Pistorius: will judge halt trial?

[caption id="attachment_39788" align="alignright" width="405"] ON THE MOVE: Forensic video footage showing Oscar Pistorius running without his prosthetic legs as well as carrying a woman – his sister Aimee – have surfaced on Australian television[/caption]

IN what may become a game changer for the Oscar Pistorius trial, an Australian television station has aired previously unseen forensic footage that shows the Paralympian re-enacting events from the night he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp.

A law expert said the judge hearing the case could, in theory, put a stop to the trial, as he believed there was no way Pistorius could now get a fair hearing.

A preview of the controversial footage was aired ahead of a documentary slot on Channel 7 yesterday. In it, Pistorius, 27, is seen running unaided through his uncle's house while on his stumps and holding an imaginary gun.

The athlete is also seen carrying his sister, Aimee, down a flight of stairs while on his prosthetic limbs, while other footage shows him holding her without wearing his prosthetics.

The images reveal a glum-faced Pistorius moving with surprising agility.

This is in stark contrast to evidence in his trial by Dr Wayne Derman, a sports doctor who has treated Pistorius. He testified in the Pretoria High Court last week that the athlete needed support whenever he did not have his prosthetic legs on.

Pistorius is accused of shooting Steenkamp, a former Port Elizabeth model and law graduate, through the locked bathroom door of his Pretoria home early on Valentine's Day last year.

He maintains he mistook her for an intruder.

The film, according to his defence team, was part of a visual map that marked the events on the night of the accident. A US- based company called The Evidence Room, which specialises in forensic animation, had been hired to do this.

Footage of the re-enactment has not yet been shown in the trial.

Pistorius's lawyers issued a statement yesterday saying the material had been obtained illegally.

"We wish to make it very clear that the material that has been aired was obtained illegally and in breach of the non-disclosure agreement with The Evidence Room.

"Its usage also constitutes a breach of privilege as this material was produced for trial purposes on the instructions of a commissioner, and the ownership of the copyright vests in the commissioner," the statement read.

Associate professor Stephen Tuson, of Wits University's Law Clinic, said the leaked footage had the potential to be explosive to the ongoing trial. "If it was made by the defence team in preparation of the trial it is highly privileged information," he said, adding that it was a breach of attorney/client confidentiality and the sub judice rule.

Tuson said the judge could, in theory, put a stop to the trial, as there was no way Pistorius could now get a fair trial.

"It is definitely going to be interesting to see what happens [today] in the trial," he said.

Interestingly, on the Channel 7 website, top US forensic investigator Scott Roder said he believed Pistorius was telling the truth about what happened on February 14 last year.

He came to this conclusion "after weeks of interviewing and analysing the evidence".

Roder, according to The Evidence Room website, is the company's president.

Attempts to contact Roder last night were unsuccessful.

Pistorius's lawyers also revealed yesterday that they had known that Channel 7 had the footage, but had negotiated with the media house and had received an "undertaking they would not air any of the material before the end of the trial".

"For the family, the airing of this footage constitutes a staggering breach of trust and an invasion of the family's privacy," they said.

The trial continues today after prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked for time to consult with one of the psychiatrists who evaluated Pistorius when the athlete underwent a four-week psychiatric evaluation last month. - Shaun Smillie