Pistorius trial witness 'traumatised'

A WITNESS in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial has likened testifying in court to being "trampled by a bus".

Annette Stipp and husband Johan, also a witness in the trial, live near Pistorius's former Pretoria home, where he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year.

Her experience is cited in a recent paper on the trauma of taking the witness stand in criminal trials, which has led to a "crisis" in getting victims and witnesses to come forward.

She and her husband told the court what they heard and saw on the morning of the shooting.

Stipp, an occupational therapist, described the ordeal of testifying and what followed as "emotional, daunting and exhausting", saying she felt as if she was being attacked personally and was not sure she would do it again.

She was interviewed for a research paper presented by head of court preparation at the National Prosecuting Authority, Karen Tewson, at an Institute for Security Studies conference earlier this month.

The paper notes that many witnesses and victims are traumatised and suffer secondary victimisation on the witness stand, often during cross-examination by defence lawyers such as Pistorius's Advocate Barry Roux, who attack their integrity and character. This may lead to witnesses and victims not participating in court cases and can result in "vigilantism", "mob justice" and anarchy.

Witnesses are often "embarrassed" about testifying in a room full of strangers in an "intimidating court environment", followed by "often hostile" cross-examination by lawyers who try to trip them up and discredit them. Stipp said arriving at court the first time was "terrifying", but the anticipation was worse than testifying, adding that she had been "very well prepared" by the prosecution team.

But even worse, she said, was when Roux presented his heads of argument earlier this month, in which he described Stipp and her husband's testimony as "exaggerated and contradictory which ... creates doubt as to the reliability". He added that they "were not impressive witnesses".

"You feel like you're being attacked personally. Your integrity is questioned and all that you stand for ... We really felt that [we] were being attacked as being a liar and dishonest," Stipp said.

Police spokesman Solomon Makgale said "it sometimes happens that witnesses are afraid to testify in criminal cases".

Forensic psychologist Ivan de Klerk said: "Unfortunately, the legal system is scripted in such a way that the victim is retraumatised." - Leonie Wagner