_________________
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 25

Start 9:30 AM Thursday (4-17-14)

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

wildabouttrial: http://www.wildabouttrial.com/one_off/o ... ve-stream/

channel24.co.za: http://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/DStv ... d-20140228

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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

Sky: http://news.sky.com/story/1225139/live- ... rder-trial

Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... rius-trial

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-3422467

7:22 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

8:47 am
Nel has started questioning Mr Dixon, speaking about the sound tests.

He asks if he could pick up a difference in the background sound of the two noises.

Dixon says the background sound is the same because there were frogs at the night. He says he didn't notice any other difference.

8:45 am
Court has now resumed.

Mr Dixon posted a message on Facebook that said: "Third day in court today. Let's see how much of my credibility, integrity and professional reputation is destroyed."

Today the judge is reprimanding people in an overflow room. She says they are cheering, booing and climbing over the benches.

"This is not a picnic nest".

She also tells the security officers to do their job.

_________________
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

8:53 am
Dixon says that this is his first case since he left the police service.

He says he hasn't looked for external work.

8:51 am
Here's a tweet showing the reaction from the court overflow following their ticking off by judge Masipa.

8:50 am
Nel asks who was present for the sound tests.

Dixon says the sound engineer had an assistant.

They recorded the sounds then provided them to Mr Dixon.

8:49 am
Nel puts it to Dixon that he listened to the sound and "on listening to it I formed the idea that the bat sounds were amplified."

Dixon says that what he knows about the way the recording was done the gunshots are of a much higher cracking sound.

He said that if the sound engineer had amplified it, then that's what they must do. He can't say for sure.

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

8:56 am
Nel says it is a subjective test just to use your eyes.

Dixon says: "I wanted to see what I could see".

8:56 am
The tests involved switching the lights on and off and opening and closing the curtains.

He said the purpose of the test was to see what was visible with one's eyes.

There was not much point in using instruments.

8:55 am
Nel asks him why he visited on March 25 this year.

Dixon says it was for the tests to conduct light tests.

He used his own camera and was with Wolmarans and Van der Westhuizen.

_________________
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

9:01 am
Dixon says that a draft report that he had mentioned yesterday contained some of the information they had recorded that day.

9:00 am
Following the April 14 visit to the house, Dixon says he gave verbal feedback to Pistorius's counsel.

Dixon says that during a reconstruction in November there were two police there.

He said that the door was installed, they took measurements with the laser.

In the toilet they attempted to recreate the trajectories of the bullets.

8:58 am
Nel asks if there were any tests carried out using equipment and Dixon says he assisted with measurements but didn't do tests.

He says he later used a portable x-ray spectrometer to test the ricochet mark.

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

9:21 am
Nel appears angry as he asks if he disagrees with professor Saayman's report - he dissected the bruise on the buttock buttock.

"Are you saying that he is wrong?" he asked.

Dixon responds: "I'm not saying he is wrong."

9:18 am
Nel asks him for the fourth time if there was anything else that helped his conclusion on the position of Reeva's head when she was shot.

Dixon says there were two contusions in the middle of her back, combined with a contusion on the buttock showing she was falling and hit the magazine rack.

9:17 am
Nel tells him he can't predict what happened when the bullet entered the skull.

9:15 am
Nel says Dixon is not answering the question and asks him what the question was.

He got it wrong.

Nel says: "That's the problem with your evidence. You want to give the court a version in an area where you're not an expert."

9:13 am
He describes Reeva's reaction to the gunsounds as being "an intangible".

He says the noise could have caused her to jerk and she would not have been in control of her reactions.

He adds that from his experience when a gun is fired, the recoil will affect the bullet spread.

9:11 am
Dixon says he can't say what angle Reeva's head was at.

The wound was on her right hand side and almost horizontal.

"There was a lot of damage," he said.

9:09 am
"As the impact of the bullet broke the hip and she lost voluntary control she is unstable on one leg, so she is collapsing.

