- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: ATHLETIC: Nel testing Pistorius' credibility - legal expert
- Date: 10th April 2014
- Summary: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (APRIL 10, 2014) (REUTERS) ADVOCATE, MANNIE WITZ, AND ATTORNEY, RIAAN LOUW, WALKING INTO COURTHOUSE PEOPLE SEATED OUTSIDE COURT (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADVOCATE, MANNIE WITZ, SAYING: "The cross-examination's been very through and very testing. Advocate Nel is going through each and every aspect of the matter, he's testing his credibility, he's testing
- Embargoed: 25th April 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA664XRJYPDQZRA1W9RFGWH5CP5
- Story Text: A South African legal expert says the prosecution in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial are trying to portray the athlete as an unreliable witness.
A South African legal expert said on Thursday (April 10) that Oscar Pistorius had been through a gruelling cross-examination in his murder trial, with prosecutors trying to portray the athlete as an unreliable witness.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, whose reputation as one of South Africa's toughest attorneys has earned him the nickname 'The Pitbull', has spent two days cross-examining the Paralympian.
In a period of fierce questioning, Nel accused the Pistorius of failing to take responsibility for his actions and lying to the court.
"The cross-examination's been very through and very testing. Advocate Nel is going through each and every aspect of the matter, he's testing his credibility, he's testing his recollection of events et cetera, and he's putting to him certain inconsistencies, certain contradictions from what he said in the bail affidavit as opposed to his evidence in court and he's putting to him what certain witnesses have said that has not been challenged in court. In other words to show that at the end of the day, the court when weighing up the totality of evidence might consider not accepting his evidence, that he's not a credible, and in fact in certain aspects he's not being truthful with the court, that's what we've seen so far," said South African advocate Mannie Witz outside Pretoria's High Court on Thursday.
The double amputee sprinter, once revered across the world for his triumph over physical adversity, faces life in prison if convicted of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law graduate and model.
He says he shot Steenkamp in a tragic accident, firing at what he thought was an intruder hiding behind a toilet door in his luxury Pretoria home on February 14 last year.
But attorney, Riaan Louw, said South African law was not in Pistorius' favour.
"Well, there's two other charges, the normal charge of murder and then the culpable homicide charge against him, and I think the most preferred one, or then one at which I'm looking, he's got problems at this stage will be the culpable homicide. The reason for that, you only need one percent of negligence in our law to be able to convict a person and I think the State might have at this stage already achieved that," he said.
During much of the trial, Nel has sought to portray Pistorius as an arrogant hot-head who is reckless with firearms and refuses to take responsibility for his actions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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