Oscar Pistorius back in court
2013-02-22 09:37
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See all the latest pictures from the fourth day of Oscar Pistorius's bid to secure bail at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court.
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Pretoria - Oscar Pistorius 's lawyer and family arrived at
the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Friday to attend the fourth day of his bail hearing.
His brother Carl took a seat near him in court as they
waited for proceedings to begin. The State and his defence are set to argue over
whether he would be a flight risk and whether there were exceptional
circumstances to justify his release.
A man and a woman arrived outside court carrying a poster in
support of the double amputee who went on to become an Olympic athlete running
on carbon fibre blades.
"Oscar we trust you and your love for Reeva" read
one, with newspaper reports covering the story stuck under it.
Pistorius is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, model
and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp , in a shooting at his home on 14 February.
Pistorius has denied deliberately shooting her and has said,
in an affidavit, that he thought there was a burglar when he fired shots at the
bathroom door, killing her.
'Exceptional circumstances'
A new investigating officer, Lieutenant General Vinesh kumar
Moonoo, was appointed to the case on Thursday after it emerged that the
previous one, Warrant Officer Hilton Botha , himself faces attempted murder
charges.
Magistrate Desmond Nair will have to decide whether he was
provided with evidence showing "exceptional circumstances" that it is
in the interests of justice to grant Pistorius bail, after saying the
application would be heard in terms of schedule six of the Criminal Procedure
Act.
Schedule six denotes an "extremely serious"
offence.
Pistorius's advocate Barry Roux has asked that Nair drop
this to schedule five, a "serious" offence, which could increase
Pistorius's chance of being granted bail.
He would also have to decide whether Pistorius, an
international athlete, could be a flight risk.
On Thursday Nair asked questions relating to a firearm discharged
accidentally in public and reports on altercations, which relate to public
conduct.
The application was expected to continue at 10:00.
- See News24's Pistorius Special Report .
- Are you there? Send us your eyewitness accounts and photos .
- SAPA
