05-09-2014, 12:57 PM
DEFENSE EXPERT CLAIMS REEVA WASN'T "COWERING"
A ballistics expert called by Pistorius' defense at his murder trial testified that Reeva Steenkamp was falling back in a toilet cubicle in the double-amputee athlete's home when she was hit in the head by the last of the four bullets Pistorius fired through the cubicle door.
![[Image: 0d2b89ff-9aa5-48af-9b9f-1e4e4acde359-460x276.jpeg]](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/5/9/1399631320963/0d2b89ff-9aa5-48af-9b9f-1e4e4acde359-460x276.jpeg)
"She was not sitting yet when the last shot was fired," expert Wollie Wolmarans (pictured above) testified. Wolmarans is a retired South African Police forensics analyst.
Wolmarans' testimony contradicted evidence given by the prosecution's police ballistics expert who said Steenkamp was sitting on a magazine rack and desperately protecting her head with her arms when the last shot struck her.
Both sides say the first shot likely hit Steenkamp in the right hip as she was standing behind the door, causing her to fall.
The painstaking debate over detail reflects the defense's efforts to show that Steenkamp was not arguing with Pistorius after fleeing from him when she was shot in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013 - as the prosecution contends.
Nel battered Wolmarans as the cross-examination began, demanding to know how many different versions of his analysis he gave the defense team, whom he consulted about it and whether he had changed any of his report.
Flustered and occasionally appearing angry, Wolmarans said he had fixed some of the English in his report -- it not being his native language -- but not his conclusions.
He also said he would not have changed his conclusions based on conversations he had over beer with another defense expert, Roger Dixon, because Dixon is not a ballistics expert.
Nel pounced, demanding whether the court should also disregard Dixon's testimony.
Sources:
http://www.kptv.com/story/25471935/pisto...-last-shot
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/09/world/...index.html
==========================
Rioux confirmed that he will finish presenting the defense's case on Tuesday.
Hoping there's a verdict before end of month.
A ballistics expert called by Pistorius' defense at his murder trial testified that Reeva Steenkamp was falling back in a toilet cubicle in the double-amputee athlete's home when she was hit in the head by the last of the four bullets Pistorius fired through the cubicle door.
"She was not sitting yet when the last shot was fired," expert Wollie Wolmarans (pictured above) testified. Wolmarans is a retired South African Police forensics analyst.
Wolmarans' testimony contradicted evidence given by the prosecution's police ballistics expert who said Steenkamp was sitting on a magazine rack and desperately protecting her head with her arms when the last shot struck her.
Both sides say the first shot likely hit Steenkamp in the right hip as she was standing behind the door, causing her to fall.
The painstaking debate over detail reflects the defense's efforts to show that Steenkamp was not arguing with Pistorius after fleeing from him when she was shot in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013 - as the prosecution contends.
Nel battered Wolmarans as the cross-examination began, demanding to know how many different versions of his analysis he gave the defense team, whom he consulted about it and whether he had changed any of his report.
Flustered and occasionally appearing angry, Wolmarans said he had fixed some of the English in his report -- it not being his native language -- but not his conclusions.
He also said he would not have changed his conclusions based on conversations he had over beer with another defense expert, Roger Dixon, because Dixon is not a ballistics expert.
Nel pounced, demanding whether the court should also disregard Dixon's testimony.
Sources:
http://www.kptv.com/story/25471935/pisto...-last-shot
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/09/world/...index.html
==========================
Rioux confirmed that he will finish presenting the defense's case on Tuesday.
Hoping there's a verdict before end of month.