n Thursday afternoon when he faces LHP | Forum
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Dec 3 '17
PRETORIA, South Africa -- For two days, the witness in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius kept her composure. Draymond Green Jersey . Then, just as her testimony was about to finish, she broke down in tears at what she said was the memory of the screams she heard on the night that the double-amputee athlete fatally shot his girlfriend in his South African home. Michelle Burger, a neighbour of Pistorius who took the stand on the second day of a trial watched around the world, remained calm through intense questioning by the chief defence lawyer. In a final exchange with the lead prosecutor on Tuesday, however, emotion washed over her as she recalled what she described as the terrified screams of a woman early on Valentines Day last year. "When Im in the shower, I relive her shouts," Burger said in an apparent reference to her trauma just after the shooting, when a police captain took her statement. When Gerrie Nel, the prosecutor, asked her about her emotions at the time, she said the experience was "quite raw" and her voice broke. Nel asked her how she was coping now. "Im coping fine," Burger insisted. "Its been a year." Burger, a university lecturer, lives 177 metres (193 yards) from Pistorius house, where his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, died in what the runner said was an accident. Burger testified that she heard a man and a woman shouting, then the sound of four gunshots. She said the womans screams continued during the gunshots and quickly faded away after the final one. She was the first witness called by the prosecution, which contends that Pistorius intentionally killed Steenkamp after a loud argument. Her testimony contradicts Pistorius account. He says he fired four times through the toilet cubicle door, hitting Steenkamp three times in the head, arm and hip or side area after thinking she was a dangerous intruder. He has pleaded not guilty. The defence contends that Burger may have been asleep when the gunshots were fired, and then mistakenly thought she was hearing gunfire when in fact it was the sound of Pistorius breaking the toilet cubicle door with a cricket bat after realizing he had shot his girlfriend. During cross-examination of Burger, chief defence lawyer Barry Roux suggested that she was mistaken in saying that she heard a woman screaming and that it was actually Pistorius shouting for help in a high voice after accidentally shooting Steenkamp. Giving sometimes grisly details of the killing of the 29-year-old model, Roux said Steenkamp was shot in the head, which would have resulted in brain damage and "no cognitive function" and so she wouldnt have been able to scream just after the last bullet struck, as Burger testified. Roux said that an expert would later testify in the trial that "with the head shot, she (Steenkamp) would have dropped down immediately." Burger disagreed. "I heard her voice just after the last shot," she said. "It faded away." Her husband, Charl Johnson, also testified that "the last scream faded moments after the last gunshot was fired." Burger also said that the man she heard -- before the sound of the gunfire -- was calling for help, a piece of testimony that muddied the prosecutions narrative that Pistorius was the aggressor. Challenged by Roux, Burger speculated that perhaps the voice was that of Pistorius ridiculing Steenkamps calls for help. "Was it a mockery? I dont know. Im not Mr. Pistorius," she said. Pistorius, who faces a minimum of 25 years in prison without parole if convicted of premeditated murder, took notes during testimony and huddled with lawyers during adjournments. His collected demeanour contrasted with his sometimes distraught behaviour during a bail hearing last year, when he sobbed in court. At one point on Tuesday he covered his ears, but it wasnt clear why. Pistorius, 27, was born without fibula bones because of a congenital defect and his legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. He has run on carbon-fiber blades and was originally banned from competing against able-bodied peers because many argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage. He was later cleared to compete. He is a multiple Paralympic medallist but he failed to win a medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Steenkamps mother, June, said in a television interview that she did not want to live with bitterness. "Ive lost everything thats important to me, and still, I can forgive. I can forgive," she told NBCs "Today" show. "One must forgive." June Steenkamp was in court Monday, hoping to look Pistorius in the eye. But, she said, Pistorius "never looked my way, or he didnt have an opportunity to do that." Judge Thokozile Masipa will ultimately deliver the verdict and decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury. Tuesdays