Blade runner a 鈥榖roken鈥 man, expert tells court
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OSCAR Pistorius is a “broken” man whose mental state has deteriorated over the last two years and he should be hospitalized and not jailed, a clinical psychologist testified for his defense yesterday on the opening day of the former track star’s sentencing hearing for murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Prosecutors immediately challenged that opinion of Pistorius in their cross-examination, charging that the double-amputee Olympic athlete confronted a police witness at the courthouse on an earlier occasion.
“Blade runner’’ Pistorius is currently under house arrest after serving one year of a five-year sentence after being found guilty in 2014 of manslaughter for killing Steenkamp in 2013. But the manslaughter conviction was overturned last year by South Africa’s Supreme Court, which convicted Pistorius of the more serious charge of murder, which carries longer jail sentences.
Pistorius’s lawyers are arguing for some leniency from the judge when she decides his sentence. South Africa has a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for murder, although a judge can reduce that in some circumstances. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to run through Friday.
Judge Thokozile Masipa, who initially acquitted Pistorius of murder at his trial, will decide his new sentence.
Called by Pistorius’ defense lawyers, clinical psychologist Jonathan Scholtz said Pistorius was “quite ill” and struggled with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Scholtz evaluated Pistorius in 2014, during his murder trial, and again in May this year.
“Mr Pistorius’s condition has worsened since 2014,” Scholtz testified.
He said Pistorius was now “despondent and lethargic, disinvested, and leaves his future in the hands of God.”
Scholtz said he did not think Pistorius would be able to testify at the sentencing hearings because of his psychological problems.
Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel pounced on that at the start of his cross-examination of Scholtz, pointing out that Pistorius had recently given a TV interview, and yet claimed to be unable to testify in court.
Prosecutors have depicted Pistorius, one of the world’s most celebrated athletes at his height, as an arrogant figure with a sense of entitlement and a love of guns.
Yesterday, Nel subjected Scholtz to sharp questioning, getting him to acknowledge that someone suffering from the same stress disorder as Pistorius could become irritated and agitated.
Nel referred to an incident involving Pistorius and a police witness, apparently trying to show that Pistorius was not a changed, remorseful man and could still be a potential danger to others.
Nel quoted Pistorius as saying to the police officer: “Please give us space and privacy. You didn’t do your job in any case.”
The prosecutor said the defense team apologized for the spat.
Dressed in a dark suit, Pistorius sat calmly on a bench during the testimony, mostly with his head down. During an adjournment before Nel began his cross-examination of Scholtz, Pistorius spoke to defense lawyer Barry Roux and made a call on a cellphone.
Barry and June Steenkamp, the parents of the model Pistorius killed by shooting multiple times through a toilet door in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, were also present in court.
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