Police ‘moved Pistorius evidence’

On day 11 in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, a South Africa court is told he knew of gun laws. Gavino Garay reports.

POLICE photographs of the blood-spattered scene where Oscar Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend indicate that evidence was moved in violation of procedure during the investigation of the killing, the athlete's chief defene lawyer said.

Warrant officer Bennie van Staden, a police photographer, took hundreds of photos of the scene, including of blood stains, bullet casings, a gun and a cricket bat found inside Pistorius' bathroom in the hours after the double-amputee Olympic runner shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp before dawn on Feb. 14 last year.

Long day ahead ... Oscar Pistorius gestures on day 12, week three of his murder trial. Source: AFP

Lawyer Barry Roux has challenged previous police witnesses, seeking to uncover contradictions and reported mishaps to support his argument that officers bungled the investigation, an allegation made by Pistorius at the start of the trial when he pleaded not guilty to murder in Steenkamp's killing.

In a sometimes painstaking process yesterday, Mr Roux minutely examined many photos taken by Mr Van Staden and another police office, and pointed out that objects at the crime scene had been moved and were in different positions in photos.

Mr Roux also used time-of-day records on the images to show that the two policemen taking photographs were in the same room at points, even though Mr Van Staden testified he was working alone.

Mr Roux compared photos of the bloody bathroom scene taken by Mr Van Staden with photos in the bathroom taken by another policeman, identified as a Col. Motha.

Both officers were in the bathroom at that time, according to the times shown on the images.

"You did not see Col. Motha?'' Mr Roux asked Mr Van Staden, who replied he did not.

"How big is this bathroom?'' Mr Roux said.

Maybe missing the hint of sarcasm in Mr Roux's question, Mr Van Staden said the bathroom was approximately four metres by four metres.

Questioned...Police photographer Bennie van Staden testifies at the Oscar Pistorius murder trial in Pretoria. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Pistorius, 27, is charged with premeditated murder for killing Steenkamp, 29.

He denies murder and says he shot his girlfriend accidentally, thinking she was an intruder.

Pistorius says he struck the toilet door with a cricket bat to get to Steenkamp after realising what he had done.

Grieving ... June, mother of Reeva Steenkamp, on day 12 of the murder trial. Source: AFP

Prosecutors charge that Pistorius killed Steenkamp after an argument.

Pistorius' lawyer also asked Mr Van Staden to explain differences in photographs of the 9 mm pistol that Pistorius used to shoot Steenkamp through a closed toilet door, and of a cricket bat that the Paralympian used to hit the door.

"It seems there was movement of the bat'' in the interval between two photographs taken by Mr Van Staden, Mr Roux said.

"It seems like that,'' Mr Van Staden conceded.

The police photographer also acknowledged that two photographs of the gun indicated that a mat underneath it could have been shifted.

Mr Roux said one photo also differed from the other because it showed a wooden splinter on the gun handle.

Two other photos of objects on the bedroom floor next to Pistorius' bed showed tissues, what was identified as a CD or disc and a remote control were in different positions.

On trial...Oscar Pistorius in the dock as he waits for the proceedings his murder trial to begin in court in Pretoria. Picture: AP Source: AP

Mr Van Staden said he did not know who moved them, but he remembered the disc was previously under the bed.

"How does it happen that there's such a great disturbance of that scene?'' Mr Roux asked.

Mr Roux was trying to build a picture of a cluttered and confused crime scene with many officers working on it and possibly contaminating the evidence.

Mr Van Staden has said he also took nine photographs of Pistorius soon after the shooting, with the athlete seen in some of the images standing in blood-stained prosthetic legs and wearing blood-soaked shorts in the garage of his home.

Mr Van Staden's testimony yesterday was delayed by over an hour to give the policeman time to collect photo records and discs at the defense's request.

Mr Van Staden had said he would have to retrieve photo records from office administration, but then said yesterday he had forgotten that he was actually in possession of the master copies of the shooting scene photographs.

###

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Police ‘moved Pistorius evidence’

Dengan url

https://duniadiggi.blogspot.com/2014/03/police-amoved-pistorius-evidencea.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Police ‘moved Pistorius evidence’

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Police ‘moved Pistorius evidence’

sebagai sumbernya