"The second bullet as she is falling down hits the arm..."

He says the body would have been towards the right of the toilet.

9:07 am
Dixon says that her arm was hit as she came in line with the bullet.

She was falling down from the hip wound, he says.

Adding that "it's a quick movement".

Dixon says she was standing with her arm towards the door handle, probably leaning slightly forward.

9:06 am
Nel suggests he is saying Reeva was sitting on the floor when bullet D hit her on the head.

Dixon says "we cannot say she was sitting on the floor."

He adds that it hit her as she was falling down.

9:04 am
Nel asks where the magazine rack was in his reconstruction.

Dixon says he will have to look at the photographs and that it was in different positions.

Nel asks if it played any role as part of the reconstruction.

Dixon responds "memory is a fleeting thing". He says the position of Reeva's head would have been too high, even when leaning forward.

9:03 am
Nel asks him what his conclusions were about bullet hole A.

Dixon says that was the one that hit Reeva in the hip.

Hole B was the one that hit her arm.

Hole C he says hit Reeva's hand and the wall.

Hole D was the one that hit her head.

9:02 am
Dixon says he never saw the final report.

He helped Wolmarans with his English for the draft.

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

9:29 am
Nel is asking him about the recoil of guns.

Dixon says the first time he used a gun the firearm lifted and he corrected it.

He says the second time you are prepared for it.

9:28 am
Dixon says he is not a ballistics expert. He said: "It would be nice if I was a ballistics expert".

He says he knows that when a bullet hits a target there is material that comes out that spreads.

He says the material could go onto the toilet lid and onto the wall.

Nel asks if body tissue and a bed of hair moved forward out of the wound.

Dixon says it would.

9:26 am
Nel says that we know when the bullet hit her head she was totally incapacitated.

Dixon describes the head injury as a "killing wound".

Nel says the photo of the toilet lid cannot be used in his reconstruction.

9:24 am
Nel is continuing to ask what other conclusions he came to in relation to Reeva's head.

A photo is now shown a picture of the toilet lid.

It's covered in blood and hair strands.

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

9:40 am
Nel says that he must have realised how flat and how far back Reeva must have been to get contusions on her back.

He said she would be sliding down and her buttocks must have been on the floor.

He picked up the magazine rack to show how the bruises were caused to Reeva's back.

9:38 am
Dixon is now showing a mark shaped like the magazine rack foot in the pool of blood near the toilet.

He says another mark shows a stain on the tiles that would be from the magazine rack.

Nel says he has now shown that Pistorius was wrong that the magazine rack was in a different position.

Dixon says that it is Pistorius's version of events but he believes the magazine rack was there.

9:33 am
Nel objected to the demonstration.

Roux says he should be allowed to answer through a demonstration.

Nel agrees to it.

9:32 am
Nel points out that the position of the magazine rack according to Dixon and Pistorius was different.

Nel asks: "Are you saying he is wrong?"

Dixon says he can only work with the evidence he has received.

He asks to be able to give a demonstration.

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

9:48 am
Nel says he is giving an account about how much Pistorius would have been visible and the photograph would not give a representation. Why give it to the court?

Dixon says they put the person in the room for the scale purposes. He says he is not trying to mislead the court.

Nel says: "That's what I'm testing. You mentioned the word mislead."

Nel asks him why he wouldn't make sure that the height of the person in the window was exactly the height of Mr Pistorius.

Dixon says it was something he omitted, something he overlooked at the time.

9:46 am
Nel has moved on to light measurements on March 25 this year.

They measured the light of the bathroom from outside.

He is shown a picture of a person on their knees through the window. Dixon says Pistorius would have been about 20cm higher.

Nel says it is therefore not a reflection of what would have been seen that night.

9:43 am
Looking at this picture, Dixon says that Reeva's final movement would be to slump down onto the toilet.

Nel says it's impossible that her embedded hair would be on the toilet lid.

Dixon sticks with his version.

