Day 8: Inside the Oscar Pistorius trial

A wrap of all the court proceedings on one page

Summary of court proceedings from 'Day 8' of Oscar trial - Tymon Smith

The processing of evidence and the competence of the South African Police Service’s forensics department came under close scrutiny during the last session of day eight of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

During cross examination by the defence team’s Advocate Barry Roux, forensic analyst Colonel Johannes Vermeulen admitted that between the time that the broken pieces of Pistorius' toilet door were reassembled at the scene on March 8 last year, and April 30, when Vermeulen did tests on the door, new marks had appeared on the door.

Pistorius fired four shots through the toilet door in the early morning of February 14 last year, killing Steenkamp.

In his affidavit submitted during his bail application last year, the Paralympian had maintained that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder and had only realised his error after he had fired four times at the toilet.

He stated that he then attempted to break down the door with a cricket bat.

Vermeulen was also unable to explain why splinters from the breaking of the door by the cricket bat did not form part of his analysis despite the fact that they could be clearly seen lying next to the door in a photograph taken during the forensic analyst’s investigation.

Vermeulen could also not explain why, after concluding that a mark could not absolutely be shown to have been made by the cricket bat, he did not test to see whether it might have been made by Pistorius' prosthetic leg kicking against the door.

He said that the investigating officer had not asked him to consider Pistorius's prosthetic legs in relation to the marks on the door.

Vermeulen also told the court that he was not a tool mark expert and was assigned the task of investigating the marks on the door despite the fact that there are several tool mark experts in the forensic unit.

Vermeulen's cross-examination will continue tomorrow morning.

Forensic report short of 'stumps' theory

A police forensic analyst was grilled on why he excluded some of his conclusions from a report on the fatal shooting of Reeva Steenkamp.

Colonel Johannes Vermeulen told the High Court in Pretoria he did not think this was an issue. His case file was also already closed.

Vermeulen was testifying about a cricket bat in the murder trial of paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who is a double amputee.

Pistorius has said he used the bat to break down a locked toilet door through which he shot Steenkamp last year.

Barry Roux, SC, for Pistorius, asked Vermeulen why he had not said in his report the marks on the door indicated Pistorius was on his stumps when he bashed at the door.

Vermeulen said he did not think this was an issue.

Pistorius said in his bail application he was on his stumps when he fired four shots through the door. He said he put his prosthetic legs before he bashed at the door with the cricket bat.

Vermeulen said he was only asked to determine if the marks on the door related to the cricket bat.

"I was not asked to determine whether Mr Pistorius was wearing his prosthetics or not and that is why it is not in my evidence-in-chief."

He said he had mentioned it as an aside to prosecutor Gerrie Nel at a meeting in November "not knowing that it was an issue".

"And then Mr Nel pointed out to me that there is discrepancy with his statement."

Roux grilled Vermeulen on why he had not filed a report and he said: "By that time my case file was already closed."

But he had discussed it with Nel who had as far as he knew passed it on to the defence and he felt to make another report was "not necessary".

He said it had already been confirmed by officer Mangena on April 30 2012 that Pistorius was not on his prosthetic legs so he thought it was "never an issue".

Pistorius is charged with deliberately shooting dead his girlfriend in his Pretoria house on February 14 last year.

He also faces two charges under the Firearms Act.

Forensics show Oscar was on stumps

Police forensic expert Lt-Col Johannes Vermeulen, testified that he had a consultation with prosecutor Gerrie Nel last November about the door.

Murder-accused Oscar Pistorius was probably on his stumps when he struck with a cricket bat at a toilet door between him and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.

Police forensic expert Lt-Col Johannes Vermeulen, testified that he had a consultation with prosecutor Gerrie Nel last November about the door.

"[I] mentioned that marks on the door are actually consistent with him not having his legs on and I suspect it must be similar to the height that he was when he fired the first shots."

His shoulder height was measured at around 1.25m.

Pistorius is a double-amputee below the knees and went on to become a gold-medal winning paralympian and Olympic Games competitor using prosthetic blades.

