Pistorius's Lawyer Is Shredding Prosecutors' Credibility In The Bail Hearing
Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his bathroom. Prosecutors initially charged him with murder, and then upgraded the charge to "premeditated murder." Pistorius says the shooting was an accident--that he thought his girlfriend was an intruder.
Pistorius's version of events is highly implausible.
He basically says he woke up in the middle of the night, heard a noise in the bathroom, panicked, and started shooting.
Given that Steenkamp was supposedly sleeping next to him in bed, this seems preposterous. Even if the room was dark, Pistorius wouldn't check the bed before shooting bullets at a noise in the bathroom? He wouldn't yell to the "intruder" in the bathroom to make sure it was an intruder? That just doesn't make sense.
And it makes even less sense when you factor in witness statements that the lights were on in Pistorius's house and there had been audible sounds of "non-stop fighting" for an hour before the shooting.
That said, the prosecutors appear to have bungled several aspects of the case already, enough to allow Pistorius's attorney to hurt their credibility.
Yesterday in the bail hearing, for example, Pistorius's attorney got the police investigator to admit the following:
- The investigator had no evidence that disproved Pistorius's story
- The investigator had made a mistake in describing a drug found on the scene as "testosterone" (it may be a legal "herbal remedy)
- The investigator did not wear protective booties in the house, thus "contaminating" the crime scene
- There was a good reason Steenkamp might have gone to the bathroom other than that Pistorius was trying to kill her (her bladder was empty)
- Steenkamp had no defensive wounds on her other than the bullet wounds--there was no sign of a pre-shooting fight.
- The "trajectory" of the bullets through the toilet door are not inconsistent with Pistorius's story that he was not wearing his prosthetic legs when he fired the shots
- One of the witnesses lived as far as 600 meters away (the prosecutors later challenged this)
And then, today, it was revealed that the lead investigator in the case has himself been charged with "attempted murder" for shooting someone in an earlier police incident.
So the prosecution's credibility and case has been significantly damaged.
According to a reporter in the courtroom, Barry Bateman of Pretoria's Eyewitness News, it would still be a crime in South Africa for Pistorius to shoot an intruder: You can't just blow away someone who enters your house. The crime would be "culpable homicide" and it could carry a prison sentence.
But accidental homicide is obviously a far less serious crime than premeditated murder.
The bail hearing is continuing today in court. And at least in the early going, Pistorius's lawyer is doing even more damage to the prosecution's case.
Barry Bateman is live in the courtroom following the case. You can follow his tweets here. You can also click here for the latest.
Below are Bateman's tweets from the beginning of the bail hearing, which began at 11AM South Africa time.
To read them chronologically, please scroll down to the bottom and read up. Then click here for the latest.
4:25 a.m. - Feb 21, 2013 · Details "> Barry Bateman @barrybateman #OscarPistorius Roux: we've raised our concern that the IO maintained Oscar was a flight risk even after his concessions. BB 4:25 a.m. - Feb 21, 2013 · Details "> 4:23 a.m. - Feb 21, 2013 · Details "> 5 mins