By: Farai Diza
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel accused Oscar Pistorius on Monday of faking emotional distress on the witness stand.
He contended this was happening because Pistorius knew his version of why he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp did not hold water.
As the disabled Olympic athlete broke down under cross examination in the Pretoria High Court, Nel asked point blank: “Mr Pistorius you are not using your emotional state as an escape are you?”
Pistorius, who risks a life sentence for premeditated murder, protested that he had become emotional because he was recalling a traumatic event.
In his fourth day of facing questions from Nel, Pistorius insisted he had not intended to fire his 9mm pistol when he sent four shots into a locked toilet door in his house on Valentines Day last year, fatally wounding the 29 year old Steenkamp.
Pistorius said his arm had not been extended, but bent when he pulled the trigger, adding: “I didn’t intend to fire, but I fired. I fired my fire arm out of fear, by accident.”
The prosecutor repeatedly told Pistorius that he had strayed far from his evidence in chief on many points, including where he had placed the electric fan said he had moved around the bed before hearing a suspicious noise.
He contended this was happening because Pistorius knew his version of why he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp did not hold water.
As the disabled Olympic athlete broke down under cross examination in the Pretoria High Court, Nel asked point blank: “Mr Pistorius you are not using your emotional state as an escape are you?”
Pistorius, who risks a life sentence for premeditated murder, protested that he had become emotional because he was recalling a traumatic event.
In his fourth day of facing questions from Nel, Pistorius insisted he had not intended to fire his 9mm pistol when he sent four shots into a locked toilet door in his house on Valentines Day last year, fatally wounding the 29 year old Steenkamp.
Pistorius said his arm had not been extended, but bent when he pulled the trigger, adding: “I didn’t intend to fire, but I fired. I fired my fire arm out of fear, by accident.”
The prosecutor repeatedly told Pistorius that he had strayed far from his evidence in chief on many points, including where he had placed the electric fan said he had moved around the bed before hearing a suspicious noise.
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