Tuesday’s Surprises in Oscar Trial

It was a day of surprises on Tuesday in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria where the usual suspects were gathered for the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

Chief Prosecutor Gerrie Nel abruptly ended his cross-examination of the defendant, and Defence Advocate Barry Roux spent a mere nine minutes in re-examination. Nel had given nothing away at the start of the day to suggest he would end his cross within a few hours, other than stating he’d complete his cross by the end of the week.

Leading up to his bombshell closing, Nel seemed impatient, angry and irritated with the defendant who still appears to arouse some sympathy from the judge (who Oscar perhaps too frequently refers to during his testimony) – but don’t be fooled, Judge Thokozile Masipa has pronounced some very harsh judgments of late.

Nel’s five-day interrogation ended before 11am but by then he’d savaged Oscar’s claims, maintaining his reputation for being a “pitbull”.

He ended with a strident summing up of the State’s version of events. In short, Nel accused Oscar of deliberately firing four shots through the toilet door whilst knowing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was behind it. Nel insisted the screams the neighbours had heard belonged to the victim as she tried to escape from Oscar.

He also said Oscar had shown no remorse until he realised what he’d done, though I wonder at this logic – doesn’t remorse always come with realisation?

There were many other disagreements between the prosecutor and the defendant including how dark the room was; whether Reeva’s jeans were inside-out or not and whether they were on the bed or on the floor; where Oscar found Reeva’s body and whether the magazine rack moved.

Perhaps Roux will return to Nel’s summary when he resumes re-examination today but I can only presume that yesterday he was as surprised as the rest of us at completion of cross – alternately he decided to give himself the night to regroup with his team.

The best Roux could offer to reverse some of the damage done was to ask Oscar to read Reeva’s Valentine’s card, which professed: “I think today is a good day to tell you I love you.”

Of course Oscar blubbed. The problem with this – be it genuine or feigned – is the public has grown wary of Oscar’s tears and vomiting so if his counsel is behind it, perhaps they’ll tell him to go easy on the emotional outbursts.

From their facial expressions, I’d guess that Oscar’s siblings know the seriousness of their brother’s muddled answers under pressure. He has said he acted in self-defence against a perceived intruder; that it was accidental and also that his actions were irrational.

Forensic geologist Roger Dixon began his testimony in support of Oscar, announcing some of his tests were conducted the night before when Oscar was still under oath. I wonder whether this was legally permissible but no doubt Gerrie Nel will pick up on this today.

Proceedings began at 9;30 this morning with Judge Thokozile Masipa ruling in favour of Nel’s request for a postponement at the end of proceedings tomorrow until May 5. Advocate Roux did not oppose his application.