Oscar Pistorius case: Prosecution admits error over "testosterone" testimony
Updated 5:23 p.m. ET
PRETORIA, South AfricaThe investigating officer in the Oscar Pistorius murder case made an error in his court testimony Wednesday when he identified a substance found in the athlete's bedroom as testosterone, the national prosecutor said.
Medupe Simasiku, the spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Agency, told The Associated Press that it was too early to identify the substance as it was still undergoing laboratory tests.
"It is not certain (what it is) until the forensics." Simasiku said, adding that it wasn't certain if it was "a legal or an illegal medication for now."
Pistorius case: Police say they found testosterone, needles in bathroom
Olympic athlete charged with murder
Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, the investigating officer, said earlier in court during Pistorius' bail hearing that police found two boxes of testosterone and needles in the bedroom of the Olympic athlete, who is charged with premediated murder in the Feb. 14 shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
It was a mistake to identify the substance now, Simasiku said, as it was still unknown. He said the discovery of needles was in Botha's statement, however.
Pistorius denies murder, saying in an affidavit Tuesday that the Valentine's Day shooting was accidental because he thought there was an intruder in his house.
In response to Botha's claim, the defense said Wednesday, the second day of Pistorius' bail hearing at Pretoria Magistrate's Court, that the substance found was not a steroid or a banned substance but an herbal remedy.
Pistorius' lawyer Barry Roux had slammed Botha's testimony earlier, saying police "take every piece of evidence and try to extract the most possibly negative connotation and present it to the court."
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International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence told the AP soon after the substance claims that Pistorius — the world's most famous disabled athlete — was drug tested twice in London last year by the IPC, on Aug. 25 and Sept. 8. Both test results were negative, Spence said.
The Aug. 25 test was an out-of-competition test, and the Sept. 8 one in-competition, a day before the end of the London Paralympics.
The International Olympic Committee said it didn't test Pistorius at the Olympics, but referred the AP to the IPC's negative tests. International athletics body the IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency would not comment because it was an ongoing legal case.
"Bearing in mind the ongoing police investigation, WADA must refrain from making any statement at present," WADA said.
Giving testimony, Botha said police made the discovery of testosterone in bedroom of the double-amputee runner and multiple Paralympic champion's upscale Pretoria house after the shooting of Steenkamp but offered no further details or explanation. State prosecutor Gerrie Nel also had to correct Botha when he initially called it "steroids."
Simasiku later told the AP that the detective, Botha, thought it was testosterone by reading the first few letters of the label.
Pistorius' lawyer Roux, said on questioning the detective — who has 16 years' experience as a detective and 24 years with the police — that it was not a banned substance and that police were trying to give the discovery a "negative connotation."
"It is an herbal remedy," Roux said. "It is not a steroid and it is not a banned substance."
The debate over the substance added another dramatic twist to a case that has already gripped the world's attention since Steenkamp's killing at Pistorius' home last Thursday.
Prosecutor Nel also had to clarify that police were not saying that Pistorius was using the substance, only that it was discovered along with the needles in his bedroom.
Official records obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday show that Pistorius applied for firearm licenses for six more guns weeks before the shooting.
In details obtained from the South African Police Service's National Firearms Center and given over the telephone, Pistorius applied for licenses for a Smith & Wesson model 500 revolver, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, a Vector .223-caliber rifle and three shotguns: A Mossberg shotgun, a Maverick shotgun and a Winchester shotgun.
Pistorius said Tuesday in a written affidavit and read in court by Roux that he mistakenly killed model Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day when he fired four shots into a locked toilet door, hitting his girlfriend three times after thinking she was a dangerous intruder.
The prosecution claims Pistorius intended to kill the 29-year-old Steenkamp after they had a fight.
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You actually make the most sense with the explanation you give about what could have happened! From what I've read and heard so far with this case ( and I know it's 'just' a bail hearing still) I am on the same page as you. I'm also glad SA hasn't got a jury system with this media circus going on.
NARDUS9 replies:This should not even go to trial.
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WOW! And you wrote other posters were dumb. Oh how can you be such an idiot?
why would she lock the door to go pee?
He is innocent.
He went to the balcony to bring the fan in not close the sliding the door was closed. maybe was hot and wanted to put the fan on in the room.
He then closed the door, the blinds and the curtains. During that time Reeva must have went to the bathroom unnoticed.
He then heard noises in the bathroom and realized that someone was in there. Believing Reeva was still asleep in bed. he took his gun and went to the bathroom door shouting at Reeva to call the police. Reeva hearing Oscar shouting at her to call the police realised something must be wrong and that there must be an intruder or burglar. She then must have decided that it would be safer to stay in the toilet, keep quiet and lock the door. Thinking that Oscar saw her go to the toilet. (Taking into consideration the violent crimes in SA and the usual rape that goes with it in SA) Most women in SA would have done the same.
Oscar then shouted at the "burglar" to leave. All he heard was the door locking and thinking that someone must be hiding in there. Reeva on the inside of the toilet could not have known that Oscar was actually shouting at her in the toilet and therefore kept quite. Oscar believed the person in the toilet was a danger to him and Reeva and since the "burglar" did not respond to his shouts. He deemed it necessary to fire at the "burglar" in self defence as he would not have been able to defend them in a struggle against a normal bodied person.
After he shot 4 shots threw the toilet door he walked backwards on his stumps to the bed to go check on Reeva and to see if she phoned the police. When he realises she is not in bed it occurs to him that it might be her in the toilet. He then goes back to the toilet and tries to open it but it was locked. He goes to the balcony after unlocking the balcony door and shouts for help. He puts on his prostatic legs and go and try to kick open the toilet door. When it fails he goes to fetch a cricket bat and uses it to bash open a hole in the door so he can unlock it. (NO BLOOD ON THE CRICKET BAT and there never was, I don't know where people get that from). He found Reeva slumped on the toilet but still alive. He phoned "Stander" (someone that lives close by and that knows a doctor in the area) for help as well as netcare911. He then went downstairs to open the door for when they came. He then went back to pick up Reeva and take her downstairs as he was told to take Reeva to the hospital and not wait for the ambulance (In SA the Ambulances might take a couple of hours to get there) When he was going downstairs with Reeva both Stander and the local doctor arrived.
They tried to help Reeva but she died in Oscars arms.
A very sad story but accident none the less.
This should not even go to trial.
The cops and prosecutor are just pushing this because his famous and they want their own 15 minutes of fame.
Don't get me wrong there should be a proper investigation and all evidence should be considered as well as all possible routes of what might have happened. But so far that has not been happening. The investigating officer has made more public accusations than actually investigating the case and it became clear today in court when he was found lacking and even contradicting himself.
There is no bloody bat or paddle.
She went to the toilet to use it.....
If she was hiding from oscar why would she use the toilet while she was in there???
Autopsy showed her bladder was empty.
Normaly at three in the morning all bladders would have some pee in it.
Regarding the projectile threw the door it was proven in court yetsrday that the police got it wrong and that it actually proofs that oscar is telling the truth.
the bullets is not going at a downward angle.
it is going a level angle coinsiding with his lenght with out his legs....
wake up and get your facts straight