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| Reading Valentine’s Card, Pistorius Leaves the Stand | Reading Valentine’s Card, Pistorius Leaves the Stand |
| (5 months later) | |
| PRETORIA, South Africa — It took just nine minutes on Tuesday for Oscar Pistorius’s defense lawyer to release him from anguished days and hours on the stand, and he did so with a last, loving message from the woman he is accused of murdering. | |
| Invited to do so by his lawyer, Mr. Pistorius read out to the court in a halting voice the inscription in what the defense said was a Valentine’s card that the woman — his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, 29 — had prepared for him shortly before he shot her in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013. | Invited to do so by his lawyer, Mr. Pistorius read out to the court in a halting voice the inscription in what the defense said was a Valentine’s card that the woman — his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, 29 — had prepared for him shortly before he shot her in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013. |
| The card was addressed to him by a nickname, “Ossie,” and included the lines, “Roses are reds, violets are blue.” Inside Ms. Steenkamp had written: “I think today is a good day to tell you that I love you.” | The card was addressed to him by a nickname, “Ossie,” and included the lines, “Roses are reds, violets are blue.” Inside Ms. Steenkamp had written: “I think today is a good day to tell you that I love you.” |
| She had signed it with her name and “a smiley face,” Mr. Pistorius said. | She had signed it with her name and “a smiley face,” Mr. Pistorius said. |
| On that note, his defense lawyer, Barry Roux, called time on almost seven full days in the stand, starting on April 7. They produced some of the trial’s Hollywood moments as the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel — whose pugnaciousness has earned him the nickname pit bull — sought to buttress the charge that Mr. Pistorius, a onetime Paralympic track champion, had committed premeditated murder. If convicted, the athlete would face a minimum prison term of 25 years. | On that note, his defense lawyer, Barry Roux, called time on almost seven full days in the stand, starting on April 7. They produced some of the trial’s Hollywood moments as the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel — whose pugnaciousness has earned him the nickname pit bull — sought to buttress the charge that Mr. Pistorius, a onetime Paralympic track champion, had committed premeditated murder. If convicted, the athlete would face a minimum prison term of 25 years. |
| Even on Tuesday, the fifth morning of cross-examination, the combative Mr. Nel led the defendant back through the predawn hours when Mr. Pistorius, who had been an Olympic contender, loosed four hollow-point rounds into a locked bathroom door, and then began — by his account — to suspect that Ms. Steenkamp was inside. | Even on Tuesday, the fifth morning of cross-examination, the combative Mr. Nel led the defendant back through the predawn hours when Mr. Pistorius, who had been an Olympic contender, loosed four hollow-point rounds into a locked bathroom door, and then began — by his account — to suspect that Ms. Steenkamp was inside. |
| In the wood-paneled courtroom here, Mr. Nel repeated his insistence that the athlete and his girlfriend, a model and law graduate, had argued and that Mr. Pistorius had fired at the door knowing she was standing on the other side of it talking to him. | In the wood-paneled courtroom here, Mr. Nel repeated his insistence that the athlete and his girlfriend, a model and law graduate, had argued and that Mr. Pistorius had fired at the door knowing she was standing on the other side of it talking to him. |
| Mr. Pistorius, 27, repeated that he had been aghast when he realized what he might have done. | Mr. Pistorius, 27, repeated that he had been aghast when he realized what he might have done. |
| Mr. Pistorius, whose legs were amputated at the knee in his infancy, said he had gone to find his prosthetic legs. He tried to shoulder the bathroom door open, he said, and then sought to kick it with his prosthetic legs. He grabbed a cricket bat to smash the door down, he said. | Mr. Pistorius, whose legs were amputated at the knee in his infancy, said he had gone to find his prosthetic legs. He tried to shoulder the bathroom door open, he said, and then sought to kick it with his prosthetic legs. He grabbed a cricket bat to smash the door down, he said. |
| “I was crying out for the Lord to help me,” Mr. Pistorius said. “I was screaming for Reeva.” He added, “I was overcome with terror and despair.” | “I was crying out for the Lord to help me,” Mr. Pistorius said. “I was screaming for Reeva.” He added, “I was overcome with terror and despair.” |
| When the wood finally splintered, and he found her, “I checked if she was breathing, if she had a pulse,” he continued. “I heard her breathing and immediately tried to get her up and get her out of the toilet. I couldn’t pick her up, and I scuttled around with my legs.” | When the wood finally splintered, and he found her, “I checked if she was breathing, if she had a pulse,” he continued. “I heard her breathing and immediately tried to get her up and get her out of the toilet. I couldn’t pick her up, and I scuttled around with my legs.” |
| “I was crying. I was saying: ‘Baby, please hold on. Jesus, help me.’ ” | “I was crying. I was saying: ‘Baby, please hold on. Jesus, help me.’ ” |
