Oscar Pistorius Trial Update: Witnesses Left Traumatized, Felt Like They Were 'Attacked' on the Stand
The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius has several witnesses ranging from academics, experts and ordinary citizens, and now one of them is sharing what it feels like to be up on the witness stand.
Among those who were called to testify were Annette Stipp and her husband Johan. The Stipps are Pistorius' neighbors who live in direct line of sight to his house which was where his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was killed in the early hours of Valentines' Day. According to Pistorius, he woke up because he thought that burglars might have entered his home. He fired shots at the bathroom door, and Steenkamp was on the other side of it. The shots killed her instantly.
Pistorius claims it was an accident and is due to hear the judge's verdict on Sept. 11.
Annette Stipp testified that she heard a woman screaming on the morning of the killing. She was then subjected to a harrowing round of questions from the defense team. According to defense counsel Barry Roux, the testimonies of Stipp and her husband are "exaggerated and contradictory … [it] creates doubt as to [their] reliability."
Stipp was then interviewed by a research paper by South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority. She described her experience giving evidence as "emotional, daunting, and exhausting" according to the Times.
"You feel you are being attacked personally. Your integrity is being questioned. We felt that [we] were being attacked as [liars]," Stipp told the research team.
The team found that witnesses are often "embarrassed" by testifying in a room full of strangers in an "intimidating court environment" by hostile cross-examination from lawyers trying to discredit them.
Charl Winson, another neighbor and prosecution witness said that he hoped people would not be deterred from coming forward, according to TheGuardian.com.
"My wish is that people are not discouraged. It's not a pleasurable experience, but one's got to do what one feels is the right thing," said Winson.
