Defence slams prosecution claims in Pistorius case
Print Edition
OSCAR Pistorius’s defence lawyer said the “cold facts” did not prove the sports star had intended to murder lover Reeva Steenkamp, as he launched a final bid yesterday to save the “Blade Runner” from life in prison.
In his closing argument, fiery defence lawyer Barry Roux rubbished the prosecution’s claim that Pistorius deliberately shot 29-year-old with hollow point bullets after a Valentine’s Day row last year, saying the evidence was “circumstantial.”
The gripping five-month murder trial that has played out like a soap opera — broadcast around the world — was adjourned after Judge Thokozile Masipa set September 11 as the date for the judgement.
In a last-ditch plea to the court, Roux sought to show there was enough doubt about the state’s case to make a murder conviction impossible.
He said the evidence suggested the 27-year-old Paralympian should never have faced a murder trial, but rather the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
“The failure of the state to present that evidence leaves one big question mark,” said Roux, “that’s the failure of the state’s case.”
But Roux admitted that Pistorius should be found guilty of discharging a firearm in a Johannesburg restaurant, one of three gun-related charges he faces. Pistorius had pleaded not guilty to those charges. “He’s guilty my lady, guilty on the first alternative, that he negligently used that firearm,” said Roux.
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