The court has heard that he slept with his "legs" next to his bed.

He has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Steenkamp on Valentine's Day morning 2013 as well as a number of charges under the Firearms Act.

He fired four shots through the toilet door and said at his bail hearing that it was because he thought there was an intruder in there.

During his bail hearing last year, he said he was on his stumps at the time and felt fearful.

He said when he reached the bed Steenkamp was not there and he realised it could have been Steenkamp in the toilet.

"... I tried to open the toilet door but it was locked. I rushed back into the bedroom and opened the sliding door exiting onto the balcony and screamed for help.

"I put on my prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom and tried to kick the toilet door open.

"I think I must then have turned on the lights. I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cricket bat to bash open the toilet door."

Cricket bat mark on toilet door examined

A forensic investigator on Wednesday used Oscar Pistorius's cricket bat to demonstrate how he would have struck the toilet door through which he had shot Reeva Steenkamp.

State witness Lt-Col Johannes Vermeulen asked Judge Thokozile Masipa if he could take his jacket off and get out of the witness box in court GD of the High Court in Pretoria.

He took the cricket bat, a Lazer English Willow Club Plus with several signatures on it, and took up position at the toilet door which had been set up next to the witness box. It was the actual door removed from Pistorius's home.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked Vermeulen to swing the bat as though he wanted to strike the brown, wooden door.

The point where the bat touched the door was higher than the mark made when Pistorius struck the door with the bat.

Vermeulen had to enlist the help of a police officer and Col Ian van der Nest to measure the height of the marks with a measuring tape.

The exisiting mark, indicated with a white sticker, was 1.53m. The point where Vermeulen would have connected with the door was about 1.85m.

To make the mark at 1.53m he would have had to bend over and swing the bat.

"It's quite an uncomfortable position," said Vermeulen.

He then got onto his knees and swung the bat again. There was laughter as he struck the door with a hard tap, instead of the soft knock he had intended. The point where the bat met the door was around 1.25m, suggesting Pistorius may have been on his stumps at the time.

Pistorius mostly sat with his head down, busy with something on his lap as Vermeulen gave his demonstration.

Vermeulen is the commander of the material analysis sub-section at the forensic science laboratory.

He was testifying about the cricket bat Pistorius use to bash open the door of his toilet, and about the door itself, through which he shot Reeva Steenkamp.

He told the court he had more than 29 years of experience in scientific analysis and completed almost 1400 forensic investigations.

Pistorius is accused of the murder of model and law graduate Steenkamp on February 14 last year. He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public.

He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at Tasha's in January 2013. On September 30, 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.

Forensic investigator takes the stand

A senior police officer at the forensic science laboratory took the stand during Oscar Pistorius's murder trial in the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Lt-Col Johannes Vermeulen is the commander of the material analysis sub-section, he said to questions from prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

He was expected to testify about the cricket bat Pistorius used to bash open the door of his toilet, and about the door itself, through which he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He told the court he had more than 29 years of experience in scientific analysis and had completed almost 1400 forensic investigations.

Pistorius is accused of the murder of model and law graduate Steenkamp on February 14 last year. He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public.

He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at Tasha's in January 2013.

Pistorius drove at 'over 200km/h'

Oscar Pistorius drove at over 200km/h on a trip to the Vaal two years ago, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.

As Pistorius drove, his friend Darren Fresco took a picture of the speedometer with his cellphone, Fresco said to questioning by prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

"How fast were you going?" Nel asked.

Fresco, an IT network engineer with collar-length hair, paused for several seconds.

"Over 200," he said, without looking at Pistorius, who was passing notes to his legal team.

Fresco, Pistorius and the athlete's then girlfriend Samantha Taylor drove to the Vaal in September 2012 to spend a day with friends. On the way back Fresco drove, also speeding, at one point going 260km/h.

Nel asked Fresco if Pistorius asked him to slow down or complained about the speed he was going.

"No, he did not," said Fresco.

During the trip Pistorius sat with his gun between his legs. It was not in a holster, Fresco said.

Pistorius is accused of the murder of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp on February 14 last year.

