Pistorius to take stand as trial resumes

Oscar Pistorius is expected to take the stand, as his trial resumes this week in a defence relying on forensic experts and South Africa’s notoriously high crime rate to explain how and why he shot dead his girlfriend.

The first defence witness today will be Jan Botha, a pathologist, rather than Pistorius, according to Brian Webber, one of the athlete’s lawyers.

“We don’t have a choice,” said Webber. “The pathologist has personal reasons for why he has to take the stand first.”

Court resumes after Judge Thokozile Masipa called a week adjournment in the murder trial after one of her assessors, a judicial assistant, fell ill. Webber said the week-long break was anything but restful.

Pistorius will likely be the next to testify after Botha, marking the first time he speaks in public since the killing, besides pleading “not guilty, milady,” and the occasional “yes, milady” to Judge Masipa.

The 27-year-old Paralympian, who has denied the murder charge, has to explain why he fired four shots at model and aspiring television actress Reeva Steenkamp through a locked toilet door in his home on Valentine’s Day last year.

To do this, he has hired an extensive team of forensic experts to describe the events in the early hours of February 14, 2013, including an American animation firm that will visually depict the crime scene using three-dimensional computer generated images.

The experts will have to cast doubt on the state’s version of events, including testimony from witnesses who said they heard a woman screaming on the night of the murder, which would show Pistorius knew his target was Steenkamp.

In the five weeks since the trial began, Pistorius has in turn appeared fragile and annoyed, frequently crying in court and being physically sick when the gruesome details of Steenkamp’s death were discussed. How the double amputee known as the “Blade Runner” will hold up during the state’s cross-examination may prove a turning point.

Throughout the state’s evidence, the defence has offered an alternative version of events.

In his cross-examination of state ballistic expert Chris Mangena in March, defence lawyer Barry Roux suggested Pistorius fired two double-tap shots, making it impossible for Steenkamp to scream. Roux also suggested it wasn’t Steenkamp the neighbours heard, but Pistorius, saying when the Paralympic gold medallist is anxious his voice pitches high “like a woman”.

As the only surviving witness to the events inside his house, Pistorius is in the best position to demonstrate he was in a loving relationship with Reeva Steenkamp and that her death was a tragic accident.

His version will likely be punitive self-defence, where he genuinely believed there was a threat — an intruder — and he acted to avoid danger. The defence team will argue Pistorius acted as a reasonable person in the circumstances.

It helps his case that there is an uptick in violent crime in South Africa. For the first time in six years, there is an increase in both the number and rate of murders and attempted murders in 2013.