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| Defense Rests in Pistorius Murder Trial | Defense Rests in Pistorius Murder Trial |
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| LONDON — More than four months after the double-amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius rose in court at the start of his murder trial in South Africa, defense lawyers concluded their case on Tuesday, depicting him as torn between supreme achievement on the track and a profound sense of private vulnerability away from it. | LONDON — More than four months after the double-amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius rose in court at the start of his murder trial in South Africa, defense lawyers concluded their case on Tuesday, depicting him as torn between supreme achievement on the track and a profound sense of private vulnerability away from it. |
| In a brief session on its 39th day of hearings, the oft-delayed trial — which has been televised around the world and is one of the highest-profile cases in South African judicial history — adjourned to permit both sides to prepare their written arguments. The defense and the prosecution will return to court on Aug. 7 to make their final verbal arguments before Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa. | In a brief session on its 39th day of hearings, the oft-delayed trial — which has been televised around the world and is one of the highest-profile cases in South African judicial history — adjourned to permit both sides to prepare their written arguments. The defense and the prosecution will return to court on Aug. 7 to make their final verbal arguments before Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa. |
| Since there are no jury trials in South Africa, it will be up to the judge, assisted by two assessors, to determine Mr. Pistorius’s fate. | Since there are no jury trials in South Africa, it will be up to the judge, assisted by two assessors, to determine Mr. Pistorius’s fate. |
| The hearing on Tuesday at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, followed testimony by the final defense witness, a sports physician named Wayne Derman, over several fraught days that focused as much on Professor Derman’s credibility as on his arguments. | The hearing on Tuesday at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, followed testimony by the final defense witness, a sports physician named Wayne Derman, over several fraught days that focused as much on Professor Derman’s credibility as on his arguments. |
| “Although he loathes to be pitied in any way,” Professor Derman said of Mr. Pistorius, “the hard truth is that he does not have lower legs.” After working with the runner for several years, including at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Professor Derman said, “you’ve got a paradox — of an individual who is supremely able and an individual who is significantly disabled.” | “Although he loathes to be pitied in any way,” Professor Derman said of Mr. Pistorius, “the hard truth is that he does not have lower legs.” After working with the runner for several years, including at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Professor Derman said, “you’ve got a paradox — of an individual who is supremely able and an individual who is significantly disabled.” |
| The defense argues that his condition has left Mr. Pistorius, 27, with a sense of vulnerability — a factor in his behavior in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, when he has admitted shooting to death his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law school graduate. The prosecution says he murdered her in a jealous rage, but Mr. Pistorius says he shot her by mistake in the belief that an intruder had entered his home. | The defense argues that his condition has left Mr. Pistorius, 27, with a sense of vulnerability — a factor in his behavior in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, when he has admitted shooting to death his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law school graduate. The prosecution says he murdered her in a jealous rage, but Mr. Pistorius says he shot her by mistake in the belief that an intruder had entered his home. |
| As Professor Derman testified, the lead prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, told him: “You are not objective in your evidence before court. You do not want to give an answer that will not benefit the accused.” Professor Derman responded, “I do not believe that I am biased.” | As Professor Derman testified, the lead prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, told him: “You are not objective in your evidence before court. You do not want to give an answer that will not benefit the accused.” Professor Derman responded, “I do not believe that I am biased.” |
| The final days of the defense case were overshadowed on some social media sites by leaked images, shown on Australian television, of Mr. Pistorius re-enacting his movements between his bedroom and a locked toilet cubicle on the night of the killing. | The final days of the defense case were overshadowed on some social media sites by leaked images, shown on Australian television, of Mr. Pistorius re-enacting his movements between his bedroom and a locked toilet cubicle on the night of the killing. |
| The video showed him, unusually, walking on the flimsy-looking stumps below his knee where both of his legs were amputated at the age of 11 months because he was born without fibula bones. The image, shown on YouTube, was in marked contrast to the triumphant photographs of Mr. Pistorius on the scythe-like running prosthetics that inspired his nickname, Blade Runner, when he competed in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. | The video showed him, unusually, walking on the flimsy-looking stumps below his knee where both of his legs were amputated at the age of 11 months because he was born without fibula bones. The image, shown on YouTube, was in marked contrast to the triumphant photographs of Mr. Pistorius on the scythe-like running prosthetics that inspired his nickname, Blade Runner, when he competed in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. |
| The trial, which opened March 3, was set to last three weeks. It has been held up by several postponements, including a six-week break because Mr. Pistorius underwent a psychiatric assessment that established that he was mentally fit to stand trial. | The trial, which opened March 3, was set to last three weeks. It has been held up by several postponements, including a six-week break because Mr. Pistorius underwent a psychiatric assessment that established that he was mentally fit to stand trial. |
| According to a schedule agreed on Tuesday, the prosecution is to hand in its written argument on July 30 and the defense on Aug. 4. Judge Masipa ordered that both documents be kept under wraps until the lawyers meet on Aug. 7 and 8 to argue their case in court. | According to a schedule agreed on Tuesday, the prosecution is to hand in its written argument on July 30 and the defense on Aug. 4. Judge Masipa ordered that both documents be kept under wraps until the lawyers meet on Aug. 7 and 8 to argue their case in court. |
| Judge Masipa will then consider her judgment, possibly over several weeks. Some South African reporters who have covered the case intensively since the killing last year said that, while the verdict might not be known until the end of August, the defense seemed on Tuesday to be laying the groundwork for an appeal if Mr. Pistorius is convicted. | |
| The charge of premeditated murder carries a mandatory minimum term of 25 years. The main defense lawyer, Barry Roux, said at the brief hearing on Tuesday that several potential witnesses for the defense had not been willing to testify because they “did not want their voices heard around the world.” | |
| Reporters in the courtroom said they had taken that as a possible precursor to an appeal on the grounds that television coverage — highly unusual in South African courts — had jeopardized the fairness of the trial. |