1:26 pm
Nel asks who will testify for him.

"My lady I don't meet with every expert my counsel meets with."

He says he has no background in forensics or the background in compiling of information.

Pistorius said that tissues were moved, wires were moved and things were in different positions.

1:25 pm
Nel is saying "what happened to the fans? How were they tampered with?"

Pistorius said that in the statements that were given nobody said that the fans were on.

The fans were also moved, he said, so in that instance they could be disturbed.

He said some items were contaminated, some disturbed and some tampered with. He said this evidence will be demonstrated throughout the trial by specialists.

1:22 pm
Pistorius is now having the term "tampered" explained to him.

Nel says changing something on the scene with the intention of making it look different.

Pistorius said the fans were turned off by someone else so he says, yes, it was tampered with.

One of the officers was also pictured unplugging a fan to plug his cell phone in.

Nel says: "So it was disturbed."

1:21 pm
Pistorius said that tampering, contamination and disturbance are all being used together.

He said he doesn't have all the knowledge of what was tampered with, but says experts will testify what happened.

Nel asks him if it was his case that the fans were tampered with.

The judge intervenes to say it may be Pistorius' plea explanation but he didn't write it.

1:18 pm
Pistorius said that someone moved Reeva's phone.

He said that the outline of blood from the phone showed that the phone had been moved.

He cannot remember where he left the phone, but between pictures taken by police the phone appears to have moved.

He said that people weren't wearing protective clothing and going up and downstairs.

Nel tells him they are talking about tampering, not contamination, saying that he is answering questions he is prepared for.

1:16 pm
Nel: Is it still your version that the scene was tampered with?

Pistorius: "Yes, my lady." He said that his counsel would have experts that would testify about "massive inconsistencies".

Nel: "It's not that simple."

Nel asks him what was tampered with, Pistorius said they can go through the pictures.

Pistorius says that anything that gets changed would bother a person involved.

He said that cellphones had been moved, the gun, the cricket bat discs, the curtains had all been moved.

1:14 pm
Nel said the plea explanation refers to the contamination of the scene saying that is why he pleaded not guilty.

Pistorius said he was pleading not guilty because "what I am accused of did not happen."

Nel is questioning whether the alleged contamination of the scene was a factor he took into account in pleading not guilty.

Pistorius said that the tampering of the scene only became apparent in the scene pictures.

1:11 pm
Nel is talking about his plea explanation.

He said that he will deal with a lot of these but just the one today.

1:09 pm
Nel said that Roux challenged warrant officer Botha about Pistorius' version.

Pistorius said that he didn't say he was outside on the balcony. He said he collected the fan from the balcony.

Nel asks why Roux would challenge Botha on the issue. Pistorius said that Roux had made a mistake in saying that he was on the balcony when he brought the fan in.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

1:31 pm
Pistorius tells the court: "When I leave court I'm extremely tired. I don't really consult with [the experts] much. I've given them my version many, many, many months ago."

A photo is now being shown of the bedroom showing a fan and iPads on the floor.

Nel asks him if he notices anything out of place.

1:28 pm
Nel lets Pistorius continue about the hundreds of notes they have made about where things were moved or changed.

Nel asks him if he is going to answer the question. "Do you still remember what I asked you?", he says.

He forgot.

Nel says he just wants to argue and has recreated the scene.

He reminds him that he asked who the experts are and if he had consulted with them. He said he doesn't know who they are and he has not consulted with them.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

1:45 pm
Pistorius saying that he didn't say the police deliberately moved the fan, but he is saying he didn't place it there.

He says they may have moved it to look at other items in the room.

1:44 pm
Nel accuses Pistorius of lying again asking him whether he unplugged the fans.

Pistorius said he could have pulled it out when he ran to the balcony leading Nel to tell him he is "creating a version".

He said he ran to the bathroom with his prosthetic legs on right where the fans were.

1:39 pm
Pistorius says: "My memory is not very good at the moment… I am defending for the life."

He said that he cannot remember the minute details of something as "insignificant" as where he plugged the fan in.

Nel tells him: "This is not insignificant Mr Pistorius. This will show you are lying."

1:37 pm
Pointing out a set of hair clippers, Nel points out that there was not other place in the plug socket for the second fan.

