Oscar Pistorius will go into the witness box knowing he needs to provide answers to a string of vital questions.
An unconvincing performance by the' Bladerunner' athlete could lead to his conviction for pre-meditated murder and a 25-year jail sentence.
The backdrop to the case is a fear of armed intruders that is shared by most wealthy South Africans.
In his bail application last year Pistorius said he was "acutely aware" of violence used by burglars and had been a victim himself, as well as receiving death threats.
That's why he kept under his bed at night the 9mm automatic pistol he used to kill his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who, he claims, he mistook for an intruder locked in the toilet.
Pistorius will need to explain fraught texts from Reeva Steenkamp His lawyer said this week that Pistorius, 27, had been a victim of crime many times.
But is that true? Pistorius will have to provide details, because prosecution witness Warrant Officer Hendrick Maritz told the court his name had never appeared in the police records of reported crime, "unless his name was misspelt or someone got his ID number wrong."
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is bound to press the sprinter over his claim that the couple went to bed at 10pm and fell asleep five hours before the 3am shooting.
Professor Gert Saayman testified that Reeva had probably eaten food two hours before she died and a police phone analyst suggested Pistorius was surfing the internet around the same time.
In his plea explanation at the start of the trial Pistorius said he had spoken to Reeva beside him in bed just before he went out to the balcony to bring in two fans. It was then he heard a noise in the bathroom, grabbed his gun and went to investigate what he thought was an intruder posing an imminent threat.
But if he "felt a sense of terror rushing over me", as he stated in his bail application, why not simply wake up his girlfriend, get out of the house and call security?
Why did he fire four shots through the door of the tiny toilet? Whoever he thought was in there was almost certainly going to be killed.
And why didn't he observe the country's strict self-defence laws instead of using lethal force on an "intruder" he hadn't even seen?
Gun licence examiner Sean Rens told the court that Pistorius had easily passed tests in which he demonstrated he knew what he could and couldn't do to deal with a burglar.
Pistorius is certain to be asked to explain more about his relationship with Reeva, 29, the model he had been dating for three months.
If it was the "loving relationship" he claimed, why was she sending him fraught text messages accusing him of being angry and jealous, treating her badly and even scaring her?
There are many more questions that will probably keep Pistorius in the witness box for several days.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Questions For Pistorius In The Witness Box
Dengan url
http://anterinjemput.blogspot.com/2014/03/questions-for-pistorius-in-witness-box.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Questions For Pistorius In The Witness Box
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Questions For Pistorius In The Witness Box
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar