(17 Apr 2014) The prosecutor at the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius cross-examined one of the defence's forensic experts on Thursday, after a warning from Judge Thokozile Masipa about "unruly" behaviour on the part of spectators watching the televised proceedings in an adjacent room.
Judge Masipa said she had been made aware that people watching Pistorius' trial on television feeds in a courtroom next to the main trial room were shouting and cheering at times during the proceedings.
Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel then continued to question materials analyst and former policeman Roger Dixon on his findings regarding Pistorius' fatal shooting of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.
Dixon has offered a different sequence for the shots that killed Steenkamp, contradicting testimony by a police ballistics expert and the pathologist who did the autopsy on Steenkamp's body.
Nel, who also cross-examined Dixon on Wednesday, has criticised him for testifying about pathology, ballistics and other areas in which he acknowledged that he had no expertise.
Dixon testified that Steenkamp's wounds show she may have been in a different position than the prosecution says when she was shot multiple times through a toilet door by Pistorius.
The sequence of gunshots and positioning of Steenkamp when she was hit is critical to the cases of the prosecution and the defence.
The prosecution says Steenkamp was hit in the hip by the first of four shots, and then hit in the arm and head by the third and fourth shots after she collapsed.
The second shot missed, according to the prosecution.
Dixon has agreed that Steenkamp was hit in the hip by the first shot, but suggested the second shot hit her in the arm as she was reaching to open the toilet door.
Dixon's theory could cast doubt on the prosecution's argument that Steenkamp was in the midst of a fight with Pistorius and trying to hide from him.
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