Pistorius said that the other fan was on the side of the room behind the TV cabinet.

"I don't remember which fan was plugged in which powerpoint."

Nel said that earlier he said both plugs were plugged in at that extension but now he can't remember.

1:34 pm
Nel tells Pistorius that it was brilliant that he knew the albums and times very well. He said he knows the albums and times by heart.

Pistorius said that he knew there were photos that were different.

1:32 pm
Pistorius said that other photos show some things that have moved.

He didn't see the room at the time because it was dark, it is only through other pictures.

A little earlier he said he had made a mistake when he said he had "re-worked" his evidence.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

1:51 pm
Nel changes the subject away from the fans now.

He said "you referred to this incident or this occurence as an accident, is that correct?"

Pistorius responded: "The accident was that I discharged my firearm in the belief that an intruder was coming out to attack me."

He added that he didn't intend to discharge his firearm.

1:48 pm
Pistorius said that there was one fan in his bail explanation but subsequently he said fans.

He said he told his counsel everything. "I've obviously given them a lot more detail since last year."

He wishes he could go back and change the statement.

"I understand I will be taken apart because of that... but that's my evidence. I can't change the truth."

Nel said he has rehearsed that answer.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

2:03 pm
Nel said that he is going to have to show Pistorius something in the bail application before court is adjourned for the day.

Nel reads from the bail application which says: "I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked… I fired a shot at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva."

"Why would you say that?" Nel asks.

Pistorius says it's obvious that he shot at the door. Nel tells him he can't get away.

And court adjourns for the day.

2:00 pm
Nel tells him he is not going to go away.

Pistorius says that it's not just a physical accident or a physical movement of that night. He says that at that time he fired into the toilet door because he thought there was someone coming out to attack him.

Nel repeats the question - is he thinking about the implications of the answer?

Pistorius says of course he is thinking of the implications because it will affect his life.

"Reeva doesn't have a life any more because of what you did," Nel retorts. "Please answer and don't think of implications to you."

1:58 pm
Nel: "Was shooting the gun your only way out?"

Pistorius: "At that moment, I didn't have time to think about what was happening."

He added that it is easy to sit back now and think back to that day and think about what he could have done differently.

He said he had to deal with that situation at the time and there had been people who had been tied up in the estate before.

He heard a noise inside the toilet and thought about what would happen to Reeva.

He realised the scale of the situation and stopped.

Nel asks him why he is emotional and the judge tells him he cannot ask that.

1:55 pm
Nel says we have moved on from the gun being fired by accident.

Nel asks "Did your gun accidentally go off or did you fire at intruders?"

Pistorius says his gun was in position, his finger was on the trigger, he fired his firearm before he had time to think.

1:54 pm
Pistorius is breaking down now. Nel asks him if he is feeling okay.

"No I'm not feeling okay. My life is on the line," he says. He wants to understand the question.

He says he didn't shot at anyone, he thought there was someone in the toilet already.

Pistorius: "I didn't have time to think about what I was doing".

1:53 pm
Nel is now drilling Pistorius on whether it was an accidental discharge of the gun.

Pistorius said he didn't mean to shoot anyone.

He said he didn't have time to think and when he got to the door he wasn't sure if there was someone there.

Nel says that he is not answering the question. He asks if he shot because he was intending to shoot them.

Pistorius said that he shot out of fear, he didn't have time to think, he discharged his firearm.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The State vs Oscar Pretorius (Murder 1)



Trial Day 20

Start 9:30 AM Thursday (4-10-14)

9:00AM J/Burg ----> 3:00AM ET ----> 2:00AM CT ---->1:00AM MT ---->12:00AM PT
(Times amended to include US clocks moved one hour forward)





Links for Live Streaming

telegraph.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... trial.html

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Mirror.co.uk: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... es-3201648




Twitter

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Oscar Trial Channel: https://twitter.com/oscartrial199

Factual Updates https://twitter.com/OscarHardTruth

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Live Blog

Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... es-3201648

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telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -live.html

dailymaverick: http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Daily Mirror - Live blog
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... es-3395006


7:03 am
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the trial of Oscar Pistorius.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:59 am
Nel: "You dropped her off and left, was it not important enough for you to sort out?"

Pistorius: "We did sort it out, it wasn't such a big issue that it wasn't going to be resolved."

