File photo of Oscar Pistorius
Johannesburg:
One of the three psychiatrists who assessed Oscar Pistorius was hospitalised after allegedly suffering a heart-attack just days before the Paralympian's murder trial resumes, South African media said yesterday.
"I believe he was hospitalised last night," Pistorius lawyer Brian Webber, told the domestic SAPA news agency. "But I think he is already at home."
The illness is, however, unlikely to delay the re-opening of the trial due on Monday with prosecution and judiciary officials saying the case would proceed as scheduled.
Nathi Mncube of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told AFP the case will "most certainly" resume on Monday, he said.
Lulama Luti, the judiciary spokesman also said the case would go ahead as planned.
After a six-week break, Pistorius is due back in court on Monday where a report on the athlete's mental state is expected to be submitted, following his month-long stint under psychiatric evaluation.
Judge Thokozile Masipa had ordered last month that he spends 30-days under psychiatric observation to determine if he should be held criminally responsible for the Valentine's Day shooting of his girlfriend.
This was after Pistorius appeared to change his defence when he brought in an expert witness who said the star sprinter suffers from "generalised anxiety disorder," a condition that could have contributed to him shooting Reeva Steenkamp.
The 27-year-old had initially told the court he shot Steenkamp with a 9mm pistol through a locked toilet door by mistake, believing she was an intruder coming to attack him in the dead of the night.
The outcome of his assessment may drastically alter the direction of the trial, with media reports suggesting that the three specialists who monitored him had come to a "unanimous" conclusion about his state of mind.
"I believe he was hospitalised last night," Pistorius lawyer Brian Webber, told the domestic SAPA news agency. "But I think he is already at home."
The illness is, however, unlikely to delay the re-opening of the trial due on Monday with prosecution and judiciary officials saying the case would proceed as scheduled.
Nathi Mncube of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told AFP the case will "most certainly" resume on Monday, he said.
Lulama Luti, the judiciary spokesman also said the case would go ahead as planned.
After a six-week break, Pistorius is due back in court on Monday where a report on the athlete's mental state is expected to be submitted, following his month-long stint under psychiatric evaluation.
Judge Thokozile Masipa had ordered last month that he spends 30-days under psychiatric observation to determine if he should be held criminally responsible for the Valentine's Day shooting of his girlfriend.
This was after Pistorius appeared to change his defence when he brought in an expert witness who said the star sprinter suffers from "generalised anxiety disorder," a condition that could have contributed to him shooting Reeva Steenkamp.
The 27-year-old had initially told the court he shot Steenkamp with a 9mm pistol through a locked toilet door by mistake, believing she was an intruder coming to attack him in the dead of the night.
The outcome of his assessment may drastically alter the direction of the trial, with media reports suggesting that the three specialists who monitored him had come to a "unanimous" conclusion about his state of mind.
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