05-05-2014, 10:44 AM
TRIAL RESUMES -- DEFENSE WITNESSES TESTIFY
Rioux called Johan Stander and his daughter Carice to the stand today.
Johan was the manager of the estates and a neighbor of Pistorius. He was the man who Pistorius called after the shooting and he and his daughter were the people that security guard Baba followed into the house.
Pistorius neighbor Johan Stander made an impassioned defense of Pistorius on the stand as he described what he saw that night.
Snip:
"His commitment to save the young lady's life -- when he put his finger in the young lady's mouth ... how he begged her to stay alive. ... I saw the truth that morning. I saw it. And I feel it," said Stander.
"Please, please, please, come to my house. I've shot Reeva. I thought she was an intruder. Please, please, please, come quick," Pistorius begged Stander, the defense witness testified.
Stander's daughter Carice Stander Viljoen testified next.
Viljoen began her time on the stand by testifying to hearing a man shouting "help, help, help!" the night of the killing.
"My heart was pounding so fast. I was very afraid," she said, adding that she pulled her covers over her head.
"He was frantic," she said of Pistorius, pleading: "Carice, please, Carice, please, can we just get her to the hospital?"
Viljoen herself then broke down in tears on the stand, prompting Judge Thokozile Masipa to offer her a break. She declined, apologizing and saying she just needed a minute.
"He was begging me to put her in the car and take her to the hospital," she said when she recovered, her voice faltering.
But Steenkamp was pronounced dead at the scene after an ambulance arrived, Viljoen said.
Viljoen was afraid Pistorius would kill himself after Steenkamp was declared dead, she said, adding that she ran upstairs, shouting after him when he went to get Steenkamp's handbag for ID.
Her voice cracked as she described her fear, but the athlete came back with the bag a moment later.
Ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/05/world/...ius-trial/
--------------------------------------
There are about 10 more defense witnesses expected to testify before closing arguments begin.
Rioux called Johan Stander and his daughter Carice to the stand today.
Johan was the manager of the estates and a neighbor of Pistorius. He was the man who Pistorius called after the shooting and he and his daughter were the people that security guard Baba followed into the house.
Pistorius neighbor Johan Stander made an impassioned defense of Pistorius on the stand as he described what he saw that night.
Snip:
"His commitment to save the young lady's life -- when he put his finger in the young lady's mouth ... how he begged her to stay alive. ... I saw the truth that morning. I saw it. And I feel it," said Stander.
"Please, please, please, come to my house. I've shot Reeva. I thought she was an intruder. Please, please, please, come quick," Pistorius begged Stander, the defense witness testified.
Stander's daughter Carice Stander Viljoen testified next.
Viljoen began her time on the stand by testifying to hearing a man shouting "help, help, help!" the night of the killing.
"My heart was pounding so fast. I was very afraid," she said, adding that she pulled her covers over her head.
"He was frantic," she said of Pistorius, pleading: "Carice, please, Carice, please, can we just get her to the hospital?"
Viljoen herself then broke down in tears on the stand, prompting Judge Thokozile Masipa to offer her a break. She declined, apologizing and saying she just needed a minute.
"He was begging me to put her in the car and take her to the hospital," she said when she recovered, her voice faltering.
But Steenkamp was pronounced dead at the scene after an ambulance arrived, Viljoen said.
Viljoen was afraid Pistorius would kill himself after Steenkamp was declared dead, she said, adding that she ran upstairs, shouting after him when he went to get Steenkamp's handbag for ID.
Her voice cracked as she described her fear, but the athlete came back with the bag a moment later.
Ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/05/world/...ius-trial/
--------------------------------------
There are about 10 more defense witnesses expected to testify before closing arguments begin.