He said she had a friend with her. He says he wished he did stay and sort things out with her.

8:58 am
Nel says "It's all about I. I had to go to training, I had to go to lunch. It's all about you."

Pistorius said that he had to do things including training which he had postponed and he had plans.

He is now being pressed on the scene. He said he was agitated when she tickled his neck and he says that was 'the scene'.

Nel: "you brushed her off in public?" Pistorius: "That's correct my lady."

8:55 am
Pistorius admits to being jealous when he thought Reeva was flirting with another man at Darren Fresco's engagement party.

He made a public scene.

"We left the engagement party whilst everyone else was leaving." He said he didn't know she wanted to spend more time there but he had training.

8:53 am
Nel says he picked on her incessantly. Pistorius says "I didn't".

He says it is untrue he picked on Reeva "incessantly" as she said in her message - she was upset. Nel is suggesting that disagreeing would mean that Reeva was lying.

8:52 am
#OscarPistorius says; I never picked on her' Nel; So Reeva lied? (Incredulous voice)

8:51 am
Nel is now going back to the Whatsapp message where Reeva said she was scared of Pistorius sometimes.

Nel asks him what the argument was about. He said it was about the relationship.

Nel reads "you have picked on me incessantly" and asks what it is about. Pistorius says he can't remember.

"I had a very close relationship with Reeva", he says. Other people will testify that they had a good relationship.

8:46 am
Nel reads Pistorius' apology:

"I'd like to apologise and say that there's not a moment and there hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven't thought about your family. I wake up every morning and you're the first people I think of, the first people I pray for. I can't imagine the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness that I've caused you and your family."

Nel says he didn't apologise for killing Reeva. Now he does.

8:45 am
Nel tells him he found it appropriate with the whole world watching.

He's not sure if it was appropriate.

Pistorius: "I would love one day to have the opportunity to meet Reeva's family. It's not that I haven't' thought about them."

8:43 am
Nel says he never things about how the Steenkamps would feel while he made the apology - it was "all about Oscar Pistorius".

Did he think about the public glare with the apology.

He admits they must have found it hard.

Nel: "Why weren't you humble enough to do it in private?"

Pistorius: "My counsel has been in contact with the Steenkamps' legal representatives and they were not ready for it."

8:42 am
Pistorius: "I apologised for the sorrow that I've caused the Steenkamp family and their friends.

"I remember apologising for the emptiness which they feel."

Nel: "Did you feel better?"

Pistorius: "I don't think I could feel better… I wanted to apologise for a very long time."

He says he hasn't had the opportunity to meet the Steenkamps to apologise.

8:40 am
Pistorius: "I can take the responsibility for the arguments being my fault."

Nel says that Pistorius is very concerned with what happens to him.

8:39 am
Pistorius: "I was on my phone for a lot of other reasons that I would rather pick up the phone".

He says he called more than she did.

Nel says they searched all the Whatsapps and they only appeared twice on Reeva's phone and they were to her mother.

Pistorius: "I never got the opportunity to tell Reeva that I loved her."

8:37 am
Gerrie Nel is back on his feet.

He is saying that the arguments in text messages were all about Pistorius.

He said that there were arguments but their relationship was getting stronger. He said they didn't turn into fights.

8:36 am
Here's a picture of Pistorius arriving at court a little earlier.

He arrived in a car today rather than walking into the building.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:03 am
Pistorius is asked about a tantrum.

"I've never thrown a tantrum in front of other people I've maybe brushed Reeva off."

He said that when she wrote the message she was upset so she "exaggerated" on some of what she said.

Nel says he is accusing her of lying again. Pistorius says he doesn't think she was lying.

9:00 am
Nel quotes "we are living a double-standard relationship where you can be mad about how I deal with stuff". That wasn't the first time that she spoke about the double standard.

Pistorius says he thinks its the first time she had mentioned it in their relationship.

They were different people and he is a bit more sensitive to certain issues.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:20 am
Pistorius said he told Reeva not to chew gum because he had been reprimanded in the past by his management.

He told her "Angel don't chew gum, it doesn't look good."

He said it didn't look good on camera. He said that they didn't do interviews together that night.

9:18 am
Speaking about the accents and noises, Pistorius said that he was annoyed and he asked her not to do it.

