Doctor Evaluating Oscar Pistorius' Mental Health Hospitalized
Psychiatrist still needs to sign off on a report about athlete's condition.
PRETORIA, South Africa — -- One of the doctors on the panel evaluating South African athlete Oscar Pistorius’ mental health was hospitalized with chest pains, the athlete’s lawyers said today.
Psychiatrist Dr. Leon Fine, who still needs to sign off on a report about Pistorius’ mental state, was admitted to the hospital Thursday and has received treatment, defense spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess told ABC News. Fine is expected to be released today.
Fine and two other psychiatrists, as well as a psychologist, evaluated Pistorius after a defense witness testified that he suffers from a psychiatric condition that may have affected his perceptions of danger, potentially influencing his actions on Valentine’s Day 2013, when he shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The state alleges that Pistorius knew Steenkamp, 29, was behind a locked bathroom door when he fired four shots. Pistorius, 27, has argued that he thought there was an intruder, and that he acted in self-defense.
The athlete’s murder trial is scheduled to resume Monday in Pretoria.
