He recalled that Mr. Pistorius had confronted a police investigator during a break in his trial, accusing him of failing to do his job.
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“Currently my opinion is, he is not able to testify, his condition is severe”, Scholtz told the hearing that was attended by Steenkamp’s mother. Scholtz said Pistorius could be too distraught to testify himself in court this week ahead of his sentencing. He noted that Pistorius had sold his firearms, became jumpy even at the sound of gunfire on television, and was unlikely to resort to violence again.
The prosecution argued that information in the psychological report about Pistorius being assaulted in prison and witnessing a hanging were untrue. The hour-long interview with Britain’s ITV is due to air on June 24 at 2000 GMT.
Nel cross-examined Scholtz and sought to discredit his claim that Pistorius had deteriorated in the past two years. He said Pistorius was now “despondent and lethargic, disinvested, and leaves his future in the hands of God”.
A psychologist has told the court that Oscar Pistorius is suffering from “major depression”.
The athlete has always maintained he mistook her for an burglar. “I find in your report you are biased towards the accused”.
Pistorius’ lawyer Mr Roux declined to comment on the day’s proceedings, as did Steenkamp’s family.
“I’m not saying that he’s not verbally, angry or aggressive at times, but I’m saying he’s not a violent person in nature”, said Scholtz.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court that Pistorius had temper tantrums and once banged a table when he got upset with a nurse while serving his sentence.
After losing at the SCA, Pistorius appealed to South Africa’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, to review his case.
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled last December that his initial conviction of culpable homicide should be changed to murder – which carries a minimum jail sentence of 15 years.
Months later, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the culpable homicide conviction, ruling that a lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis.
High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa is due to decide on the sentence at a hearing starting Monday in Pretoria, the capital, at the same court where the Paralympic gold medalist was tried for shooting Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 with four hollow-point bullets through a locked toilet door.
FILE – In this November 4, 2012 file photo, South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp arrive for an awards ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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On February 14, 2013, Pistorius killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, by shooting through a closed door. He also argued that Pistorius did not pose a threat to society, and further incarceration “would not be psychologically or socially constructive”.
