Oscar Pistorius, accused of murdering Reeva Steenkamp, arrived early at the Pretoria Magistrates court this morning. Pistorius was brought into court through the back entrance to avoid the media. This is the second day of his bail application hearing, and prosecutors delivered more details of their case against Pistorius.

Due to Magistrate Nair trying to accommodate the excess of media present at the trial, trial proceedings started later than expected. The first order of the day was Advocate Gerrie Nel’s response to the information requested from the defence yesterday. Nel presented a witness statement with information of a non stop fight between Pistorius and Steenkamp between 02h00 and 03h00 on February 14. The state then called investigating officer Hilton Botha to the stand, who indicated that he believed Pistorius to be a flight risk, given that he has offshore accounts, and a home in Italy.

Oldwage [Pistorius’ Lawyer] said they were looking for a memory stick with details of offshore accounts in the safe.

I understand Oscar has a house in Italy. We don’t want another Dewani matter.

Botha also indicated that unlicensed ammunition was found on Pistorius’ property.

More charges will be added – possession of unlicensed ammunition. We found .38 Special rounds.

Oscar did not have a licence for a .38 weapon.

It has been a day of pitched battles between the prosecution and defence, with either side landing blows on separate occasions.

The prosecution made particular mention of the angle and height from which the shots that killed Reeva Steenkamp were made. In his affidavit, Pistorius claimed to have been on his knees, while the prosecution believes the shots came from the top and were angled down. They read out statements of witnesses who heard loud talking in the early hours of the morning and there being a light on at the residence. However, the defence struck back when it was determined that the witnesses were allegedly 600 metres away.

Another revelation made at the bail application were needles and testosterone found on Pisorius’ premises, Roux said this about the substance:

It’s a herbal medicine, it’s not banned and Oscar can use it. Have you done anything to establish this?  Instead of verifying information, you introduce untested evidence.  The suppliment taken is – testo composutim co-enzyme.

Roux said:

Autopsy showed that Reeva had empty bladder. Isn’t that consistent with going to toilet? Usually at three AM you wouldn’t find an empty bladder. [Botha agrees] Autopsy showed no sign of defensive wounds – no signs of assault.

And perhaps most decisively, Botha conceded he could not find any inconsistencies with Pistorius’ version.

#OscarPistorius Very important: policeman concedes there’s no evidence (that he found) to dismiss Oscar’s version.

— Alex Eliseev (@alexeliseev) February 20, 2013

Wow!RT @bbcandrewh: “We’re in terrible trouble” says junior prosecution official leaving court.

— Alex Eliseev (@alexeliseev) February 20, 2013

#OscarPistorius Today’s lesson: Don’t rush to conclusions. Wait for both sides. Examine everything.

— Alex Eliseev (@alexeliseev) February 20, 2013

The court is back in session after adjourning for lunch.

CLICK HERE for all the Oscar Pistorius coverage so far.

[Source: Barry Bateman]