Oscar Pistorius's murder trial resumed after a tea break on Thursday with Judge Thokozile Masipa saying someone used a flashlight during the cross-examination of Charl Johnson.
"I'm not going to go on a witch hunt... I am going to give an order that this be investigated," she said.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel started asking Johnson more questions after his gruelling morning of cross-examination by Barry Roux SC.
Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp while she was in a bathroom in his home in Silver Woods Estate in Pretoria on February 14 2013.
OSCAR WITNESS GRILLED FOR SECOND DAY - Sapa
Oscar Pistorius's lawyer on Thursday tried doggedly for a second day to force cracks in the credibility of a State witness who believes he heard Reeva Steenkamp scream for help before the star athlete shot her.
Barry Roux, for Pistorius, repeatedly put it to Charl Johnson that he was trying to cover up the fact that he and his wife had corroborated their testimony to prejudice Pistorius.
"You want to extricate any suggestion that this version was also your wife's version," Roux said in the High Court in Pretoria.
"You want that out," he said, while Pistorius listened intently as his counsel cross-examined his softly spoken neighbour who has testified against him.
"That is what it's all about," said Roux, waving a copy of Johnson's statement across the court room and asking why it was changed several times.
On Wednesday, Roux had requested Johnson's original notes about what he heard from his home in the Silver Stream estate, which is next to Silver Woods where Pistorius has admitted shooting Steenkamp dead.
Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder as charged by the State, which seeks to prove Steenkamp died during an argument, saying he fired shots because he thought there was an intruder in the house.
Johnson and his wife, Michelle Burger, have both testified in chilling detail that they heard a woman's cries for help pierce the night, then fade away amid gunfire.
Roux said one statement said he did not count the number of shots that were fired, but his wife recalled "about four or five shots".
"And that is so removed from this musical talent to count shots. It is not the same," said Roux, referring to Burger's testimony that she could remember hearing four bangs because of her musical training.
Grappling for words, Johnson said he wrote it at work where he was probably meant to be doing other work, so he considered that statement a rough guideline.
It was common practice to do drafts of documents, he said.
"It's the nature of how I do my work," said Johnson, who is Afrikaans-speaking.
"I try to improve the quality of the work that I write... to use proper English and grammar."
Roux then asked what he had told investigating officer Captain van Aardt about the shots.
His own version was there were more than what his wife said, and even after Pistorius's bail hearing where it was said there were four shots, he did not change his version, even though his wife had a different version.
Johnson said that even as more information came forward in Pistorius's bail application, he did not change any of his notes nor the statement he gave to police.
"I received confirmation during the bail application that it was four shots. But I still told police I wasn't sure I had heard. I said it was about four and five shots," he said.
But Roux wanted to know why he dropped the word "about" from a later version in describing what his wife recalled.
And as he did with the wife, Roux insisted that the sounds they took for gunfire were in fact those of Pistorius using a cricket bat to break down the locked toilet door through which he had shot Steenkamp.
He said that he would bring evidence to prove that what Johnson heard "must describe" the breaking down of the toilet door with a cricket bat."
On Wednesday, professional boxer Kevin Lerena told the court Pistorius had made a friend take the blame after a gun went off in his hand in a packed restaurant in Johannesburg last year.
The State appeared to focus on that episode, which happened a month before Steenkamp died, to portray Pistorius as a man reluctant to take responsibility for his actions.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel referred to it during Pistorius's bail hearing last year, telling the court of the accused: "It's always me. Please protect me."
PISTORIUS' SISTER APPROACHES STEENKAMPS - Sapa
Oscar Pistorius's sister Aimee approached family members of Reeva Steenkamp on Thursday morning.
During a tea break in the High Court in Pretoria, Aimee stood talking to the athlete, dressed in a black suit.
A few minutes later, she approached the Steenkamp side of the public gallery. A visibly emotional Aimee sat down next to Steenkamp's cousin and spoke to her softly.
Steenkamp's cousin squeezed Aimee's arm before she got up and returned to her family.
A short while later, Oscar Pistorius glanced over the public gallery before exchanging a few words with a photographer sitting next to him.
He then went to chat to his aunt where the two bowed their heads, held hands and said a brief prayer.
Thursday marks the 12th anniversary of the death of Pistorius's mother Sheila.
During the tea break, Pistorius chatted to his family and his lawyers and then sat by himself at the front of the court eating a sandwich.
TEA BREAK DURING PISTORIUS TRIAL - Sapa
A tea break was called after a tough Thursday morning for witness Charl Johnson, who is testifying in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius in the High Court in Pretoria.
Pistorius leaned against the dock, looking slightly flushed and emotional as he spoke to his sister Aimee.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said he would use the tea break to get a document he needed.
Pistorius hugged his look-alike brother Carl and wandered over to his legal team, conferring in a far corner of the court room.