He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public.

He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at Tasha's in January 2013.

On September 30, 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.

The door, the door, the door! The door and toilet seat are 'witnesses' in court today

A mock-up toilet cubicle was set up in the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday, on the eighth day of Oscar Pistorius's murder trial.

The white square cubicle with a waist-high wall has a brown wooden door that looks like it has been repaired.

Speculation was that it could be the door through which Pistorius fired the shots that killed Reeva Steenkamp.

The cubicle was set up on the side of the court where the witness stand is. Two rectangular white stickers were visible on the door, one near the top and the other above the door handle.

Barry Roux, for Pistorius, and the paralympian stood behind the construction with their arms folded, talking before proceedings started.

Pistorius covered his mouth as he spoke. The accused, dressed in a black suit, had entered the court building without his usual entourage to escort him in.

He stood in the dock chatting to his lawyer Kenny Oldwage. Pistorius family members, including his uncle Arnold Pistorius, started arriving after 9.10am.

Oldwage and Roux then huddled in front of the door, talking and then called other members of their legal team over.

The cross-examination of State witness Darren Fresco,who was with Pistorius when two shots went off -- one in September 2012 and another January 2013 -- was expected to resume on Wednesday.

Pistorius is on trial for the murder of Steenkamp, who was shot through a locked bathroom door of his Pretoria home on February 14 last year. He said he had mistaken her for an intruder.

Swazis come to Oscar trial, hoping to seek legal advice from experts on Pistorius's case

A group of Swazi nationals gathered outside the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday morning hoping to get legal advice from one of the lawyers working on Oscar Pistorius's murder case.

They were hoping to resolve a land dispute case involving their chief, prince MC Dlamini, who is a relative of Swaziland's King Mswati, and another man, said an induna who was part of the group and did not want to be named.

"This man is living on the prince's land and they want him to go," said the induna.

The induna did not know the name of the lawyer they wanted to see, but he said it was not Barry Roux, Pistorius's lawyer.

"They have been sent by the prince to come and listen how do they talk this case," the man said.

The group consisted of about 30 people, from Carolina in Mpumalanga, and mainly women. They had orange and white wraps with black and white images of Mswati printed on them draped over their shoulders, carried knobkerries and sang.

"They are asking who is fighting for the land," the man said when asked what they were singing about.

When asked why there were more women there, he laughed and said: "Because they are braver then men and when they want a thing they get it."

Pistorius's trial enters its eighth day on Wednesday.

Day eight for Pistorius case - Sapa

Oscar Pistorius will be back in the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday following testimony by his friend on day seven of the trial.

Darren Fresco testified that the "Blade Runner" was passionate about guns and had recklessly fired a shot from a car, and another inside a packed restaurant.

Fresco said he swore at Pistorius in shock when the paralympian fired a shot through the open sun roof of the car they were travelling in on an outing to the Vaal River.

"I apologise My Lady, but I asked him if he was fucking mad," Fresco, who was driving, told the Court when State prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked how he reacted.

In response Pistorius "just laughed" he said.

According to Fresco, Pistorius was furious at the time because a policeman, who had stopped them for speeding, had picked up his pistol after seeing it lying on the seat.

Pistorius told the policeman "you can't just touch another man's gun," he said.

Fresco also testified that, at Pistorius's urging, he had lied for him and taken the blame when after the paralympian sprinter took his firearm and accidentally set it off in Tashas restaurant in Johannesburg in January last year.

Pistorius is facing a charge of premeditated murder over the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year.

He has pleaded not guilty.

The State has also charged him with firearm offences and suggested that the restaurant incident showed the accused to be a man reluctant to take responsibility for his actions.

• Click here for Oscar trial proceedings of DAY 1

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• Click here for Oscar trial proceedings of DAY 3

• Click here for Oscar trial proceedings of DAY 4

• Click here for Oscar trial proceedings of DAY 5

• Click here for Oscar trial proceedings of DAY 6

• Click here for Oscar trial proceedings of DAY 7

• Click here for PICTURES of Oscar Pistorius in court