after one of her assessors, a judicial assistant, fell ill.
Webber said the week-long break was anything but restful. “If you think it’s been a week off, then good luck for you,” he said.
Pistorius will likely be the next to testify after Botha, marking the first time he speaks in public since the killing, besides pleading “not guilty, milady,” and the occasional “yes, milady” to Judge Masipa.
The 27-year-old Paralympian, who has denied the murder charge, has to explain why he fired four shots at model and aspiring television actress Reeva Steenkamp through a locked toilet door in his home on Valentine’s Day last year.
To do this, he has hired an extensive team of forensic experts to describe the events in the early hours of February 14, 2013, including an American animation firm that will visually depict the crime scene using three-dimensional computer generated images.
The experts will have to cast doubt on the state’s version of events, including testimony from witnesses who said they heard a woman screaming on the night of the murder, which would show Pistorius knew his target was Steenkamp.[/full]