[MUST READ & SHARE] Pistorius lawyer says ‘cold facts’ do not prove murder via @iKanzee_RR

Oscar Pistorius’s defence lawyer said Friday
the “cold facts” did not prove the star sprinter
had intended to kill his model girlfriend, as he
launched a final bid to save the “Blade
Runner” from life in prison.
In his closing argument, fiery defence lawyer
Barry Roux sought to pick apart the
prosecution’s case that his famous client had
deliberately murdered 29-year-old Reeva
Steenkamp after an argument in the early
hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.
The gripping five-month murder trial that has
at times played out like a soap opera —
broadcast around the world — reaches its
finale Friday ahead of Judge Thokozile
Masipa’s verdict, which could come within
weeks.
Making his last-ditch argument to the court,
Roux accused police and prosecutors of
ignoring evidence from Pistorius’s upmarket
Pretoria home that did not support its
“circumstantial” case, a day after the
prosecution painted the athlete as a liar.
“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.”
He said the evidence in hand suggested the
27-year-old Paralympian should never have
faced a murder trial, but rather the lesser
charge of culpable homicide.
The defence has sought to portray Pistorius as
a “highly-vulnerable individual” obsessed with
safety — a result of a difficult childhood and
his disability — in a country with a sky-high
crime rate.
During the trial Pistorius underwent
psychiatric evaluation and an ensuing report
said he was suffering post-traumatic stress
disorder, but was not suffering any mental
illness that could prevent him being held
criminally responsible for his actions.
“That constant reminder, I do not have legs, I
cannot run away, I am not the same, that’s
with him, he can’t pretend, he can’t pretend
that it’s fine,” said Roux on Friday.
- ‘Deceitful witness’-
On Thursday Pistorius, a double amputee
known as the “Blade Runner” for his prosthetic
legs, was branded a “deceitful” witness by
prosecutor Gerrie Nel in his final arguments.
Pistorius’s efforts to concoct an alibi had led
to a “snowball effect” of lies requiring more
lies to back them up, Nel said.
The athlete says he killed Steenkamp by firing
four shots through a locked toilet door after
mistaking her for an intruder.
The prosecution argues that he deliberately
killed her after an argument.
“In an attempt to tailor his version to support
his plea explanation, he tangled himself in a
web,” said Nel.
Summing up the state’s meticulous 200-page
review of evidence, Nel said Pistorius was
guilty of “a baker’s dozen” of misleading
statements.
Nel addressed the court for most of the day
on Thursday before the defence had a brief
opportunity to outline the counter-arguments
it will present on Friday.
Roux has indicated that he will focus on the
timeline of events the night of the shooting,
from disputed sounds of gunshots and equally
disputed sounds of screams heard by
neighbours.
Pistorius, who rose to international fame when
he competed alongside able-bodied runners at
the 2012 London Olympics, has at times sat
weeping and vomiting in the dock as grisly
details of Steenkamp’s death were presented.
Once a poster boy for disabled sport, he has
been stripped of lucrative endorsement deals
by global brands and has withdrawn from all
competition.
He faces 25 years in jail if he is convicted of
premeditated murder. He also faces three
separate gun-related charges.
Even if he is not found guilty of premeditated
murder, Pistorius could still be convicted and
jailed on alternative charges of culpable
homicide, or manslaughter.
Legal analysts say the athlete, once revered
for his triumph over disability, did damage his
case by appearing to offer two different
defences.
Nearly 40 witnesses ranging from a jilted ex-
girlfriend to a forensic geologist testified,
creating a hefty record with thousands of
pages.
Such was the intensity of the public gaze that
some witnesses, including Pistorius, refused to
testify in front of cameras, while some refused
to take the stand at all.