They are back......

Worried about what can be televised again.... press want to show the court but not the witness.

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

Judge Masipa has as arrived back in court. Judge has indicated that there has been a request to start court at 9:30 am in the morning.

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

cross examination... pressing witness on whether she is saying OP is a liar

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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She is NOT answering questions

She sound like she has been HEAVILY coached in her testimony... and completely lost when asked to actually think.

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

She is being VERY devious about her and her husband discussing their "separate" versions

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

Sky
When my husband comes to testify in court, he will give his version of what he heard. What he heard he stuck to it, I clearly heard four and we stuck to it."

Judge Masipa would like to know if there is mis-interpertation from the interpreters' side.

Adv Roux " Was your husband right or wrong in what he heard?"

Michell Burger " I can't answer on his behalf. My husband will testify on his own behalf. I am convinced that I heard four gunshots. I can not speak on my husbands' behalf on his testimony"

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

Now she wants to answer in English ... when it suits her!!

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

Sky
Roux: I understand the emotional side of your version, I'm more interested in the confusing evening.

Burger: It was a confusing evening.

Roux: Is there a problem between yourself and the interpreter?

(The witness is now offering to do testimony in English)

Burger: There are some words which are not being translated correctly. I am prepared to speak English but if I get stuck speak Afrikaans. And then the translator and translate for me.

Judge Masipa: Are you comfortable speaking English?

(This is a MESS..... )

Burger: My mother tongue is Afrikaans but can speak English.

Roux : After you heard the sounds BOOM, Boom, Boom Boom. What happened directly afterwards?

Burger: After the shouts I heard screams. During the shots I heard the her screaming and then it faded away. I did not note with what shots, what screams I heard. Just a moment after the shots I heard the lady's screaming fade away

Roux: Was there an independant screaming after the shots or was it fading after the shots?

Burger: It could be that she screamed during the shots
and that it faded away with the last shot.

Witness has to constantly correct the translator.

Roux: If you say you heard a voice after the shots, what does it mean?

Burger : It means the voice that I awake to. She could have screamed with the last shot or shortly afterwards. I confirm that just after the last shot I heard her voice.

Roux: Was it a constant scream?

Burger : I did not sit there with a time watch. But what I can say is that I heard the same woman's voice screaming as what woke me up that night.

Roux: Was it before, during or after?

(This is silly... when she uses English.. she is perfectly clear... the Afrikans seems to be an affectation.)

Burger: As I have stated before, I heard a voice calling for help, I then heard a male voice screaming three times. I then made a call after that I heard her screaming. I then heard four shots. I did not hear her a minute after the last shot.

Burger: When I last heard the woman scream, was very shortly after the last shot.

Burger: I heard her voice was shortly after the last shot.

Roux:Was that the time grained in your mind by the woman's voice?

Burger : I felt helpless. By the climax in her screams, I thought her life was being threatened. Very intense. I was sure they were being attacked in their house.

Roux: You see that is very easy and we will discuss this with Capt Van Aardt. I am going to ask the state to make your statement available to you. So that we can go through it. There are other things that we will discuss there aswell.

Burger: My lady it's correct it's my statement.

(Impeaching the witness with Statement she gave to Cops)

(Asks for adjournment to get copies of Statement)

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

Back

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

Sky
Roux: i want you to have a look at paragraph 6. It says your husband went to the balcony

Burger: I see that

Roux: I hear the lady screaming?

Burger: With that reply, I heard her screaming.

Nel: I have to object. What Roux put towards the witness is incorrect.

Roux: That is not the point. At the very least I would expect your to say Capt Van Aardt, that you heard blood-curdling screams and not just you heard screams?

Burger: I'm sure when Van Aardt testifies he will tell you how emotional it was for me to hear the screams.

Roux: What you did not write down was the blood-curdling screams and the emotions you heard in her voice.

Roux: Paragraph 3 it was an anxious/fear screaming.

Roux: We can debate this. If you have told Capt Van Aardt that this was not only screaming but something more. If you had told him the anxious screaming, he would have written it down in you testimony. It's far more than that. The emotions, the screaming was blood-curdling.

Burger: You lady, Cat Van Aardt will be able to confirm that I did say that I heard them shouting.

