Delayed start to Pistorius bail hearing
2013-02-20 10:03
Pretoria - Murder-accused athlete Oscar Pistorius had
last-minute consultations with his legal team to prepare for the next phase of
his bail application at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Wednesday morning.
He is charged with shooting dead his model girlfriend Reeva
Steenkamp on Valentine's Day.
He arrived earlier in a police car from cells at the
Brooklyn police station, a blue towel covering his head.
In addition to the bail application, his lawyers would also
have to make a new application to keep him at the police holding cells instead
of a prison, with last week's order to that effect expiring on Wednesday.
Family inside court
His family was already inside the court, his brother Carl, a
likeness of the international athlete, and his sister Aimee among them.
On Tuesday, Carl Pistorius held his hands on his weeping
brother's back as his lawyer, advocate Barry Roux, read out an affidavit on the
events of the night of 13 February and the early hours of 14 February.
At the same time, more than 1 100km away, in Port Elizabeth
in the Eastern Cape, Steenkamp's family were gathered for a private funeral.
Pistorius told how Reeva had slept over and how he had shot
through a toilet door, thinking there was an intruder in the house at the
Silver Wood security estate.
He then realised that Steenkamp had been in the toilet.
He denied the allegation that he had murdered her or that it
was premeditated, as the State alleged.
"I deny the aforesaid [murder] allegation in the
strongest terms," Pistorius said.
After Magistrate Desmond Nair declared the shooting a
Schedule Six offence in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, it will be up to
Pistorius's legal team to show exceptional circumstance why he should be
released on bail.
On Tuesday State prosecutor Gerrie Nel said there was no
possible information to support Pistorius's version that he mistook Steenkamp
for a burglar.
Pistorius, a double amputee, had put on his prosthetic legs
and fired four shots - three hitting Steenkamp.
Nel questioned why a burglar would lock himself in a
bathroom and said: "We say this in itself constitutes premeditated murder
of a burglar."
An extra court room was being set up with live streaming to
accommodate the large crowd of people wanting to watch the proceedings.
- News24's Pistorius Special Report.
- Are you there? Send us your eyewitness accounts and photos.
- SAPA