People supporting the Steenkamp family also sat in a tight huddle as photographers discreetly took pictures.
Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Silver Woods estate, Pretoria on February 14, 2013.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder, saying he thought he was shooting at an intruder through the toilet door.
WITNESS OWNS GUN HIMSELF - Sapa
A witness who heard gunfire from Oscar Pistorius's house owns a firearm and is confident he can identify the sound of a shot, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Thursday.
"A cricket bat striking a door would make a different sound than the sharp sound of a gunshot," Charl Johnson said to questioning from Barry Roux, for Pistorius.
"I can confidently say I heard gunshots."
He told the court he owned a 9mm pistol.
Roux has been trying to suggest that the shots Johnson said he heard could have been Pistorius breaking down the door of his toilet with a cricket bat. The houses of the two men are 177m apart.
Pistorius sat listening to Johnson's testimony, at one point pressing his fist to his mouth, thumb resting on his cheek. A sketch artist stood to the side of the court, focusing his attention on Pistorius's brother Carl.
Pistorius is accused of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria townhouse on February 14 last year. She was shot through the closed door of Pistorius's toilet.
He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public. He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.
In September 2010 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
WE DIDN'T WANT TO BE INVOLVED: WITNESS - Sapa
Amid a tough cross-examination in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, a witness said on Thursday he and his wife had not wanted to be involved in the trial.
"We didn't want to be involved in this matter. We are very private people," Charl Johnson told the High Court in Pretoria.
The thin, tall man sought to remain calm as he was cross-examined by Pistorius's lawyer, Barry Roux.
He said he and his wife, Michelle Burger, had wanted to find a channel to disclose what they knew and remain anonymous.
Their faces are not being publicised.
Burger had taken to the witness stand earlier in the week. After remaining steadfast in her replies during cross-examination, she crumbled on Tuesday and cried before the court.
The couple live in the Silver Stream Estate which is next to the Silver Woods Country Estate -- the complex where Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day.
On Thursday, Roux questioned Johnson on the three sets of notes he made weeks after the shooting on what he could remember.
Roux questioned on him on the changes and phrases he had made on the notes.
"It's a draft. Draft means it will be amended," said Johnson.
Roux continued to dig deeper for an answer.
"It's the nature of how I do my work," said Johnson.
"I try to improve the quality of the work that I write... to use proper English and grammar," said Johnson.
Johnson said that even as more information came forward in Pistorius's bail application, he did not change any of his notes nor the statement he gave to police.
"I received confirmation during the bail application that it was four shots (fired at Pistorius's home). But I still told police I wasn't sure I had heard. I said it was about four and five shots," he said.
As he responded, Roux looked at his colleague Kenny Oldwage, smiled and softly murmured something to him.
Oldwage is a member of Pistorius's defence team.
Roux kept bringing up similarities that existed in Johnson's and Burger's official statements that they gave to police.
The couple claimed their statements were given independently and they have not shared any information since the trial started on Monday.
The State will try to prove that Pistorius committed premeditated murder when he shot and killed Steenkamp through the locked bathroom door at his home.
In addition he is charged with the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Pistorius's lawyers will argue that he mistook her for an intruder when he shot through the bathroom door.
DEFENCE TAKES OSCAR WITNESS TO TASK - Sapa
Oscar Pistorius's defence took a witness to task on Thursday over changes he made to his statement on what he heard on the night the paralympian shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
"You want to extricate any suggestion that this version was also your wife's version," Barry Roux SC said in the High Court in Pretoria.
"You want that out," he said, as murder-accused Pistorius listened intently to the softly spoken man in the stand.
"That is what it's all about," said Roux, waving a copy of Johnson's statement, a highlighted line showing across the court room.
Pointing a finger and holding it still in both hands, front showing to Johnson, Roux continued asking why Johnson's statement changed so many times.
On Wednesday, Roux asked for Johnson's original notes about what he heard from his home in Silver Stream, which is next to Silver Woods, where Pistorius has admitted shooting Steenkamp dead.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder as charged by the State, which seeks to prove Steenkamp died during an argument, saying he fired shots because he thought there was an intruder in the house.
Roux said one statement said he did not count the number of shots that were fired, but his wife recalled "about four or five shots".
"And that is so removed from this musical talent to count shots. It is not the same," said Roux, referring to Michelle Burger's testimony that she could remember hearing four bangs because of her musical training.
Grappling for words, Johnson said he wrote it at work where he was probably meant to be doing other work, so he considered that statement a rough guideline.
It was common practice to do drafts of documents, he said.
Roux asked what he had told the investigating officer Captain van Aardt about the shots.
His own version was there were more than what his wife said, and even after Pistorius's bail hearing where it was said there were four shots, he did not change his version, even though his wife had a different version.
