Defence accuses witness
Advocate Barry Roux accused a friend of Oscar Pistorius of engineering false evidence yesterday.
FILE PHOTO: Defence attorney Barry Roux attends on March 28, 2013 the bail application appeal of his client, South African Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, at the North Gauteng Hight Court in Pretoria. AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
It was the second day Darren Fresco was in the hot seat in the North Gauteng High Court. Roux grilled Fresco on the details surrounding the events where Pistorius allegedly fired a shot out of the open sunroof of a car and when he accidently discharged a shot in Tasha’s restaurant in Johannesburg.
Fresco was present when both these incidents happened and regularly claimed he could not remember some of the details.
On Tuesday, the court heard from Fresco that he had passed his gun under the table to Pistorius after the athlete asked him to. He said he warned Pistorius there was “one up”, meaning there was a bullet in the chamber, but moments later a shot hit the restaurant floor. Fresco claims Pistorius asked him to take the blame for the incident, a claim the defence disputes.
Roux caught the witness unaware after Fresco claimed he took a photo of the speedometer while Oscar was driving “over 200km/h” on their way to the Vaal Dam. However, Roux said a timestamp proved that it was, in fact, Fresco driving. Fresco conceded that he must have been driving. “I don’t even remember the photo,” he added.
The court also heard from Fresco that Pistorius kept his unholstered firearm between his legs on their way to and from the Vaal. Fresco also admitted he had attorneys draft his statement in his presence and did not write it himself.