Roux: Was that the truth?

Burger: Yes it was.

Roux: Why did you not tell the truth in court.

Burger: My lady, I did.

Nel: I object. The witness answered the question, she said later in the paragraph she said she was screaming.

Burger: I'm now stating to the court that I heard her.

Roux: You are quite clear that after the last shot you heard her?

Burger: I heard her.

Nel: Judge I would like the witness to leave the court, so that I can clear up a matter.

Judge Masipa: She can leave the court.

Nel: is now reading the passage out of the witness' statement in Afrikaans. Stating there is a continuation between the screams.

Roux: I wanted to put it to her that it's not there. And put it on record.

The witness is called back in.

Judge Masipa: You're still under oath.

Roux: One thing you did not do, you referred to the boom, boom, boom, boom but you never made reference to the lady screaming afterwards.

Burger: I did not forget about it, but Nel did not ask me.

Roux: You say that you only heard four shots?

Burger: What I was referring to was on the radio during the pre-trial saying that there was four shot. I only heard four shots after I woke up that night. I can;t say if there were any other shots but I only heard four shots.

Roux: There's a witness Mr. Stipp, he says in his statement, he woke up to two shots. Roux: OP might have after shooting, screamed, even open the sliding doors while screaming. After trying to get the door opened got a cricket bat and hit the door three times. I have people that will testify that the cricket bat hitting the door can be mistaken as gun shots.

Burger: What I heard was Help, Help, Help

Nel: I must object. The statement of Mr. Stipp was not read correctly. Mr Stipp stated that he heard three shots.

Roux: Apologises he has been working with the incorrect statement. He apologises again.

Judge Masipa: It would be a good idea to say it in Afrikaans.

Roux: You say that you heard the gunshots only?

Burger: That is correct, I only heard the shots not the cricket bat.

Roux: That is the point I am stating to you. After the shots what did you do?

Burger: I was still sitting in bed, while my husband came back inside from the balcony.

Roux: I assume you were awake for some time?

Burger: I can't state what time I went to sleep. I fell asleep and then woke up again. I was very restless.

Roux: After the shots, surely you spoke to your husband?

Burger: Yes, I did. I still said I hope that lady didn't witnessed her husband being shot, as we thought it was a house break.

Roux: When you are that upset, surely you did not fall asleep?

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

1:14 pm
Lucy Thornton

Mr Roux is now questioning the witness about how long she stayed awake after hearing the screaming and gunfire.

She said: "I'm not sure, sometimes when you're in bed five minutes can feel like an hour."

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

1:16 pm
Lucy Thornton

Mr Roux said Pistorius fired shots, he screamed, he was "beside himself".

He puts it to the witness, she could have mistaken all the screams for a man and a woman.

Witness rejects this.

She says she is "100 per cent certain" she heard a male and a female voice.

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

1:22 pm
Lucy Thornton

The witness is being asked about how familiar she is with gunshots.

She says she heard one in her neighbourhood and at a firing range before.

"In my life I've heard gunshots before," she said.

"I'm sure, especially South Africans. I'm sure most people can say if they've heard gunshots before," she said.

She also adds that her bedroom windows were open, facing towards Mr Pistorius' bathroom.

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

1:27 pm
Lucy Thornton

The witness is assuring the court that she knows what a gunshot sounds like.

She says she was at a firing range once when she fired a gun herself and another time with a friend.

She also says she's heard gunshots "in the neighbourhood".

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

I imagine that many regard this woman as a great witness (for the prosecution)

But... I find her to be "wilful" She is obviously intelligent and she is debating and explaining any questioning of her version, but it comes across like she is determined to push her version for some reason. She has made up HER mind what happened... and she is determined to explain away anything that does not agree with her.

And..... Afrikaans has gone away and she has NO problem with English at all.

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

1:27 pm
Lucy Thornton

The witness is assuring the court that she knows what a gunshot sounds like.

She says she was at a firing range once when she fired a gun herself and another time with a friend.

She also says she's heard gunshots "in the neighbourhood".

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

This witness is defensive... wants to know why questions are being asked.. what the question is trying to get at. IMO she should be TOLD to answer the question.

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

They are knocking off for the day... back 9:30 tomorrow.

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

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