12:04 pm
The court is shown a picture of a bullet hole in the duplicate door.

Dixon says analysis of the cracks and bullet holes shows the bullet hole came first.

He also talks about a light-coloured mark on the door, and says the white fibres are consistent with Pistorius' socks he wears over his prosthesis.

The hearing has now adjourned for lunch.

11:54 am
Pistorius breathes heavily then puts his head in his hands as the play the sounds of gunshots and the cricket bat.

11:51 am
Dixon says he did tests of a duplicate door, hitting it and firing bullets through it.

The witness says he hit this door himself with the cricket bat, and "still has some pain in his left forearm" because it takes a lot of force.

Dixon carried out tests at a shooting range, 60m and 180m from the door.

We are about to hearing a recording of these tests.

11:43 am
Dixon is going through a number of photos of the bathroom window - one which shows a man on his knees. Only his head can be seen.

The witness says he concluded the damage on the right hand side of the door was caused by a "cricket bat having hit it very hard".

He says he believes the damage was caused by only three blows.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

LUNCH

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

1:11 pm
Dixon tells the court he does not think "stumbling" would have transferred that amount of varnish onto the sole.

We are also shown a picture of Pistorius' blood-streaked prosthesis.

One Nike ankle sock has blood nearly covering the top part.

1:09 pm
The court session has resumed after lunch.

Roux is showing the court a photo of the brown/orange sole of Oscar Pistorius' right prosthesis.

There is a mark on it, and Dixon says that is where it would have struck the door.

"That (mark) can only come from a hard kick, a forceful kick going upwards," Dixon says.

1:07 pm
This is footage from the court room earlier this morning when the judge was played a sound test by defence witness Roger Dixon, in which he hit a duplicate door with a cricket bat and gunshots.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

1:40 pm

Oscar Pistorius covers his ears and bends forward as Dixon talks about wounds on Reeva's body.

He says after she was washed there were small splinter marks around the hip wound and arm.

1:33 pm
South African based Power 987 FM has tweeted this picture of this Valentine's gift Reeva Steenkamp had ready for Oscar Pistorius.

He apparently had not opened it because she wanted him to open it on Valentine's Day itself.

1:29 pm
They are now discussing shoe prints found on one of the panels from the door.

Dixon says that could only have happened if someone walked on them.

He says that would be "most unprofessional", but from his experience of crime scenes, "people walk all over the place".

1:22 pm
Dixon says tiles fell off the wall because of the "vibration" caused by hitting the door very hard.

The witness moves onto an image of the cricket bat "tip" with a blood smear and blood spots in it.

Dixon tells the court grooves on the tip are consistent with the English Willow bar squeezing into the door. He adds that another mark shows where the bat has compressed the wood.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

2:01 pm
Asked about evidence that Reeva was sitting on the magazine rack when a ricocheting bullet hit her, Dixon says: "I can't see it happening".

Dixon sighs as he is asked about the projectile found in the toilet bowl.

He says the bullet cartridge recovered from the bowl is inconsistent with the bullets that hit the body.

He says this was a fourth bullet which did not cause Reeva's three main wounds.

The court is adjourned for the day. The hearing will resume tomorrow morning.

1:52 pm
Pistorius continues to cover his eyes as Roux says there is another photo they want to discuss, but won't show for "obvious reasons".

Dixon says on the inside on Reeva's right buttock there was a severe contusion, with a curved bruise line leading outwards.

Again, he says that is consistent with Reeva having fallen "hard" on the magazine rack.

The magazine rack is shown to the court.

1:48 pm
Oscar buries his face in his hands as a picture of wounds of Reeva's back is flashed up on the court screens.

There are two marks - a smaller one of the left, and and larger on the right, as well as a bruise.

He says there were caused when Reeva fell against a "hard object".

Dixon says they are consistent with falling on something like the magazine rack.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The State vs Oscar Pretorius (Murder 1)



Trial Day 24

Start 9:30 AM Wednesday (4-16-14)

9:00AM J/Burg ----> 3:00AM ET ----> 2:00AM CT ---->1:00AM MT ---->12:00AM PT
(Times amended to include US clocks moved one hour forward)





Links for Live Streaming

telegraph.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... trial.html

wildabouttrial: http://www.wildabouttrial.com/one_off/o ... ve-stream/

channel24.co.za: http://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/DStv ... d-20140228

mybroadband.co.za: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/ ... aming.html

Mirror.co.uk: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... es-3201648




Twitter

wildabouttrial: https://twitter.com/wildabouttrial

#pretorius https://twitter.com/search?q=%23pretorius&src=hash

Oscar Trial Channel: https://twitter.com/oscartrial199

Factual Updates https://twitter.com/OscarHardTruth

GeraldImrayAP: https://twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP



Live Blog

Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... es-3201648

Sky: http://news.sky.com/story/1225139/live- ... rder-trial

Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... rius-trial

telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -live.html

dailymaverick: http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Daily Mirror - Live Blog

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... es-3418342

7:39 am
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of day 24 of Oscar Pistorius' murder trial.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:06 am
We heard details yesterday of the Valentine's Day card Reeva gave to Pistorius just hours before she died.

This picture shows the front of that card:

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:41 am
The judge has come into the court room, and is giving her decision on the adjournment request,

She tells everyone the trial was only meant to take three weeks, but has already run to seven.

She has granted the application, saying the court will adjourn tomorrow and resume on May 5.

