This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/07/oscar-pistorius-witness-closing-arguments-reeva-steenkamp

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Oscar Pistorius an appalling witness, says prosecutor in closing arguments Oscar Pistorius guilty of premeditated murder and has lied, says prosecutor
(about 3 hours later)
Oscar Pistorius was an appalling witness who repeatedly lied in his testimony in a crude attempt to defend himself against a murder charge for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the chief prosecutor said during closing arguments in the athlete's trial. Oscar Pistorius must be found guilty of the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, South African prosecutors have said, as the athlete's testimony at his trial was dismissed as mendacious and "devoid of truth".
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel also criticised the legal team of the double-amputee former Olympian, saying it floated more than one theory about what happened on the night that Pistorius shot Steenkamp through a closed toilet door in his home. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, making his closing argument for the state, said the defence claim that Pistorius believed there was an intruder in his house on the night of 14 February 2013 would not help him escape conviction: "[If] I know there is a human being behind that door. I mean to kill that person and I do so," Nel said. "That it turned out to be Reeva is [legally] of no consequence."
Defence lawyers, Nel said, had argued that Pistorius acted in self-defence, fearing an intruder was in the house, but also raised the possibility that he was not criminally responsible, accidentally shooting Steenkamp because he was startled. Defence lawyers, Nel said, are set to argue that Pistorius acted in self-defence, faced with a perceived intruder, but also that he fired involuntarily because he was startled. "It's two defences that you can never reconcile," Nel told the judge, Thokozile Masipa, who will retire on Friday to consider her verdict. There is no jury.
"It's two defences that you can never reconcile," Nel said as Pistorius sat behind him in the dock. The once-celebrated athlete appeared calm, in contrast to some past occasions during which he retched and wailed in apparent distress. At the high court in Pretoria, Nel repeatedly accused Pistorius of tailoring his evidence, saying that contested claims about the location of a duvet and two fans in the athlete's bedroom and inconsistencies in his version of events on the night were the consequence of a "snowball effect of lies".
The fathers of the Paralympic runner and Steenkamp, a model and television personality, were in the Pretoria courthouse for the first time since the trial began in early March. They sat at opposite ends of a long bench in the gallery. Pistorius is said to be estranged from his father, Henke, and Steenkamp's father, Barry, has been ill. "The court should have no difficulty in rejecting his full version of events, not only as not reasonably possibly true, but in essence as being absolutely devoid of any truth," Nel told the court.
Pistorius' older brother Carl, who has regularly attended court sessions, is on a ventilator in an intensive care unit because of injuries suffered in a serious car crash last week, the Pistorius family said in a statement. "It's a snowball effect of lies. You tell one and it becomes too much. You just have to keep going and going."
Barry Roux, the chief defence lawyer, listened and checked files as Nel spoke for hours, occasionally urged by Judge Thokozile Masipa to speed up, elaborating on the prosecution's written arguments submitted to the court last week. Roux will present his final arguments on Friday before Masipa adjourns the trial to deliberate with two legal assistants on a verdict. The prosecution contends that – contrary to Pistorius's claim that the couple went to bed at 10pm – the pair were in fact awake and arguing.
A witness says she heard a row, and Steenkamp's stomach contents indicated that she was awake and eating at around 1am, Nel said.
Neighbours heard "intermingling" screams of a man and a woman before the four gunshots.
Barry Roux, for the defence, will make his main closing argument on Friday. But he took advantage of an extension to the court day on Thursday to point out what he called "mistakes" in the state's version.
He told the court that the original investigating officer, Hilton Botha, told "blatant lies" and argued that police had moved crucial evidence at the scene, saying that the defence would show the judge a photograph of one of the officers with his hand on a plug.
Friday's hearing is likely to focus on the timeline of events around the shooting, amid claims by Roux that the state's case "takes a nosedive" over the timing of the gunshots.
The state says the four shots were fired at 3.17am; the defence says this noise was the cricket bat breaking down the toilet door, and earlier sounds heard by neighbours were the shots.
The state has not provided an alternative explanation for the earlier noises, but its argument that neighbours heard female screams rests on the fatal shots being fired no earlier than 3.17am. The court has heard that Steenkamp would have been unable to cry out once she had been shot.
For the first time since the trial began in March, the fathers of Pistorius and Steenkamp were in the Pretoria courthouse. Pistorius is said to be estranged from his father, Henke, and Steenkamp's father, Barry, has been ill.
As well as the murder charge, Pistorius is also charged with having committed other offences – of discharging a firearm in a public place and illegal possession of ammunition. These alleged offences, argues the state, show a pattern of behaviour in which the athlete acts recklessly and does not take responsibility for his actions.
Pistorius denies all the charges laid against him.