Blade runner Oscar Pistorius will have to hand over certain documents to the woman he had instituted a R2.2 million damages claim against, the Pretoria High Court has ordered.
Pistorius is claiming damages against student Cassidy Taylor-Memmory following an incident at his Silver Lakes house, east of Pretoria, during which she claimed he assaulted her.
This, in turn, resulted in his arrest and subsequent incarceration in a police holding cell.
Pistorius, who was referred to by Acting Judge Jan Hiemstra in his judgment as “a partially disabled professional athlete”, claimed that Taylor-Memmory laid a false charge of assault against him on September 12, 2009, which resulted in his arrest.
He was held at the Boschkop police station for several hours, before being released.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in October 2009 declined to prosecute Pistorius.
Apart from claiming damages for his injured feelings, humiliation and deprivation of liberty, Pistorius also claimed loss of income as two of his public speaking engagements allegedly had to be cancelled as a result of his arrest.
He further claimed he lost income as his “Brand Ambassador” agreements with Nedbank and SYSPRO had not been renewed. This was as a direct result of his arrest and detention, he claimed.
His damages claim also included the legal costs he had incurred as a result of his arrest and detention.
Taylor-Memmory, through her legal team, asked that Pistorius hand over an array of documents, including those regarding his alleged loss of income due to his arrest, as well as the legal bills he claimed he incurred.
She said she needed these before she could respond on the allegations made by Pistorius.
Pistorius’s legal team, on the other hand, said she could obtain some of the documents from the criminal case docket and the others, they said, she did not need.
Judge Hiemstra ordered that Taylor-Memmory was entitled to only the “Brand Ambassador agreement” documents, as it could reveal some defence, for instance that they were non-renewable and not cancelled because of his arrest, as well as his legal bills, as the legal cost account might appear too exorbitant. – Pretoria News