| To the end, Mr. Nel maintained the derisive and dismissive tone with which he had pushed Mr. Pistorius into apparent contradictions, accusing him of lying, dissembling, changing his evidence and offering an improbable version of events. | To the end, Mr. Nel maintained the derisive and dismissive tone with which he had pushed Mr. Pistorius into apparent contradictions, accusing him of lying, dissembling, changing his evidence and offering an improbable version of events. |
| “It’s got more and more improbable,” the prosecutor said Tuesday, shortly before he ended a cross-examination that frequently reduced Mr. Pistorius to tears and wails. | “It’s got more and more improbable,” the prosecutor said Tuesday, shortly before he ended a cross-examination that frequently reduced Mr. Pistorius to tears and wails. |
| In a final summary of the prosecution’s case, Mr. Nel accused the athlete of fully intending to shoot and kill Ms. Steenkamp, his handgun loaded with Black Talon hollow-point ammunition. The couple had argued, the prosecutor said, and Ms. Steenkamp wanted to leave the house. “You were threatening her,” he said. | In a final summary of the prosecution’s case, Mr. Nel accused the athlete of fully intending to shoot and kill Ms. Steenkamp, his handgun loaded with Black Talon hollow-point ammunition. The couple had argued, the prosecutor said, and Ms. Steenkamp wanted to leave the house. “You were threatening her,” he said. |
| In the face of Mr. Pistorius’s contention that the shooting of Ms. Steenkamp was a mistake, Mr. Nel barked at him: “So we shouldn’t blame you for having shot her. Who should we blame? Should we blame Reeva?” | In the face of Mr. Pistorius’s contention that the shooting of Ms. Steenkamp was a mistake, Mr. Nel barked at him: “So we shouldn’t blame you for having shot her. Who should we blame? Should we blame Reeva?” |
| “No, my lady,” Mr. Pistorius said, addressing the judge, Thokozile Masipa, as is the courtroom practice in South Africa, where there are no jury trials under a system of law dating to the first arrival of Dutch settlers in the 17th century. | “No, my lady,” Mr. Pistorius said, addressing the judge, Thokozile Masipa, as is the courtroom practice in South Africa, where there are no jury trials under a system of law dating to the first arrival of Dutch settlers in the 17th century. |
| “Should we blame the government?” Mr. Nel asked with heavy sarcasm. “You must blame somebody.” | “Should we blame the government?” Mr. Nel asked with heavy sarcasm. “You must blame somebody.” |
| “I believed there was someone coming out to attack me,” Mr. Pistorius said. In the courtroom, a grisly police photograph from the crime scene showed the toilet with blood smeared on the bowl and a pool of blood on the floor. | “I believed there was someone coming out to attack me,” Mr. Pistorius said. In the courtroom, a grisly police photograph from the crime scene showed the toilet with blood smeared on the bowl and a pool of blood on the floor. |
| At the start of the session on Tuesday, Mr. Nel asked Judge Masipa to postpone the hearings until May 5, starting with an unspecified date later this week when many South Africans wind down for a four-day Easter weekend break. Judge Masipa said she would rule on the request on Wednesday. | At the start of the session on Tuesday, Mr. Nel asked Judge Masipa to postpone the hearings until May 5, starting with an unspecified date later this week when many South Africans wind down for a four-day Easter weekend break. Judge Masipa said she would rule on the request on Wednesday. |
| The cross-examination has left the defense reeling, and Mr. Roux set about rebuilding his case with the Valentine’s card — an image of a loving couple to counter the nightmare visions conjured by the prosecution of a raging Mr. Pistorius stomping around his darkened, upscale home, brandishing a cocked and loaded handgun as Ms. Steenkamp screamed in terror. | The cross-examination has left the defense reeling, and Mr. Roux set about rebuilding his case with the Valentine’s card — an image of a loving couple to counter the nightmare visions conjured by the prosecution of a raging Mr. Pistorius stomping around his darkened, upscale home, brandishing a cocked and loaded handgun as Ms. Steenkamp screamed in terror. |
| Mr. Roux then is likely to construct a painstaking defense, with a series of witnesses seeking to rebut Mr. Nel’s accusations. Ultimately, Mr. Pistorius is the only witness to what happened — and that is what has made the credibility of his version of events so important. “You are the only person who can give us a version of what happened,” Mr. Nel said on Tuesday. | Mr. Roux then is likely to construct a painstaking defense, with a series of witnesses seeking to rebut Mr. Nel’s accusations. Ultimately, Mr. Pistorius is the only witness to what happened — and that is what has made the credibility of his version of events so important. “You are the only person who can give us a version of what happened,” Mr. Nel said on Tuesday. |
| First, though, Mr. Roux sought on Tuesday to re-establish his client’s most basic argument: that the killing had been a dreadful accident. After Mr. Nel ended his cross-examination, Mr. Roux rose briefly to re-examine. | First, though, Mr. Roux sought on Tuesday to re-establish his client’s most basic argument: that the killing had been a dreadful accident. After Mr. Nel ended his cross-examination, Mr. Roux rose briefly to re-examine. |
| “Could you explain to the court, if you talk about an accident, can you explain what you meant by that?” Mr. Roux said. | “Could you explain to the court, if you talk about an accident, can you explain what you meant by that?” Mr. Roux said. |
| “It wasn’t meant to be,” Mr. Pistorius replied. | “It wasn’t meant to be,” Mr. Pistorius replied. |