The prosecution in the trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has formally requested that he undergo a mental observation. Prosecution lawyer Gerrie Nel made the application after forensic psychiatrist Merryll Vorster said the Olympic double amputee was “a danger to society”.Judge Thokozile Masipa said she would announce her decision on Wednesday. Mr Pistorius denies intentionally killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.He says he accidentally shot her through the toilet door in a state of panic, mistaking the 29-year-old model and law graduate for an intruder. The court has adjourned until Wednesday. The prosecution accused the defense on Tuesday of changing its plea – from putative self-defense to a psychiatric disorder. Mr Nel said that a “psychiatric evaluation was essential” and it was in the interests of justice for the accused to be referred.The defense is vigorously resisting the prosecution move, which it argues is “manifestly absurd”.Dr Vorster told the court earlier that she would not say that Mr Pistorius had “a mental illness” and that he was “still able to function at high level as an athlete and still able to socialize”.But she said that people with Generalized Anxiety Disorders (Gads) like Mr Pistorius probably should not have firearms.She said that Gad would not “render you unfit to stand trial”.The BBC’s Andrew Harding says that the psychiatrist shored up the defense’s argument that Mr Pistorius does not need mental evaluation.On Monday she said that the athlete had had an anxiety disorder since childhood and was “anxious” about violent crime.His actions on Valentine’s Day last year “should be seen in context of his anxiety”, she said. more
