Judge Allows Break; Oscar Pistorius Trial
CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. The Oscar Pistorius trial has adjourned for the day after the Olympian broke down, really violently sobbing on the stand while describing the night he killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Take a listen at the emotional moment that literally shut down court for the day.</s>OSCAR PISTORIUS, ON TRIAL FOR GIRLFRIENDS DEATH: -- she wasn't breathing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll take an adjournment. The court will adjourn.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people will rise.</s>CUOMO: Let's bring in CNN legal analyst Kelly Phelps who's in South Africa along with our Robyn Curnow who's been in court monitoring. Kelly, let me ask you what do we know about this judge in terms of her predisposition to sympathy? She called that adjournment. Later defense counsel said Oscar Pistorius' shirt is soaking wet. He cannot go on. Prosecutors don't object and the judge says, "Fine, we'll end trial early today, hours early, and resume tomorrow." Unusual for her?</s>KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I don't think it's unusual, actually. It's in the court's interest that a witness can give a clear and sober account of their version of events because it is that court record that the judge has to rely on so squarely in determining the outcome of the case. So if any witness were visibly in such an emotional state, that they can no longer properly engage with their testimony it is predictable and fitting that the judge would call for an adjournment. I'd certainly think it would cause her to sympathize with him on a human level, because it's a judge-led system, it's very unlikely that that will actually sway her determination of the matter. It may sway how she dealt with this court session, but very unlikely to sway her actual decision on the outcome.</s>BOLDUAN: That, of course, Robyn, is what a lot of people are wondering as she called for the surprisingly early adjournment today. What impact does this have on tomorrow?</s>ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's just going to be business as usual in the sense that Oscar Pistorius is going to have to clearly and competently describe in detail what happened next. And as Kelly said, I mean that is his right. It's his legal right. It's also -- he has to do it. I mean that is what is expected of him in court. So he's obviously going to have to get himself together. Compose himself and he's going to have to come back here and explain what happened next in that story. So we know that we kind of stopped the narrative, essentially, when he discovered, found Reeva's body inside the bathroom. He said he sat over her. He didn't know how long he had spent I think as he described trying to figure out in his head what he had done. So what happens next -- well, that's going to continue on day three. And, of course, there's all that detail, the timeline of who he called next, how he carried her down the stairs. Who came in to the house? And that is all very important in terms of his defense.</s>CUOMO: Kelly, what did you make of the difference from Oscar Pistorius when he's talking about how in the beginning he was basically just reacting? He couldn't think. He didn't think to look for Reeva. He was just paralyzed with fear, but then once he starts to think it could be Reeva, now there's a lot of deliberate action going on with him. What did you think about the difference in mindset that he presented up on the stand?</s>PHELPS: I didn't necessarily think there was a huge difference in mindset. It was rather what his deliberate action was targeted towards. So for example when he was speaking about his version of his fear of an intruder and why he believed the noises that he heard and why it made him think that he and Reeva were in danger, you did hear deliberate action. It was very targeted action. He thought I need to protect myself and Reeva. I need to get my gun. He fetched his gun. He went cautiously down the passageway, very aware of looking at all different angles that a potential intruder could be hiding. That in itself is quite goal-directed behavior. And then conversely, when he says he had the shocking realization that it may, in fact, be Reeva Steenkamp in the toilet that he had shot at, he then shifts that goal-directed behavior towards trying to access her and get help for her. So there was certainly goal-directed target of behavior the whole way through. It's just a matter of what he believed he was directing that behavior towards.</s>BOLDUAN: And his perception is key in this, as he is the only living witness to the night's events. The court adjourned early today. They'll start again tomorrow morning. You have both been there through it all. An amazing, unbelievable testimony we've heard from Oscar Pistorius today. We'll continue to cover that, of course. Robyn Curnow, Kelly Phelps, thank you so much for that. Let's take a break, though. Coming up next on NEW DAY, a dancer who survived the Boston bombing but had to have her leg amputated shares her journey -- an unbelievable journey. She's vowing to dance again and do it with our own Anderson Cooper. You'll want to hear her story.