Pistorius Lawyers Face Less Time to Rebuild Defense's Case (1)

Bloomberg News

Oscar Pistorius's lawyers started calling their final round of witnesses in the trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp as they seek to convince the judge the shooting wasn't premeditated.

Defense lawyer Barry Roux said May 6 he expects to conclude his case next week at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa's capital. Double-amputee Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to murder and said he thought Steenkamp was an intruder in the bathroom of his house when shot her through a toilet door on Valentine's Day last year.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel says the Paralympic athlete shot Steenkamp after they had an argument. State pathologist Gert Saayman in March testified Steenkamp probably ate two hours before her death. Pistorius has said they went to bed at about 10 p.m. A defense witness today said it was 'speculative' to determine the time and size of the last meal.

'In an ideal world, after six hours of fasting after this meal, her stomach should probably have been empty, but there are so many unknowns about possible factors that could've delayed gastric emptying that one cannot state it as being a fact,' Christina Lundgren, head of the anesthesia department at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, told the court. 'I would say it would be purely speculative.'

Gastric Emptying

Steenkamp could have eaten a chicken-stirfry dinner from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Feb. 13, which may have contained insoluble fiber that would have delayed gastric emptying, Lundgren said. She had performed yoga exercises that evening, which delay the process, as does sleep, she said.

In the remaining days of the trial, Roux must rebuild the defense's case after the prosecution repeatedly challenged the qualifications of an expert witness who also contradicted Pistorius's version of the way Steenkamp fell when she was shot. In his testimony, Pistorius appeared to change his argument from self defense when he said he fired the gun four times by accident.

The trial, which started on March 3, is being broadcast live on radio and TV. Pistorius has also pleaded not guilty to three gun-related charges.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who will give the final judgment in the case because South Africa doesn't have a jury system, could consider a lesser charge of culpable homicide if she rules that the act wasn't premeditated. Pistorius would face a minimum of 25 years in jail if convicted of premeditated murder.

Defense Portrayal

Nel has sought to undermine the defense's portrayal of Pistorius as a religious man with a deep fear of crime who was in a loving relationship with Steenkamp. He accused Pistorius of tailoring his testimony to fit in with the evidence.

Known as the Blade Runner because of his J-shaped prosthetic running blades, Pistorius has been free on 1 million rand ($96,000) bail since February last year.

The charges have derailed the running career of the winner of six Paralympic gold medals and cost Pistorius sponsorship deals with , Luxottica Group SpA (LUX)'s Oakley and Ossur hf, the Icelandic company that manufacturers the blades he uses.

Pistorius was the first double amputee to compete at the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Burkhardt in Pretoria at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net; Andre Janse van Vuuren in Pretoria at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net; Christopher Spillane in Johannesburg at cspillane3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net Karl Maier, Gordon Bell, Ana Monteiro

from Google News http://#

via IFTTT

Tweet