Oscar trial: Nel disputes Dixon’s claims

Oscar Pistorius (back right) chats with a supporter as he leaves the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on April 16, 2014. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Oscar Pistorius (back right) chats with a supporter as he leaves the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on April 16, 2014. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Published Apr 17, 2014

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Johannesburg -

Oscar Pistorius’s trial will resume in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Thursday, with defence expert witness Roger Dixon returning to the stand.

After a tough cross-examination by prosecutor Gerrie Nel on Wednesday, Dixon was requested to produce literature to support evidence he gave in court.

Nel had disputed Dixon's claims that Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot and killed by her boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius, fell backwards as a result of bullets that struck her.

“It only happens in the movies,” Nel said, adding that Dixon should back up his testimony.

Dixon was also asked to produce his report on a gunshot sound test he testified about.

He said the test had failed as the gun had jammed several times.

Dixon was the third defence witness to testify.

Pistorius is charged with Steenkamp's murder. He shot her through a locked bathroom at his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day last year.

He claimed to have mistaken her for an intruder.

The State, however, argued that the shooting was premeditated and came after arguments between the couple.

In addition to the murder charge, the Paralympic athlete also faces three contraventions of the Firearms Control Act, one of illegal possession of ammunition and two of discharging a firearm in public.

He has denied guilt on all the charges. - Sapa

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