Oscar Pistorious Trial - What Do You Think?

OSCAR PISTORIUS faced a day of tough cross-examination in court yesterday. The 27-year-old Olympic and Paralympic athlete denies deliberately murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He yesterday told the court that he had never had the opportunity to tell her he loved her before he shot her through his toilet door on 14 February 2013. 

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel yesterday portrayed Pistorius as an egotist who was reckless with guns and who publicly humiliated Steenkamp on several occasions. 

COURT PROCEEDINGS FROM YESTERDAY

10.10am: The court returned to the night of Reeva Steenkamp’s death. Nel is again trying to find out how Pistorius failed to see Steenkamp leave the bedroom to go to the toilet. He suggests that a blue LCD light from the athlete’s amplifier would have “illuminated” the area. Pistorius says he could only see the silhouette of a pair of Reeva’s jeans about a metre away. It was as he went to put the jeans over the light that he heard a window sliding and hitting the frame in the bathroom.

Nel again shows the court a photograph of the bedroom taken later that morning by police, in which the duvet is on the floor. Pistorius says the duvet was not where he left it but the jeans were roughly in the right area. Nel points out that the jeans are on top of the duvet. Pistorius repeats that the police may have moved the items in the room. “Why would police do that? You're lying,” says Nel. “I don't know why the police did that. I can't explain that. I wasn't there,” says Pistorius.

Pistorius’s defence lawyer objects, asking for evidence that the jeans are actually on top of the duvet, as the photograph is not clear. The judge agrees that the photograph should be blown up and tells Nel to mind his language. “You don't call a witness a liar while he is in the witness box,” she says. The court adjourned for a tea break.

9.45am: Nel asks again why Pistorius did not go the police when he was shot at on a motorway. The athlete says he did not have “trust” in the police that they would be able to do anything about it. Nel also suggests that Pistorius goes “looking for trouble” and that a confrontation may have led to him being assaulted in 2012. Pistorius denies this and points out that he had his firearm with him when he was assaulted, but did not use it.

9.15am: Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is asking Pistorius about the security precautions he took at his home at the Silverwoods Estate. The athlete confirms that he felt it was safe enough to leave his cars outside, did not immediately fix a broken window downstairs in his home and did not regularly check with security about the safety of the estate.

Nel accuses Pistorius of “tailoring” his evidence with regard to contractors removing sensors to paint his house, something Pistorius denies. "You are getting deeper into trouble Mr Pistorius. You are tailoring your evidence,” says Nel. Pistorius then says he deactivated his alarm on 14 February last year when he ran downstairs to open his front door in order to carry Steenkamp out to get help. However, he later says he “must have” turned off his alarm but cannot remember. Again Nel tells him he is tailoring evidence.

Pistorius grows tearful as he apologises for making a mistake and says he is tired. Judge Thokozile Masipa interrupts to ask if Pistorius is too tired to proceed, warning him that he could be at a disadvantage if he is making mistakes due to tiredness. Pistorius confirms that he is not too tired to continue and that he is not making mistakes because he is tired. 

9.00am: Nel begins questioning Pistorius about his experience as a victim of crime. Pistorius has previously claimed he kept his firearm under his bed at night because he has been a victim of violence and burglaries. Today, the athlete admits that he has never gone into a police station to report a crime. He says he did not think anything could be done by police after his home was burgled and he was shot at on a motorway.

Pistorius tells the court that he moved into the Silverwoods Estate in Pretoria, where Steenkamp was killed, in May 2008. Nel asks if it is correct that he has never been a victim of crime at Silverwoods. That is correct, confirms Pistorius. “Except for the police stealing my watches,” he adds. culled
  

*What do you think?Do you think he is biopolar?