Lawyers representing Oscar Pistorius have criticised Australia’s Channel Seven for airing footage of the athlete re-enacting events of the night he shot and killed his girlfriend. The lawyers say the video was “obtained illegally”.
The video, which aired on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night program, was commissioned by Pistorius’s defence team in order to compile a 3D “visual mapping” re-enactment to use at his murder trial in South Africa. The raw footage, aired by Channel 7, has not been seen in court.
Pistorius’ lawyers have condemned the Australian network for broadcasting the footage, which they say had been illegally obtained. “For the family, the airing of this footage constitutes a staggering breach of trust and an invasion of the family’s privacy,” lawyer Brian Webber said in a statement. He said no permission for the disclosure of the material had been given.
The video shows the Olympian facing the camera with his arm outstretched as if holding a gun. It also shows Pistorius demonstrating how he dragged girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp’s body, played by his sister Aimee, from the bathroom and carried her downstairs.
At his murder trial, which began in early March, Pistorius admitted to shooting Steenkamp but claims that he mistook her for an intruder in the toilet of his Pretoria home and killed her accidentally.
The video itself was filmed by a US company, The Evidence Room, which specialises in forensic animation and signed a non-disclosure agreement with Pistorius’ defence team. It is not known how Channel Seven obtained the video and whether The Evidence Room was responsible for the tape being released.
The court heard last week that a psychiatric report had determined Pistorius was not suffering from a mental condition when he shot Ms Steenkamp, meaning he was able to distinguish between right and wrong.
After a month break, Pistorius’ trial is due to resume on Monday in South Africa.
