The Pistorius iPhone allegation that wasn't raised
The team prosecuting Oscar Pistorius believed it had a case against the athlete's brother Carl for defeating the ends of justice - but agreed not to proceed if the defence accepted the chain of evidence related to Oscar's cellphones, including a handset removed from the crime scene, says a City Press report.
It claims two separate sources close to both the prosecution and defence have confirmed that Carl Pistorius had his brother's iPhone for at least 24 hours after the athlete shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in February 2013. Oscar was convicted of culpable homicide last month and is due to be sentenced on 13 October. The arrangement with the defence allegedly dispensed with the state's need to call the original investigating officer, Hilton Botha, who was seen by prosecutors as a liability. A statement from the Pistorius family last week read: '... we are not aware of any deletions having been affected by Oscar or effected on his instructions that could be relevant to this trial or could have impacted on this trial.'
Full City Press report
Media reports alleged a call between Oscar Pistorius and a former girlfriend hours before the murder was what was deleted from the iPhone. Criminal lawyer Ulrich Roux reportedly told The Times that Gerrie Nel had put it to Pistorius that he was speaking to his ex-girlfriend, but it would have been speculation to say what they were talking about. 'It would have had no effect on what happened later that evening as there was no proof to show that Steenkamp and Pistorius had argued that night.' Speaking about the synching of Pistorius' cellphone with his brother's laptop and the alleged deletion of data, Roux said it would have had an impact only if the state could have proved that the information had been intentionally erased. 'If there are grounds for these revelations and it's the truth then it's the state's loss,' he is quoted as saying.
Full report in The Times