Clips of a video depicting Oscar Pistorius reenacting the night she shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp were broadcast Sunday night after an Australian television station aired the reenactment as part of a story on the murder investigation.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Pistorius' legal team commissioned a Cleveland-based forensic animation firm, the Evidence Room, to show Pistorius capture his version of the events that took place in the early morning hours on Feb. 14, 2013.
The video takes place at the home of Pistorius' uncle, and his sister, Aimee, acts as a body double for Steenkamp, Time.com reports. One clip shows Pistorius taking her out of the bathroom and another shows him taking her down the stairs - as he said he did on the night of her shooting.
Pistorius also is seen with his arms extended out as if holding a hand gun.
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CNN.com reported that the video was intended to help the defense team map the events on the night of the accident in preparation for the trial, as explained in a statement to CNN from Brian Webber, one of Pistorius' lawyers.
The Evidence Room used the video to produce a "forensic animation" of the night in question, Webber said to CNN. The defense never introduced it into the Pistorius' murder case.
"We wish to make it very clear that the material that has been aired was obtained illegally and in breach of the nondisclosure agreement with The Evidence Room," Webber said. "Its usage also constitutes a breach of privilege as this material was produced for trial purposes on the instructions of a commissioner, and the ownership of the copyright vests in the commissioner. No permission for the disclosure thereof has been given."
Webber also accused Australia Channel Seven of purchasing the video from the Evidence Room illegally and violating a promise not to show it until after the conclusion of the trial, adding that the broadcast represented "a staggering breach of trust and an invasion of the family's privacy.
"Whilst we cannot imagine how any of the footage would not support Oscar's version, we will only be in a position to comment further once we have had the opportunity to study what has been aired," he said, according to CNN
Mark Llewellyn, the executive producer for "Sunday Night," the show that aired the video, defended the broadcast.
"We would not have run the footage if we thought we had obtained it illegally," he said, as CNN reported. "The material shown on Sunday Night goes to the heart of both the prosecution and defense cases, including the account provided by Oscar Pistorius."
Martin Hood, a South African criminal lawyer, told Time that the video was damaging to Pistorius because it shows him to be more mobile without his prosthetics than his defense team portrayed during the trial.
What is most staggering, however, is how the South African defense team commissioned a U.S.-based company to produce the video without complete trust that copies would not be leaked. And once the Australian network obtained a copy, it's hard to believe that it would agree to refrain from airing the reenactment until after the trial.
What purpose would that serve?
The extraordinary circumstances that led to the airing could lead skeptics to wonder whether Pistorius' defense team actually wanted the video leaked to plant the seed of plausibility of Pistorius' account. The counter-argument would be that Pistorius' fate is in the hands only of Judge Thokozile Masipa, who will be the one to decide whether Pistorius shot Steenkamp on accident or on purpose.
However, if an appeal process exists, then the video would make more sense being leaked.
Testimony continues today, and CNN reports that testimony can end as soon as today.
How do you think the reenactment of Pistorius shooting his girlfriend became public? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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