PRETORIA
The murder trial of South Africa’s internationally-recognized Paralympian Oscar Pistorious has wrapped up with the presiding judge setting September 11 for the judgment.
On Friday, Pistorious’s defense lawyer Barry Roux delivered his closing arguments in the trial which has taken several months at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Pistorious faces four charges, including the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day (February 14) of last year.
The 27-year-old Paralympian has pleaded not guilty to all charges and insists that he shot at the bathroom door of his home, thinking an intruder had entered the house, not realizing that his model girlfriend was inside.
“He genuinely thought she was in the bedroom. There was no intent to kill,” Roux told the court on Friday, arguing that his client is not guilty of murder.
In his summation, Roux attempted to water down the state’s case that the athlete did not act in self-defense.
“We say if he wanted to kill the deceased, why didn’t he enter the bathroom?” he argued, insisting that Pistorious acted in self-defense because he was under threat from a perceived intruder.
On Thursday, state prosecutor Gerrie Nel, in his final submission, argued that Pistorious shot at his girlfriend with the intention to kill her and accused the defendant of giving inconsistent versions of events regarding the killing.
"It is just inconceivable…for the accused not to mention in his bail application that he had a conversation with the deceased," Nel told the court on Thursday.
In response, Pistorious’s defense lawyer argued that he was traumatized and had no clue when he gave some of his statements at the police station.
Roux also asked the judge to consider that the athlete’s disability has had an impact on him.
The lawyer argued that his client did not work out a scheme to lie at the scene, and asserted that his client acted reasonably and should be acquitted of murder and given a lesser sentence.
He also asked court to consider that police investigators might have tampered with the crime scene.
Judge Thokozile Masipa will finally deliver her verdict on September 11. The Judge and her assessors have 4,000 pages of evidence.
If convicted of murder, Pistorious could face life imprisonment. But if he is charged with culpable homicide, he could be jailed for up to 15 years in prison.
Popularly known as the "Blade Runner," Pistorious was born without fibulas in both of his legs. Before completing his first year, he had to have both his lower limbs amputated.
In 2004, he rose to fame at the age of 17 after winning a gold medal at the Athens Paralympics Games. The sprinter has since gone on to win several other medals.
Pistorious made history in 2012 by becoming the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics.
By Hassan Isilow
www.aa.com.tr/en