He said it wasn't right that he told her not to do it. "She obviously took offence to it".

9:16 am
Nel says that once he got Reeva, Pistorius stopped trying.

Reeva wrote: "You think you have me so why try any more"

Pistorius said that maybe that's how she felt at the time.

9:14 am
Pistorius said that he wanted Reeva to be able to tell him that she loved him.

He added that if he is in a bad mood it's because he has been training, hasn't eaten or is exhausted.

9:12 am
Pistorius said he would never tell someone he loved them for the first time over text message.

9:10 am
Pistorius says he has read Miss Taylor's statements but that there was little truth in it.

"I never screamed at Samantha Taylor," he says.

Nel points out that it was a piece of such significant evidence, why did he not correct it. Pistorius repeats that he never screamed at Taylor.

9:08 am
Nel said that he gave a lot of notes to his lawyers on various occasions whenever there was a difficulty.

He agrees that he sent notes to his legal team but many of the notes were not sent forward.

Nel asks if he sent a note about Samantha Taylor lying in court. Pistorius said he can't recall.

9:06 am
Nel asks why she would be scared.

He said it is the situation and says he never screamed at her. He admitted that he screamed at one of his ex Samantha Taylor's friends.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:23 am
Pistorius says that at the time she was doubting the relationship.

Nel says that criticising her accent, brushing her off for touching his neck, telling her to stop chewing gum - they were experienced by her as humiliation.

Pistorius concedes that it made her unhappy. He said that he wasn't trying to humiliate her, he was trying to help.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:40 am
Nel says the song they were talking about was called "Bitch don't kill my vibe".

Reeva's message said in her message that she was "not some bitch that wanted to kill your vibe".

Nel saying that it would put the message in context.

9:36 am
Nel said the first three lines of Pistorius' messages and last three lines of the message are an apology.

The rest is him blaming Reeva.

Pistorius says that that's the nature of an argument.

Nel repeats that it is all about Pistorius and it is visible in his response.

9:32 am
There is a disturbance in court after an attorney's phone went off.

He is made to stand up and apologise.

He says he wanted to check the time.

9:28 am
Pistorius said that his "feelings were hurt" when Reeva didn't introduce him to a friend she was talking to.

Nel: "You're blaming her."

Pistorius says that's correct.

9:27 am
Pistorius said that he didn't feel that he was part of a conversation in a car.

"It was as if I wasn't there".

Nel is pointing out that Pistorius messaged Reeva telling her she was wrong. It's no longer me, me, me, it's now all about Reeva being wrong.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:47 am
Nel describes the message thus: "Treat her badly, apologise, smiley face".

Pistorius said that there were times he felt she wasn't treating him properly.

He admits he shouldn't have spoken to her that way.

9:45 am
Pistorius said that one of his friends and his partner witnessed him brushing Reeva off in the parking lot.

She had walked off while they were inside the venue, Pistorius said he didn't know where she was and only saw her when he went outside to get cell phone reception.

That's when there was an argument.

9:43 am
Nel moves to another message where she said that Pistorius didn't give attention to what he was doing during an event.

Pistorius wanted to leave the event but Reeva started talking to people and it took them 45 minutes to leave.

9:41 am
Pistorius says he can't recall what the song was that they were listening to at the time.

He said he just asked friend Martin Rooney to put the Kendrick Lamar album on.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:56 am
Nel asks him why he wanted to see this particular gun.

Pistorus says he was looking at buying a similar firearm and had applied for a collector's licence meaning he could own over 30 guns. You also have to buy two of the same type.

He wanted to see this particular one because there is a slide on the front on some of the model of gun to put a flash-light on it.

9:54 am
Nel says that Pistorius has a fine eye for detail but questions why he can't remember what happened to the ejected bullet.

He says he must have given it back to Mr Fresco.

Why can he remember all of a sudden?

Pistorius explains that Nel was getting bullet and cartridge mixed up.

He thinks he gave the bullet to Mr Fresco, he doesn't know what happened to the cartridge.

9:53 am
Pistorius asked for the gun and it was discharged in a restaurant full of people including children at the next table.

Nel says that he had the gun when the shot went off.

Pistorius says Mr Lupus phoned Mr Lorena or Mr Fresco to return the ejected cartridge.