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

9:50 am
Nel asks: Why would you do this?

Dixon says it was for demonstration purposes, "to see what we could see."

Dixon says when Pistorius walks he leans forward so he would be slightly lower.

Nel points out that 20cm is a significant variance. He's asking why he hasn't mentioned that until now.

Dixon basically says he hasn't been asked about it.

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

9:58 am
Nel moves to April 14 when he carried out light observations in the house.

He asked what was still in the room.

Dixon says there was a bed and the house has remained pretty much the same.

9:56 am
Dixon says the pictures they took of the house was at about 9pm.

Nel asks if it was strange that the Stipp's curtain were closed.

Dixon says what different people do is up to them.

9:54 am
Nel points out that the Stipps didn't see the bathroom window from ground level.

Dixon agrees that it would make a difference because of angles. So higher up the head would appear lower.

Nel says it doesn't make sense.

9:53 am
Dixon says he was standing in the road outside the Stipp's house.

He doesn't know the exact distance. Nel asks him why as an expert witness he doesn't know the distance.

Dixon says he could measure it from a picture.

9:52 am
Nel asks why he put the picture in the album if he knew it was not accurate.

Dixon says he was looking at visibility.

Nel: "You know that Mr Stipp observed a person moving in that particular window." He asks if he was trying to demonstrate what Mr Stipp saw.

Dixon says that is what they wanted to see.

Nel asks why he wouldn't use someone exactly the same height.

Dixon says he doesn't know if he was standing or walking when he was observed - this is a scale.

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

10:01 am
Nel questions his comment "and a lot of things."

Dixon mentions a couple of other items that he could see.

He adds that a few other houses had been built and they had their lights on.

10:00 am
Dixon said the night they did the tests it was the night before full moon so light levels outside were much higher.

He looked at the construction of the curtain and saw that it blocks off bright lights. When the curtains were open there was quite a lot of light. When closed it was extremely dark.

Nel points out that there was reasonable visibility when the curtains were open and asks Dixon to explain what he meant.

Dixon says that he could see the bed and 'a lot of things'.

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

10:10 am
Nel questions him about the cracks of light. He says there would have been even more if the balcony light was on.

Dixon says it was a possibility but confirms he didn't test the scene with the balcony light on.

Nobody mentioned it during the tests.

10:08 am
Dixon says there were lights on the switches and electronic equipment.

Nel says that he was asking him about what other light there was.

Dixon lists the lights on the TV, the CD player and the entertainment system. He says it was at low level.

Nel asks him about the balcony light and asks him why he didn't switch the light on as part of the tests - Pistorius said the balcony light was on.

Dixon says he was unaware that the balcony light was on. "It was very bright outside". He says that light was visible through the cracks at the sides and at the bottom.

10:05 am
Nel asks why he did not write a report on the visit.

Dixon says there was no moon at an earlier test. They were there to check their observations when it was a brightly lit night.

Nel says: "you know the state's case is that curtains were open.... didn't you take account of that?"

Dixon says he doesn't have TV, radio, or read newspapers. I says he doesn't like to be influenced by external factors.

He says he was unaware of it.

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

10:15 am
Dixon says the piece of the prosthesis was cut out after it was handed to Pistorius.

Dixon said he didn't know it had come to court.

The case has been adjourned for tea.

10:13 am
Nel points out that he did not compile a report.

Dixon says he compiled a report on an earlier visit and that this one was confirmation.

Nel now moves back to the mark on the door. He asks about a portion of prosthesis.

Dixon says he doesn't have it. Nel asks "Why would you not bring it here?"

Dixon says he didn't bring it and that he can fetch it. "I did not think to bring it this morning, I can fetch it."

10:12 am
Dixon said the end of the passage where it turns into the bathroom was visible.

Nel asks if Dixon asked Mr Wolmarans to walk down the passage.

Dixon says he could not see Mr Wolmarans lying on the bed and when he walked down the passage he could not see him until he got towards the end.

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

tea-break

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