Sound expert testifies in Oscar Pistorius trial

Holding different professional sound meters in the High Court in Pretoria, Ivan Lin gave a meticulous technical report on ambient noise on the morning Oscar Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

“At 177 metres away, if the scream was from a toilet, it is very unlikely that a listener can hear the scream, let alone interpret the sound source reliably,” said Lin.

He was being questioned by Barry Roux, for Oscar Pistorius.

“If the scream was from the bathroom the listeners may have heard the scream and may possibly be able to interpret the sound, under certain conditions.”

He said listening was subjective and the court would have to determine whether a person could discern emotion in a scream.

“The aim of my report is to demonstrate on a scientific basis, based on my experience, to what extent a scream could be audible or intelligible… a listener’s interpretation may not be reliable, as set out in my summary,” said Lin.

His evidence is aimed at casting doubt on earlier evidence by Oscar Pistorius’s neighbours, including Michelle Burger.

Burger, whose townhouse was 177m from Oscar Pistorius’s, told the court in March she heard “blood-curdling screams” followed by four gunshots.

She said she and her husband were woken in the early morning by the sound of a woman screaming.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said he would cross-examine Lin on Tuesday after studying the report.

Pistorius is accused of murdering Steenkamp on February 14 last year. He shot her through the locked door of his toilet in his Pretoria home, apparently thinking she was an intruder about to open the door and attack him.

After firing the shots, Pistorius used a cricket bat to break open the door to get to a dying Steenkamp.

Earlier, Pistorius’s orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gerry Versfeld told the court that his client was unstable without his prosthetic legs and his mobility was significantly curtailed.

Versfeld said that when on his stumps, the athlete needed to see to manoeuvre. If it was dark, Pistorius needed to hold onto something to move around.

Nel, however, sought explanations from Versfeld on how Pistorius moved around before and after the shooting without falling.

“You said he often falls. Do you know that on that particular night he never fell? Did you not ask him what happened that night?

“The most amazing thing is he walked from his bedroom, with a gun in his hand to the bathroom. He fired four shots and he was on his stumps and it was all in the dark.”

Versfeld said Pistorius never explained to him the details of the morning of February 14, 2013. He said Pistorius had told him he often fell and even a dog had knocked him over.

Versfeld said it was unlikely that Pistorius struck the toilet door with a cricket bat while on his stumps. He said the athlete would not have enough balance.

Versfeld operated on Pistorius as a child.

On Monday morning, Nel told the court a psychiatric evaluation had found Pistorius did not suffer mental defects that could influence his behaviour.

He was summarising the findings of a panel of three psychiatrists and a clinical psychologist who observed the athlete for 30 days at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital following a court order. Pistorius was a day patient.

“The panel has provided reports and they will be handed over to court. A mental disorder did not affect his ability to distinguish between right or wrong,” said Nel.

Nel made the request for Pistorius to undergo evaluation after defence witness, forensic psychologist Merryll Vorster, told the court that Pistorius suffered from general anxiety disorder.

On May 20, Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled Pistorius would be evaluated to determine whether his general anxiety disorder and his disability had an effect on him when he shot Steenkamp.

Pistorius’s evaluation was intended to determine if he was “at the time of the commission of the offence criminally responsible” and if he could appreciate the “wrongfulness of his actions and act according to that appreciation”.

– Sapa