But Roux wanted to know why he dropped the word "about" from a later version in describing what his wife recalled.
He said that he would bring evidence to prove that what Johnson heard "must describe" the breaking down of the toilet door with a cricket bat.
Tweet: TMG Oscar @OscarsTrial #OscarPistorius Johnson should look for a career as a Defence Attorney #playingforadraw
Tweet: @GraemeHosken #OscarPistorius #OscarTrial witness holding his ground under repeated questioning from Oscar's lawyer
SCREAMING MAN SOUNDED 'EMBARRASSED' - Sapa
The man heard screaming for help the night Oscar Pistorius shot dead Reeva Steenkamp sounded embarrassed to be doing so, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Thursday.
"The man almost sounded embarrassed in calling for help... That is the impression I got, it's what struck me," Charl Johnson said to questioning from Barry Roux, for Pistorius.
This emerged as Roux was questioning Johnson about notes he had made about the screams and gunshots he heard from his townhouse in the early morning hours of February 14 last year. He made the notes on March 6 that year. He previously testified that he heard both a woman and a man screaming.
Pistorius's home is 177m from Johnson's, the court heard this week.
Roux charged that Johnson was trying to incriminate Pistorius with his version of events.
"There is a design on your side to incriminate." Johnson countered that he had no reason to do so.
Pistorius is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Steenkamp in his Pretoria townhouse on February 14 last year.
He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public. He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.
In September 2010 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
PISTORIUS WITNESS DESTROYED NOTES: ROUX - Sapa
Michelle Burger, a witness in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, destroyed the notes she made on the events of February 14 2013, the night the paralympian killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, according to his defence attorney.
Barry Roux SC told the High Court in Pretoria this emerged during Wednesday's adjournment, which came after he asked to see Johnson's original notes.
"We were told in no uncertain terms, we were all standing together, that she had destroyed her notes," Roux said to Johnson.
Johnson said he did not know.
Roux has said Johnson and his wife's statements bear striking similarities, and has already asked whether they have discussed their testimony, which Johnson has denied.
The State is attempting to prove that Pistorius murdered Steenkamp during a fight.
Roux is questioning whether the screams witnesses have said they heard were indeed Steenkamp's, and whether the shots fired could have been the cricket bat Pistorius used to break down the toilet door.
WITNESS HANDS IN NOTES - Sapa
Officials have retrieved three sets of notes made by a witness on what he remembers about the morning he heard screams and gunshots coming from the home of murder accused, Oscar Pistorius.
The notes, which were made by Charl Johnson, were entered on Thursday as evidence at the High Court in Pretoria.
Pistorius's lawyer, Barry Roux, told the court that the notes were made exactly a year ago, on March 6, 2013.
The final version of the notes had been retrieved on an email, sent to a police officer that night.
Johnson on Wednesday told the court that his wife, Michelle Burger, had also made notes on the incident.
Roux on Thursday told the court that Burger's notes were not found as she claimed they had been destroyed.
Peering from beneath his glasses, Roux on Thursday continued to dwell on the similarity that existed between the couple's official statements they gave to police.
Johnson and Burger said their statements were given independently and they had not shared any information since the trial started on Monday.
Pistorius is on trial for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
He shot her dead at his home in Pretoria on Valentine's Day last year.
Thursday was a significant day for Pistorius as it also marked 12 years since the death of his mother, Sheila.
He appeared calm and collected ahead of his proceedings.
His siblings, Carl and Aimee, were both in court to support him.
Before proceedings began, Carl Pistorius went over to the dock and hugged his brother. They spoke for a few minutes and Carl, the oldest of the Pistorius siblings, then straightened his younger brother's suit.
As before, Pistorius's uncle Arnold was also in court.
The State will try to prove that Pistorius committed premeditated murder when he shot and killed Steenkamp through the locked bathroom door at his home.
In addition he is charged with the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Pistorius's lawyers will argue that he mistook her for an intruder when he shot through the bathroom door.
ROUX SORRY FOR CELLPHONE DISCLOSURE - Sapa
Oscar Pistorius's lawyer Barry Roux on Thursday apologised to a State witness for reading his cellphone number out in court.
"I hope Mr Nel relayed to you my apology, I did not realise the consequences," Roux said in the High Court in Pretoria. He was referring to prosecutor Gerrie Nel.
"Thank you very much. Apology accepted," the witness, Charl Johnson replied.
Johnson told the court this week that he was inundated with calls after Roux read his number out on Tuesday.
One was from a person accusing him of lying in court. He subsequently had to keep his phone switched off.
Roux continued questioning Johnson about notes he and his wife made about the screams and shots they said they heard from Pistorius's townhouse in the early hours of February 14 last year.
Pistorius is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public.
He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.
In September 2010 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
PISTORIUS TRIAL RESUMES - Sapa
Witness Charl Johnson returned to the stand as Oscar Pistorius's murder trial resumed in the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.
