Prosecutor challenges expertise of Pistorius witness

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel today argued in the High Court in Pretoria about the expertise of former police investigator Roger Dixon. Dixon is an expert witness of Oscar Pistorius' defense team and has given his testimony about the evidence found on the scene where the athlete fatally shot Reeva Steenkamp to death. Pistorius has submitted a not guilty plea on the murder charge filed against him.

Bloomberg said Nel told the court that Dixon, who is a university professor of geology, is not trained in blood spatter nor sound. Moreover, the state prosecutor said that Dixon does not belong to a forensic investigative group or have physically touched the evidence he had given his opinion on.

Dixon said in his testimony that Pistorius fired in quick succession at a locked toilet cubicle door with Steenkamp behind it. The news agency said that Dixon's expert opinion contradicted the state's argument that Pistorius first shot Steenkamp in the hip, paused, and later fired three more.

Nel asked Dixon, "Now, Mr. Dixon, you call yourself a layman? You gave the evidence, you were strong about it. Do you know how irresponsible it is to make inferences in areas where you're not an expert?"

Dixon said that he considers himself an expert as he had measured the darkness in Pistorius' bedroom at night with the curtains closed to arrive at his opinion. Moreover, he said that while he is no forensic pathologist or is involved in ballistics, his layman's understanding concluded that should the shots that were fired at Steenkamp would have missed, she would obtain different injuries.

"I view myself as an expert because my testimony has been accepted in court a number of times," Dixon stated in court.

Bloomberg said that Judge Thokozile Masipa could consider handing out a lesser charge of culpable homicide if she found Pistorius not guilty and that the act was not premeditated. If he is convicted with the lesser charge, the athlete will be facing a minimum of 25 years in jail.

The trial will be postponed until May 5 as requested by Nel due to the series of holidays in South Africa, the news agency added.

Tags

Oscar Pistorius Trial, Oscar Pistorius defense

© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.