proceedings were interrupted when Masipa ordered an investigation into allegations that a South African television channel was broadcasting a photograph of Burger during her testimony -- against a court order guaranteeing privacy to witnesses who request it. "I am warning the media," the judge said, "if you do not behave, you are not going to be treated with soft gloves by this court." Kevon Looney Jersey . Siddikur, who led on all four days and took a four-stroke lead going into the final day, bogeyed four out of six holes starting at the sixth and continued a forgettable last round in which he returned a three-over 75 to finish with a 14-under 274. Tim Hardaway Jersey .35 million, avoiding arbitration. Davis led the majors last season with 53 home runs and 138 RBIs, both career highs. He earned $3.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Lengthy games dont bother Tony Sanchez. He played in the longest game in NCAA tournament history while at Boston College in 2009, the Eagles losing in 25 innings to Texas. So it was no big deal when the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie catcher was called on to pinch-hit in the 16th inning Wednesday night. "This was nothing compared to that," Sanchez said with a smile. The difference between the two is, this time, in a game that took 5 hours, 55 minutes, Sanchez singled in the winning run to give the Pirates a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs — the longest game in Pittsburgh history by time. Sanchezs hit came off Carlos Villanueva (0-2), ending the game just short of 1 a.m. and 6 minutes longer the Pirates 8-7, 18-inning victory over Houston on May 27, 2006, that took 5:49. "The few fans who stayed were really loud and that got the adrenaline flowing," Sanchez said. "It was a great to be in a situation where I had the chance to win a game for the first time in my career. I was getting a little nervous when I stepped up to the plate then I realized all I had to do was put the ball in play and find a hole." Villanueva also allowed Neil Walkers game-ending home run in the Pirates 1-0 win Monday in the season opener. The Cubs left 19 runners on Wednesday and have gone 1 for 27 with runners in scoring position in their first two games. Yet first-year manager Rick Renteria is remaining positive. "We did everything we could possibly do," Renteria said. "The guys kept coming back and thats a good sign for all of us. As long as we keep going out there and playing the way were playing right now, good things are bound to happen." Both teams scored in the 12th inning as the Cubs Anthony Rizzo hit a leadoff home run and the Pirates Starling Marte had an RBI single with two outs off closer Jose Veras. The Cubs ended a streak of 16 scoreless innings to start the season by scoring single runs in eighth and ninth inning to force extra iinnings. David West Jersey. Chicagos Emilio Bonifacio went 5 for 7 and is hitting .750 (9 for 12). Luis Valbuena added three hits, including a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning off closer Jason Grilli that tied the game at 2-2 and forced extra innings. Jordy Mercer opened the 16th with a bunt single but was forced out at second on Jose Tabatas sacrifice attempt. Starling Marte followed with a singled to put runners on corners before Sanchez, the rookie catcher and last position player left on the Pirates bench, grounded into left field for the walkoff hit. Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton pitched six scoreless inning but was denied the win when Grilli blew his first save opportunity of the season after converting 33 of 35 saves last year. Cubs starter Edwin Jackson allowed two runs, one earned, and two hits in 5 1-3 innings in his first start since going 8-18 last season and leading the major leagues in losses. The Cubs first run came when an umpires call was reversed by video replay. Nate Schierholtz appeared to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. However, Renteria asked for the call to be reviewed and it was ruled that Mercer, the shortstop, came off the second base bag while taking a throw from Walker, the second baseman, which made Rizzo safe at second base. Walker was charged with an error that enabled Bonifacio to score from third base. NOTES: Both benches were warned by home plate umpire Bob Davidson after Morton hit Rizzo to start the second inning. That came after Marte was hit by Jackson to lead off the bottom of the first. Though Rizzo was hit again in the eighth inning, Melancon was not ejected. ... RHP Jason Hammel, signed to a $6 million, one-year contract as a free agent in the off-season is scheduled to make his Cubs debut on Thursday afternoon when he faces LHP Wandy Rodriguez in the finale of the three-game series. Rodriguez did not pitch after June 5 last season because of elbow and forearm tightness. 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