Nel says he is wrong.

9:51 am
Nel says he must accept that the gun went off by itself.

Pistorius doesn't recall how it went off and when he went to check if it was safe which is when it went off.

Nel tells him he refuses to take responsibility with what happens.

Pistorius says that he and Darren Fresco were both extremely negligent.

9:49 am
Speaking about the Tashas incident when a gun went off in a restaurant, Pistorius says he didn't discharge the firearm.

Nel said he had the firearm when the shot went off. "So is that not discharging?"

Pistorius said he didn't physically discharge the firearm and didn't have his finger on the trigger.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

10:15 am
Pistorius said he didn't think that Mr Fresco would have given him a gun with a round in it.

Nel says "I didn't have time to think" will be said a lot today "that's one of your defences".

Pistorius appears to be getting frustrated now.

And the court is adjourned for tea.

10:13 am
Before he looked at it he wanted to make sure it was safe and he didn't know there was a magazine in the chamber.

His intention wasn't to cock the firearm and he would have taken the magazine out.

Nel says the first part of safety would be to check the magazine.

Pistorius: "I didn't do that that day... I didn't even think there would be a round in the chamber."

10:10 am
Nel says it is bothering him that Pistorius cannot even concede that his finger may have been on the trigger.

10:09 am
Nel says that everything is bothering him in the restaurant except the gun going off on its own.

Pistorius said the whole incident bothered him. He says he was responsible for the firearm when it went off.

Nel says that he is not willing to even say that "perhaps" his finger was on the trigger.

10:07 am
Pistorius said that he discussed the event with Reeva.

He doesn't remember if he discussed it with gun shop owner Mr Rens.

Pistorius: "I bothered that it went off in my possession."

10:05 am
Pistorius told Mr Lupus from Tashas that he would pay for the damage and that he would take the blame.

Nel said that nobody could remember that, including Mr Lupus.

Nel: "Everything is against you."

10:00 am
Pistorius insists that his finger was not on the trigger at the time.

Nel says he will blame anyone but himself including his own counsel for not asking questions of captain Mangena, the ballistics expert.

9:58 am
Nel points out that he knows a great deal about firearms.

Pistorius says that firearms are something his family has always had.

Nel said that firearms expert had said earlier that it is impossible for this kind of firearm to discharge without the trigger being pulled.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Nel wants his tea-break

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

10:38 am
He sent her a WhatsApp "Angel please don't say anything to anyone".

He says he didn't want her to say anything because he didn't want to be in the media for it because of the way it could be interpreted.

Nel tells him he is saying he didn't want to take responsibility.

10:37 am
The court is back in session now.

Nel is back on the issue of checking the magazine.

Pistorius says he asked Mr Fresco why he handed him a firearm that wasn't safe "take it back".

He said that he told Reeva that the firearm went off in his possession.

10:35 am
To recap from this morning, Oscar Pistorius answered questions about why Reeva said that she was "scared" in one of her messages to him.

She said in the message: "I've been upset with you for two days now… I'm scared of you sometimes."

Pistorius said that she was scared "of the feelings that she had for me."

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that he picked on Reeva but Pistorius insisted that he never shouted or screamed at her.

When asked why there was no message of love from Pistorius to Reeva, he said that it was because he hadn't had chance to say "I love you" to her yet and that he would rather have done it face to face.

It is not something he would have said in a text message.

He also denied being controlling when asked why he told her to stop chewing gum. He said this was because he had been reprimanded by his management team in the past because "it doesn't look good on camera."

He also said he didn't write long text messages in the way that Reeva would because he preferred to talk to her over the phone.

Nel also pointed out that he had not apologised for killing Reeva in person.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

10:43 am
Nel says this is a good example of Pistorius not taking responsibility for what he did.

Pistorius says he did take responsibility by asking to pay for the damage.

Nel: "There was no other way that you could have fired the gun without you pulling the trigger. You are lying."

Pistorius maintains that he didn't pull the trigger.

10:40 am
Pistorius says that the media would interpret it as him being someone who let a firearm go off in a busy restaurant.

Pistorius: "I think it was a terrible thing that happened."

He said this isn't something that he would want in the media. He said even if the truth was in the media it would be interpreted by people.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light