Barry Roux SC immediately started with his contention that Johnson and his wife Michelle Burger had discussed their testimony, because there was a "striking similarity" in their statements.
Johnson said: "We did not discuss her testimony in court."
They did talk about the events of the early hours of February 14 2013, when the paralympian shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in a toilet at his home in Silver Woods Estate, Pretoria.
Johnson and Burger live in the next estate, Silver Stream, and have testified that they were woken by what sounded like screaming and gunshots.
The State is seeking to prove that Pistorius murdered Steenkamp during an argument.
Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to the charge, saying he thought there was an intruder in the house when he fired four shots through the door.
His defence has said the screaming came from Pistorius.
DAY FOUR OF PISTORIUS TRIAL BEGINS - Sapa
The fourth day of the trial of murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius got underway around 9.30am in the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.
Charl Johnson took the stand for cross-examination. Barry Roux, for Pistorius, questioned him about the similarities between his testimony and that of his wife, Michelle Burger.
Burger was the first witness to testify on Monday.
Roux tackled Johnson about quoting from his wife's testimony.
Earlier, Pistorius was seen bowing his head after taking his seat in the dock. His brother Carl and sister Aimee were also in court.
Carl was seen briefly holding Pistorius's hand and straightening his suit before proceedings began.
Three women, clad in ANC Womens' League attire, were sitting next to the Steenkamp family.
Pistorius, 27, is accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14 last year.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, and to contraventions under the Firearms Control Act.
DAY FOUR, ROUTINE SETS IN AT OSCAR TRIAL - Sapa
By day four the Oscar Pistorius murder trial has settled into a routine and the excitement appeared to have died down for most journalists.
Unlike on Monday, only a handful of journalists entered court GD when security guards opened the doors, checked their accreditation tags and let them in shortly before 9am.
Outside the court only three cameramen were getting into position to catch the paralympian make his entrance. Two of them had stepladders to get a better view while a third used two plastic crates.
Pistorius appeared far more relaxed during court proceedings on Wednesday, even smiling on one or two occasions.
On Thursday he was already at his place in the dock at 9am, looking at some papers on his lap.
Questioning of State witness Charl Johnson was expected to continue on Thursday. His testimony was interrupted on Tuesday to allow the State to get notes he and his wife Michelle Burger had made on their laptops about the shouting and gunshots they heard from Pistorius's Pretoria home in the early morning of February 14 last year.
Six witnesses have testified so far.
Pistorius is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria townhouse. He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public. He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.
In September 2010 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
PISTORIUS ARRIVES AT COURT - Sapa
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius arrived at the High Court in Pretoria before 9am on Thursday on the fourth day of his murder trial.
He walked calmly past journalists without a media frenzy erupting, as had been the case on previous days.
Journalists clapped as he passed, with some jokingly remarking "well done media" for staying calm.
Media lined up outside the court around 8.30am.
Photographers had positioned themselves for good pictures ahead of the double-amputee's arrival.
The rain had stopped overnight, and electricity generators, broadcast vans, and rolls of cable were set up along Madiba Street.
Since Monday, six State witnesses have testified. Some said they heard screams and gunshots coming from Pistorius's home on Valentine's Day last year when he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder, and claims he mistook her for a burglar.
PISTORIUS TRIAL: KEY POINTS FROM DAY THREE
Day three of Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial featured a witness who said the athlete once fired a gun in a restaurant and then tried to shift the blame.
Here are the highlights of Wednesday’s proceedings:
- Kevin Lerena, a 21-year-old professional boxer and one of the Pistorius’s friends, testified that the athlete discharged a gun in a popular Johannesburg restaurant, and then sought to deflect the blame.
“I looked down, and just where my foot was stationary, there was a hole in the floor,” said Lerena.
“I had a little graze on my toe. I wasn’t hurt or injured,” he said, but added that “there was blood.”
- Pistorius then asked another friend, Darren Fresco, to take the blame, Lerena told the court.
“Before anybody came to the table, I do remember Oscar saying ‘please,’ to Darren, just say it was you,” said Lerena.
- Jason Loupis, the owner of the restaurant where incident took place told the court he heard a loud bang. “Mr Fresco said to me ‘sorry Jason, my gun fell down in my tracksuit pants,’ and then I said, ‘are you guys being serious? Because this is not a joke,” said Loupis.
- The defence also continued its tough cross examination of Charl Johnson, the husband of the first witness Michelle Burger, arguing that the couple’s testimony had “remarkable similarities,” suggesting collaboration. “You could just as well have stood together in the witness box,” advocate Barry Roux said.
- Johnson also told proceedings that his “privacy has been compromised severely” by the reading in court of his cell phone number, and that he had received threatening messages.
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