She says she will use the break to work on the record on evidence, and urges the legals teams to use the time off to do the same.

8:35 am
Today we are waiting to hear what the timetable is after the judge spent the night sorting it out.

The prosecution have requested a two week break from April 17th until May 5th.

Oscar is sat reading a Good Luck card before proceedings start. Earlier he was scrolling through photos on his iPhone.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:55 am
Expert Roger Dixon is back on the witness stand, going through a diagram of bullet holes and ricochet marks.

He is giving very details technical evidence, talking about the trajectory and energy transfer of the bullets.

Reeva Steenkamps mother June is back in court, listening carefully to Mr Dixon's testimony.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:23 am
Dixon is again talking about the bruising found on Reeva's back. Pistorius sits with his fingers pressed against his eyes listening to this evidence.

The witness uses a junior member of the athlete's legal team to show where the wounds were.

He moves on to talk about the affects of the bullet on Reeva's skull. Pistorius covers his ears.

The witness says again he thinks Reeva was standing close to the door at an angle, not face on as the prosecution claim, with an arm out when she was hit - as if she had her arm out to open the door.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

10:19 am
Dixon has been asked about the notes he has in front of him in court. He says he is using them to guide his answers.

Nel counters that if he had a proper report before the court, he wouldn't need notes, but Dixon says he was not asked to bring one.

Nel says: "For an expert, you are evasive." He says this is worrying in a witness.

Dixon apologises if he is "slightly vague".

The court adjourns for a tea break.

10:05 am
Nel talks about yearly proficiency tests needed at the forensic science lab, and asks Dixon when he last did one.

The witness says his last professional test was in about 2011 or 2012, as he is no longer part of the forensic science lab.

Nel then asks him about reports that he has written.

Dixon says his report is on his computer at home. Roux says Nel is welcome to a copy.

9:45 am
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is now on his feet for the cross-examination. He asks where Dixon is employed, with Dixon replying that he is in charge of a lab at the University of Pretoria.

Nel points out Dixon is not affiliated to any forensic body.

Dixon says he pointed out yesterday he is not a "ballistic expert or an expert in a number of different fields".

He says his training as a geologist is applicable to the case.

Nel asks: "Are you a sound expert?"

Dixon says his evidence was "sound", but Nel blasts him: "So your expertise was wielding a cricket bat!"

9:33 am
Oscar Pistorius has his head in his hands as Dixon claims the first bullet that hit Reeva would have been an "incapacitating blow".

He says the bullet hit her head as she was falling and the marks on her back show she was falling fast.

He adds that the bullet to the arm would have been "like an instant amputation".

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

tea-break

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

11:35 am
Dixon says he asked Pistorius once about his position when he hit the door, and what force was used. Oscar said there was a "strong vibration" when he hit the door with the bat".

They move on to Dixon's ballistics evidence. He insists his conclusions are based on "scientific facts".

Talking about bullet holes, Dixon says there was "debate" and his understanding of what happened at the scene has changed in the last week after more information

11:12 am
Nel is asking Dixon again about the sound recordings played to the court.

He asks how many shots were fired in the first test, when the gun jammed. Dixon says he's not sure.

He says he says no idea whether the person recording the sound was an expert at recording explosions - he was a music producer.

He says to the best of his knowledge, he has never heard an electronically enhanced version of the recording, enhanced to sound like rapid gunfire.

10:54 am
Court has resumed after the tea break.

Dixon is being asked about the sound equipment used in his tests - he says he does not know the brand name of the equipment used.

Dixon says there were no decibel tests made and Nel says the lower decibel sounds will get fainter and fainter over a distance.

Nel says the sound tests were conducted again last week, when Dixon wasn't there. The sound of the cricket bat recording was done on one day, the gunshots on another.

Nel questions Dixon's evidence that he identified gunshots, even though he was not there.

Nel tells Dixon he is "testing his integrity" - saying it is serious for him to identify things when he was not present.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Nel wants lunch 10 mins early... he NEVER suggests coming back 10 mins earlier to compensate

LUNCH

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

1:37 pm
Dixon says they had problems getting hold of black talon bullets - the type used in the gun that shot Reeva - but used similar ones called Ranger in the tests they carried out.

The court has been adjourned until tomorrow.

1:25 pm
Dixon says: "I am not a wound ballistics expert... I am not a pathologist."

Nel points out because Dixon was not at the post mortem, he can only rely on photos and report.

Nel refers Dixon to another page of the post mortem report, and the witness exclaims: "What?!".

It's a page describing the wound to Reeva's buttock. Nel says Dixon made an inference about it being caused by the magazine rack in the bathroom without reading the entire report.

Dixon says he read it sometime ago.

The prosecutor says Dixon is "irresponsible" to give evidence on subjects when he says he is a "layman" himself".

Nel: "Why would you come to the High Court and lead evidence without reading the whole report?"

1:12 pm
We're back after the break for lunch, with Nel saying he is going to ask Mr Dixon about his evidence on the sequence of Reeva's wounds.

Pistorius puts his head in his hands as Nel talks about people in the movies being "flung backwards" by gunshot wounds.

Nel says this is "impossible", but Dixon says that at no stage did he say that it sent a person backwards.

Nel moves on to point out that Dixon was not in the post mortem. The witness says he has been to three post mortems in his life.

In comparison, the state pathologist Gert Saayman said he had conducted between 10 and 15,000 post mortems.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light