Oscar Evaluation Ready for Submission to Court

The trial of Oscar Pistorius, who is charged with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013, is due to resume tomorrow, Monday June 30, in the North Gauteng High Court.

The story that divided us into those who didn’t believe a word he said and those who gave him posies outside court, has all but died since Judge Thokozile Masipa ordered that he undergo evaluation at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria.

Her ruling came after a request from state advocate Gerrie Nel in response to the testimony of an expert witness for the defence, forensic psychiatrist Dr Merryll Vorster who found that Oscar suffered from a generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

On May 26, Oscar was controversially admitted as an outpatient and all’s been quiet on the news front for the duration of the evaluation, other than a news flash before this weekend that a psychiatrist who evaluated Oscar had suffered a heart attack.

A panel of three psychiatrists and a psychologist observed, tested and evaluated Oscar’s mental health over a four-week period.

The report is believed to have been ready since Thursday and will be submitted to the judge tomorrow. There’s been no official statement whether it will be read into the court record tomorrow.

In the event that Oscar has been found fit to stand trial, defence advocate Barry Roux has indicated he will call three more witnesses before closing his case.

Then everyone’s hoping for a speedy end to what’s been a protracted trial under the scrutiny of world media.