Glorious Pistorius 'not the most impressive witness' claims State: Video

Trial watchers around the world were a little stunned this week to learn that the Oscar Pistorius trial has come to a sudden halt, after the defense was expected to rest Tuesday of this week. The reason for the delay stands behind the State's most recent petition to the court, to submit the accused for a period of psychiatric evaluation, the CBC reports. The CBC News reported on May 14 that Judge Masipa presiding over the Oscar Pistorius trial in Pretoria, South Africa has granted the State's petition to submit the accused for a full psychiatric evaluation.

Glorious Pistorius 'not the most impressive witness' claims State: Video

The CBC also reported that this petition comes on the heels of the defense team's expert witness Dr. Merryl Vorster testifying to the effect that Oscar Pistorius has an anxiety disorder on Monday of this week. Dr. Vorster testified that the anxiety disorder that Pistorius suffers from may have impacted his decision making skills on the night that he shot his 29-year-old girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp to death.

Following this expert testimony, Prosecutor for the State Gerrie Nel petitioned the judge for a full psychiatric evaluation of the accused. This petition was granted on May 14.

The defense has reportedly opposed this move according to the L.A. Times. The defense insists that the accused understood the difference between right and wrong at the time of the killing, and this negates any reason or establishment for a psychiatric evaluation.

Prosecutor Nel argued that he had no choice but to request the evaluation, if in fact Oscar's decision making skills on the night in question were hampered by an anxiety disorder. Some legal experts via the CBC have speculated that Nel could be requesting the psychiatric evaluation to pre-empt any appeals by the defense on the grounds of psychiatric conditions, should Pistorius be convicted of the first degree murder charge he is facing.