Paralympian Oscar Pistorius will know his legal fate on September 11.
That’s the date Judge Thokozile Masipa, presiding over the athlete’s murder trial in the Pretoria High Court, says she’ll give her verdict after the 41-day trial that’s gripped South Africa and captured international attention.
Completing his closing argument, the defence counsel for Oscar Pistorius has lashed the prosecution for saying the accused has lied about his movements in the bedroom on the day he shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Barry Roux adds that the police contaminated the crime scene
Pistorius says he fired shots through the bathroom door of his golf luxury golf estate home that fatally wounded Steenkamp because he mistook her for an intruder.
The prosecution alleges he’s guilty of premeditated murder because he shot her deliberately after an argument.
Barry Roux says the timeline shows there was no shouting before the shots were fired early on Valentine’s Day last year.
He says Pistorius should have been tried for culpable homicide.
But denies that the accused has two contradictory defences.
He also accepts that Pistorius might be guilty of negligence on an alternative charge of firing a pistol under the table in a crowded restaurant.
Preparing her judgment Judge Masipa has more than 4 000 pages of evidence to consider.