Oscar Pistorius has a 'big
love' of weapons and laughed after firing his gun out of the sunroof of a car,
his murder trial heard today.
One of the Paralympian's
friends, Darren Fresco, testified about two occasions when the athlete fired
guns for which he is charged with firearms offences.
In the first incident, Mr
Fresco said he was driving when Pistorius put his gun through the open sunroof
of the car and fired without warning, causing him to flinch and 'duck down'.
Mr Fresco told the court: 'I
asked him if he was f****** mad. It felt as if my ear was bleeding.
'I had a constant ringing in
my left ear. He just laughed about what had just happened.'
He said Pistorius was
furious after a police officer had earlier picked up his gun when the car Mr
Fresco was driving was stopped for speeding, reportedly at 160mph.
Mr Fresco said Pistorius
told the officer: 'You can't just touch another man's gun.
'Now your fingerprints are
all over my gun. So if something happens, you're going to be liable.'
Mr Fresco said the
altercation ended and they drove away with Samantha Taylor, the runner's
girlfriend at the time, who has given a similar account of the episode to the
court.
In the second incident, Mr
Fresco told of the time he handed Pistorius his gun in a packed restaurant and
it went off in the athlete's hand a month before he killed Reeva Steenkamp.
He said he had warned the
runner that the gun was 'one-up' - meaning there was a bullet in chamber.
Explaining why he felt
comfortable giving the gun to Pistorius, Mr Fresco said: 'We had been to the
shooting range before and I knew he had a big love of weapons... my assumption
was that he had competency'.
The bullet slightly grazed
the toe of another friend, boxer Kevin Lerena, who testified last Wednesday.
Pistorius then asked Mr
Fresco to take the blame because he feared the media hype, which Fresco agreed
to do 'with pleasure', he said.
Pistorius denies the two
firearms charges, plus a further one of illegal possession of unlicensed
ammunition, as well as the murder charge.
Earlier, the court heard
that Miss Steenkamp ate at around 1am on the night she died, around three hours
after Oscar Pistorius claims the couple went to bed, according to the
pathologist.
Continuing his testimony for
a second day, Gert Saayman said the partially digested vegetables he found in
the model's stomach suggested she had food less than two hours before her death
at around 3am.
He was being cross-examined
by defence lawyer Barry Roux, who will need to explain how Miss Steenkamp ate
at that time if the couple had gone to bed at 10pm, as the Paralympian has
said.
Prof Saayman said he has
performed between 10,000 and 15,000 post mortem examinations over his 30-year
career, but yesterday admitted his interpretation 'wasn't an exact science'.
Pistorius appeared in better
spirits today, but had a sick bucket on standby in case there was a repeat of
yesterday when harrowing evidence of Miss Steenkamp's injuries made him
physically ill.
Mr Roux questioned Prof
Saayman's methods, asking what medical texts he had consulted in reaching his
conclusion about the food.
Prof Saayman said his
findings were a 'synthesis' of his own professional experiences and
observations in addition to consultation of past studies.
The pathologist also said
the amount of urine in Steenkamp's bladder at the time of her death amounted to
the rough equivalent of a teaspoon.
The evidence could relate to
theories about whether Steenkamp had gotten up in the middle of the night to go
to the toilet, as Pistorius contends, or was there following a loud argument
with the runner, as the prosecution has suggested.
Returning his evidence
yesterday about the nature of the gunshot wounds inflicted on Miss Steenkamp,
Prof Saayman said it would have been possible for her to scream after the model
was hit in the head.
This countered an argument
by Mr Roux earlier in the trial that she would not have been able to shout out
because she would have been left so badly brain damaged.
Yesterday, Pistorius vomited
repeatedly in the dock today as Prof Saayman gave a graphic account of Miss
Steenkamp's injuries.
Prof Saayman told the court
how Miss Steenkamp was struck four times - on the top right of the head, in the
right elbow, in the right hip and also in the webbing of her left hand.
Her right upper arm was
shattered, the hip wound could well have been fatal, while that to her head
would have incapacitated her immediately.
The ammunition used were
'Black Talon' bullets designed to 'expand and mushroom' to cause maximum
damage, he added.
The bullets have also been
nicknamed 'cop killers' because of their use by criminals.
No blood was found in her
airways, suggesting she breathed only a few times before dying.
He also described exit
wounds caused by the bullets and other abrasions consistent with the impact of
a bullet fired through a wooden object such as a door.
Prof Saayman, who referred
to photographs that were not shown to the gallery, said Miss Steenkamp had been
wearing grey Nike shorts and a sleeveless black vest at the time of the
shooting.
He said food found in her
stomach suggested she ate within two hours of her death at 3am, which appeared
to contradict the athlete's account that the couple went to bed around 10pm.
As the details were read
out, the court was forced to adjourn twice as Pistorius broke down, his
shoulders visibly shaking.
In between bouts of sobbing
and retching, Pistorius sat with his head bowed, covering his ears with his
hands and a white handkerchief in an attempt to block out Prof Saayman's
testimony.
The judge questioned whether
he was well enough to stay in court, but his lawyer Barry Roux insisted the
athlete wanted the evidence to continue.
After lunch, his vomiting
intensified and could be heard through the courtroom, according to reporters
present in the trial. Microphones had to be turned down to reduce the noise.
Judge Thokozile Masipa had
banned live broadcasting and tweeting of evidence by Prof Saayman, head of the
forensic medicine department at the University of Pretoria, because of the
nature of his evidence.
She announced the ban after
prosecutor Gerrie Nel, supported by chief defence lawyer Barry Roux, said Prof
Saayman's testimony would have an 'explicitly graphic nature' and should not be
shown around the world.
'It's not a question of
press freedom,' Mr Nel said.
Prof Saayman said the 'very
personal nature' of his autopsy findings as well as graphic details about the
injuries could 'compromise the dignity of the deceased' as well as harm her
friends and family, if they are broadcast.
'It goes against the good
morals of society for us to make information of this nature available' in a way
that children and other unsuspecting people might be exposed, Saayman said in
the witness box.
The 27-year-old claims the
killing was accidental because he thought his girlfriend was a dangerous
intruder in a toilet cubicle in his home.
The trial continues.
Culled From Daily Mail
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