fbpx

Oscar Pistorius Testimony Postponed By Illness

Oscar Pistorius Testimony Postponed By Illness

Oscar Pistorius must wait at least 10 more days to defend himself at his murder trial in Pretoria, after one of the court’s assessors had to be hospitalized due to illness, according to a report in TheWeek.

The courtroom was full Friday morning, with Pistorius expected to be the first witness on the stand as the defense opened its case, when Judge Thokozile Masipa said the trial could not proceed as one of her assessors was “not well.”

The trial will resume 7 April, the The Guardian reported.

The ailing assessor, Janette Henzen du Toit, is hospitalized. She and another assessor, Themba Mazibuko, are legal experts appointed by the judge to assist in the trial. There is no jury in South African trials, and without both assessors the court is not “properly constituted” so the trial cannot proceed, the report said.

The state accuses the paralympian and Olympic athlete Pistorius of arguing with his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Feb. 14, 2013 before deliberately shooting her through a locked bathroom door. The  prosecution has already led 15 days of testimony.

Pistorius denies premeditated murder and claims he thought Steenkamp was an intruder.

Defense lawyer Brian Webber told reporters earlier this week Pistorius would take the stand. “I don’t think we have a choice, it’s a question of when,” he said, according to the report.

Audio of Pistorius’s testimony will likely to be broadcast on TV, but the cameras in court will not televise him, a judge ruled in February.

Which side will benefit most from the postponement? The defense will have more time to prepare its case, but the delay could “rattle” Pistorius, according to Mandy Wiener, a reporter for Eyewitness News.