NPA denies leaked docs in Oscar case

Oscar Pistorius is seen in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on August 19, 2013. File picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Oscar Pistorius is seen in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on August 19, 2013. File picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Published Feb 21, 2014

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Johannesburg - The National Prosecuting Authority on Friday denied leaking documents on paralympian Oscar Pistorius's murder trial.

“We cannot make comments on something that we don't know, how it was leaked,” said NPA spokesman Medupi Simasiku.

“It was not leaked by us, and we don't know how it got in their [media houses] hands.”

The NPA said it had not yet filed its replying documents to the High Court in Pretoria.

Simasiku was reacting to different reports by Eyewitness News (EWN) and eNCA based on documents in their possession.

EWN reported that the State would rely on 13 facts to prove the blade runner was guilty of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his Pretoria East home last year. Pistorius said he thought she was an intruder.

EWN reported on Friday that statements from neighbours, forensic analysis of the scene, the post mortem report, and ballistic tests of the toilet door and firearm formed part of the 13 points the State would argue.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel would present five witnesses who heard screams which were “as described in the documents” extinguished at the same time as the gunshots, according to the broadcaster.

It said the State would argue that the amount, trajectory and grouping of the shots fired through a locked door could only indicate a direct intention to kill. Nel would argue that the athlete's actions that night were far removed from that of a person thinking there was a burglar in the house.

eNCA reported that Pistorius was most likely on his stumps when he fired the shots, and this undermined the State's case that her killing was a premeditated murder.

The broadcaster reported that prosecutors claimed a year ago that he had put on his prosthetic legs, walked into his bathroom, positioned himself against the basin and fired the bullets he knew would kill Steenkamp.

The documents in eNCA's possession stated the State's own ballistics expert backed Pistorius's claim that he was on his stumps when he shot Steenkamp.

The expert also believed Pistorius fired from a distance greater than 60cm from the bathroom door - but closer than the 1.5 metres originally claimed by police.

eNCA said the State's evidence that Steenkamp was standing, facing the door when she was shot contradicted some media reports suggesting she was cowering. - Sapa

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