Trial of Oscar Pistorius

The trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp and several gun-related charges (The State vs Oscar Pistorius) in the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria opened on 3 March 2014. Pistorius was a leading South African runner who won attention as an athlete with a disability competing at a high level, including at multiple Paralympic Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Steenkamp, a model, had been Pistorius's girlfriend for three months. In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Steenkamp was shot and killed by Pistorius at his Pretoria home. Pistorius acknowledged that he shot Steenkamp, but he said that he mistook her for an intruder. Pistorius was taken into police custody and was formally charged with murder in a Pretoria court on 15 February 2013. The entire trial was broadcast live via audio, and parts of the trial were also broadcast live via television.

On 11–12 September 2014, judge Thokozile Masipa delivered a verdict that Pistorius was not guilty of murder but guilty of the culpable homicide of Steenkamp and reckless endangerment with a firearm at a restaurant. On 21 October 2014, he was sentenced to a maximum of five years for culpable homicide with a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for reckless endangerment.

Pistorius was released on parole on 19 October 2015 after serving one sixth of his sentence. The state appealed the conviction, and in December 2015 the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the conviction for culpable homicide, finding him guilty of murder instead. On 6 July 2016, Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for murder. The state appealed again, this time for a longer sentence. The Supreme Court of Appeal then imposed a sentence of 15 years – with the time he had already served reducing the time to an additional 13 years and five months.

Bail hearing

The bail hearing commenced on 19 February 2013 before Chief Magistrate of Pretoria, Desmond Nair. On the first day of the bail hearing, Magistrate Nair ruled that Pistorius was charged with a Schedule 6 criminal offence, which relates to serious crimes including premeditated murder and requires exceptional circumstances for release on bail.

Both the prosecution and the defence said that Pistorius had fired four shots through a locked toilet door, hitting Steenkamp, who was inside, three times. Based on testimony from Detective Hilton Botha, Prosecutor Gerrie Nel claimed that Pistorius had put on his prosthetic legs, walked across his bedroom to the bathroom, and intentionally shot Steenkamp through the door. Nel argued that the time required for this process was sufficient to establish the alleged murder as premeditated.

Pistorius said that he had thought Steenkamp was in the bed and that the person in the toilet was an intruder, and that he did not put his prosthetic legs on until after firing the shots. Detective Hilton Botha argued that Pistorius was a flight risk and should remain in custody because he had a house in Italy and offshore bank accounts. Defence lawyer Barry Roux denied that Pistorius owned a house in Italy. He also observed that Pistorius' prosthetic legs and his fame meant it was virtually impossible for him to flee without being recognized.Defence seizes on police inconsistencies in Pistorius case, 22 February 2013 ABC News On 22 February 2013, at the conclusion of the four-day bail hearing, Magistrate Nair said that the state had not convinced him that Pistorius posed a flight risk and released him on bail, which was fixed at R1 million (US$113,000).

Replacement of lead detective

Detective Hilton Botha was the first police officer to arrive at the scene of the shooting. On the second day of the hearing, Botha, who was the prosecution's lead witness at the hearing, gave contradictory evidence and admitted to a number of procedural mistakes at the crime scene. He initially said the witness who heard screaming was away but later said the distance was . It was later determined that this witness lived 177 metres away. Botha also said the trajectory of the gunshots indicated that they had been fired downward and directly toward the toilet, which conflicted with Pistorius' statement that he was not wearing his prosthetics at the time.

Botha acknowledged that procedural mistakes had been made during the crime scene investigation and that police had found no evidence inconsistent with the version of events presented by Pistorius.Police: No inconsistency in Pistorius account of killing, USA Today, 20 February 2013 He had to admit the police had overlooked a bullet that hit the toilet bowl and was later discovered by the defence's forensic team, and that investigators had walked through the crime scene without protective boots. He further had to retract statements that testosterone and needles were found in Pistorius's bedroom, after it was shown the substance he found was a herbal remedy.Oscar Pistorius case: Hilton Botha, ex-lead detective, quits, BBC 7 March 2013

The case took a dramatic turn on 22 February 2013, shortly before the trial began after it was disclosed that Botha was facing charges of attempted murder himself. In 2011, Botha along with two other officers, was accused of firing at a taxi with seven passengers inside during a drunken incident. The case had been dropped but was reinstated on 4 February, 10 days before Pistorius shot Steenkamp.Oscar Pistorius case: lead detective Hilton Botha removed from inquiry, BBC, 21 February 2013 Botha was replaced by Vineshkumar Moonoo, described as "the most senior detective" in the South African Police Service.

