Oscar Pistorius was in an altercation at an upmarket nightclub over the weekend, his family said Tuesday…
Regardless of who started the argument, the weekend episode focuses fresh attention on the disputed character of Pistorius, a globally recognized athlete who is on trial for murder after he fatally shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a closed toilet door on Feb. 14, 2013. Defense lawyers describe Pistorius, currently free on bail, as a vulnerable figure with a disability who pulled the trigger in a tragic case of mistaken identity, but prosecutors portray him as a gun-obsessed hothead who shot Steenkamp after the couple quarreled.
(The Associated press, July 15, 2014)
The defense finally rested last week. The court will hear closing arguments in early August.
But, far from living up to its billing as the O.J. Simpson trial of South Africa, this trial has been about as captivating as a congressional hearing on greenhouse gases. Even Pistorius’s highly anticipated cross-examination turned out to be more gross than engrossing, given that he spent more time snotting and vomiting, when he wasn’t sobbing, than answering incriminating questions.
The only drama for me came when the prosecutor called the defense’s bluff. It came after a psychiatrist tried to earn his venal fee by insinuating that Pistorius could not be held criminally responsible because of a mental defect. Specifically, he testified that, when Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, he was suffering a “generalized anxiety disorder” that has afflicted him since childhood.
Except that, instead of allowing that testimony to go unchallenged, the prosecutor demanded a comprehensive mental assessment by a panel of independent psychiatrists. The judge duly ordered a 30-day assessment at a state mental hospital.
I can’t imagine it surprised anyone, least of all Pistorius or his defense team, when that panel found that he “did not suffer from any mental illness that would have influenced his actions” that fateful night. From which I inferred that the only anxiety disorder he suffers stems from his fear of going to prison.
I’m on record — in “Oscar Pistorius Now South Africa’s O.J. Simpson…?” February 15, 2013 — stating my belief that “he is as guilty as sin.”
Related commentaries:
Pistorius SA’s OJ…