Prosecutor ends Pistorius cross-examination
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E-mail Xinhua, April 16, 2014
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Prosecutors conclude Pistorius cross-examination. |
Cross examination of murder-accused Oscar Pistorius entered its final day at the Pretoria High Court in South Africa on Tuesday with Pistorius insisting that he is innocent.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel spent the last hours of his cross examination trying to prove that Pistorius intentionally killed his girl friend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius is being tried for killing Steenkamp when he shot her through a locked bathroom door on February 14, last year. Pistorius insists that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder.
"She was locked into the bathroom and you armed yourself with the sole purpose of shooting and killing her. That is what you did, " Nel put this to the accused.
Pistorius replied that he only fired when he heard movement in the toilet. "I thought it was the door opening. In retrospect it could only have been the magazine rack," Pistorius said.
However, Nel accused him of tailoring his evidence to match the state case. He also asked Pistorius to explain how he reacted when he discovered he had killed Reeva in the toilet.
He responded saying, "I was crying out. I was screaming 'Reeva, Reeva'... crying and screaming... I was overcome with terror and despair. At times I was screaming, at times I was crying out."
Pistorius said this after explaining how he tried breaking down the toilet door by hitting it with a cricket bat. Pistorius continued, "I pulled her around onto me and then I heard her breathing, and then I tried to get her up."
He added that he did not scream when he saw Reeva lying in a pool of blood because he saw no reason for screaming.
Nel insisted that Reeva had run and locked herself in the toilet after which Pistorius armed himself and killed her.
When Pistorius refuted this, Nel asked, "Once again, we should not blame you for the fact that you shot her... Should we blame Reeva? She never told you she was going to the toilet... should we blame her?
"Should we blame the government? Who should we blame for the black talon round that ripped through her body?"
Pistorius responded: "I don't know my lady, I was scared... I believed that there was a threat on my life."
Nel then ended the cross examination.
The defence then called its third witness, forensic expert Roger Dixon who said a lot of force was needed in breaking Pistorius's wooden toilet door using a cricket bat.
Dixon also testified that Pistorius's bedroom is so dark that when lights are off and curtains drawn he could not even see his hands.
The Court adjourned to Wednesday
Nel launched an application for Pistorius's trial to be postponed sometime this week till May 5. He cited other court engagements and personal arrangements for the Easter holiday as the reasons for requesting postponement.
Judge Thokozile Masipa is expected to rule on the postponement application on Wednesday.
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