The trial of Oscar Pistorius for the alleged murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp will resume this morning with the athlete’s defence team expected to close its case in the coming days and a date for the judgement to be set. The last witness for the defence is Professor Wayne Derman, the team doctor for South Africa’s Paralympics team of which Pistorius, 27, was part, and an expert in the psychology of disability. Prof Derman told the court that Pistorius was among the most anxious of the athletes he worked with, and that disabled people are prone to a more exaggerated “fight or flight” mode when startled. He said this could explain Pistorius’s dramatic reaction in shooting through the lavatory door of his home four times at what he said he thought was an intruder. Instead, he killed Reeva Steenkamp, 29, his girlfriend of four months. Gerrie Nel, the chief prosecutor, has accused Prof Derman of being too close to the athlete to be impartial and suggested that Pistorius’s actions suggest he was thinking during the shooting on February 14 last year, rather than reacting automatically to a threat, as has been suggested. The state say Pistorius killed his girlfriend deliberately after a row.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 02:36:11 +0000
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