The defense scored some points today as the former police colonel, G.S. Van Rensburg, was on the stand. Rensburg described several problems that came up including a detective handling the gun without gloves, one of Pistorius’s watches went missing, and the bathroom door was supposed to have been bagged and sent to his office. Rensburg had to resign from the force in December for mishandling the door after 30 years as an officer. Roux (defense lawyer) also brought up the statements of three police officers whose accounts differed with Rensburg’s. When prosecutor Gerrie Nel ran through some photos Pistorius kept his head down.
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Blade Runner Trial- Day Two
The defense continued to try to rattle the first witness, neighbor Michelle Burger, without success. She stuck to her story that she heard a woman’s screams then gunshots. Her boyfriend testified to the same thing which the defense said was too close to the same story as the girlfriend. The girlfriend pointed out that they indeed heard the same thing- they were together. Burger’s husband, Chari Johnson, said he heard the screams then the shots. “I heard the lady scream again and the last scream faded moments after the last gunshot.” Another neighbor said she was awoken by loud voices. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel read from an expert’s report that the fourth shot was the fatal shot to Reeva’s head. At that point Pistorius clutched his head in his hands. For more on today’s testimony and some background on this case see the link below.
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/04/world/africa/oscar-pistorius-trial/