Trial

The trial commenced on 3 March 2014 in the High Court in Pretoria. There was no jury, as the jury system in South Africa was abolished during the apartheid era. The trial was assigned to judge Thokozile Masipa, who appointed two assessors, Janette Henzen du Toit and Themba Mazibuko, to help her evaluate the case and reach a verdict. In addition to the murder charge, Pistorius also faced a charge of illegal possession of ammunition and two charges of firing a gun in a public space.

Section 35 of the South African Bill of Rights provides: "Every accused person has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right ... to be tried in a language that the accused person understands ... ." At the start of the trial, Masipa told the court that the proceedings would be held in South African English with the assistance of interpreters, and confirmed that Pistorius spoke English. The opening statement of prosecutor Gerrie Nel observed that the murder case against Pistorius was based largely on circumstantial evidence, as there were no eyewitnesses to the incident.

Pistorius' version of events

Pistorius provided an affidavit to the court in which he stated the following:Affidavit of Oscar Pistorius "By about 22h00 on 13 February 2013 we were in our bedroom. She was doing her yoga exercises and I was in bed watching television. My prosthetic legs were off" (para 16.4). "After Reeva finished her yoga exercises she got into bed and we both fell asleep" (16.5). "During the early morning hours of 14 February 2013, I woke up, went onto the balcony to bring the fan in and closed the sliding doors, the blinds and the curtains (16.7). At the trial, the defence said that Pistorius woke up because of the heat and humidity. Steenkamp was already awake and asked him if he was having trouble sleeping. Walking around on his stumps, Pistorius opened the balcony door and brought in a fan to try and cool the room down. While doing this, he heard a noise coming from the bathroom. He thought an intruder had broken into the house. He got his gun from under the bed, and whispered to Steenkamp to call police.Oscar Pistorius on trial: How the events unfolded. The Telegraph, 10 September 2014. "I heard a noise in the bathroom and realised that someone was in the bathroom." (16.7). "I believed that someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on." (16.9) "I grabbed my 9mm pistol from underneath my bed. On my way to the bathroom I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed." (16.10). "I noticed that the bathroom window was open. I realised that the intruder/s was/were in the toilet because the toilet door was closed and I did not see anyone in the bathroom. I heard movement inside the toilet. The toilet is inside the bathroom and has a separate door." (16.11). "It filled me with horror and fear of an intruder or intruders being inside the toilet. I thought he or they must have entered through the unprotected window. As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself. I believed that when the intruder/s came out of the toilet we would be in grave danger. I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps." (16.12). "I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light." (16.13). "When I reached the bed, I realised that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet. I returned to the bathroom calling her name. I tried to open the toilet door but it was locked. I rushed back into the bedroom and opened the sliding door exiting onto the balcony and screamed for help." (16.14).

Pistorius then returned to the bathroom calling out for Reeva as he did so. He said he tried to open the toilet door, but couldn't because it was locked. He then went back into the bedroom on his stumps, opened the balcony door and started screaming for help. He put on his prosthetic legs, and then tried to kick down the toilet door open. When that did not work, he moved back to the bedroom to get his cricket bat. He used the bat to smash holes in the door. One of the door panels broke open enabling him to reach inside and open the door. He found Steenkamp alive, slumped over the toilet.Oscar Pistorius' version of events, Eurosport 20 February 2013

Pistorius was cross examined about his version of events for five days.

Immediately after the shooting

At the trial, Pistorius' neighbour, Johan Stipp, a radiologist, testified that he found Pistorius praying over Steenkamp's body when he went over to help after being woken by what he described as the sound of gunshots and a woman screaming. Stipp testified that the first thing he remembered Pistorius saying when he saw him was "I shot her. I thought she was a burglar. I shot her."

Johan Stander, manager of the estate where Pistorius lived, testified that Pistorius called at 3.18 am saying: "Please, please come to my house. I shot Reeva, I thought she was an intruder. Please, please come quick." He went with his daughter and found Pistorius coming down the stairs with Steenkamp in his arms. He said: "He was broken, he was screaming, he was crying, he was praying, I saw the truth that morning."

Defence case