US forensic team working on Pistorius defence

Oscar Pistorius’s lawyers are working with a team of American forensic specialists in the preparation of the double-amputee Olympian’s defence, and will likely counter any evidence given by the nearly 50 police officers and criminal experts that prosecutors could call at his murder trial early next year.

The US forensic team is now in South Africa, Pistorius’s spokeswoman said, although she could not give any details of their identities or areas of expertise, or if they would stay for the trial, which begins in March and has been scheduled to last just over two weeks.

Pistorius will go on trial at the North Gauteng High Court in the South African capital Pretoria from March 3, accused of premeditated murder in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his house on February 14.

The 26-year-old athlete, for years the inspiring poster image of disabled sport, faces a possible life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison if convicted. He could also be convicted of a lesser murder charge that has a 15-year mandatory sentence, or even of culpable homicide or negligent killing, which has a 5-year prison term in South Africa if a firearm is used.

South African police took six months to investigate the shooting before indicting Pistorius in August on charges of murder and illegal possession of ammunition, including nearly 20 forensic experts in their list of over 100 state witnesses for the blockbuster trial.

Pistorius’s lawyers have seven months to prepare his defence.

Prosecutors have said they have witnesses, most likely neighbours, who will testify that they heard a woman scream before the sound of gunshots, insinuating that Pistorius must have known where the 29-year-old Steenkamp was before he fired four shots, hitting her three times and killing her.