Pretoria , South Africa ( CNN ) -- Oscar Pistorius needs to undergo mental health examinations , the judge in his murder trial ruled Wednesday , putting a halt to the proceedings after nearly two months of testimony . The very unusual move throws the trial into confusion . How long 's the trial delayed ? We do n't know yet . Judge Thokozile Masipa will formally issue her ruling on Tuesday . By that time , she should know who will do the evaluation of Pistorius and when and where it will take place . At that point , it should be somewhat clearer when the trial will resume -- if it does at all . How long will the evaluations take ? A minimum of 30 days . Will Pistorius have to live in an institution ? Judge Masipa hopes he will not . She said she did not intend to `` punish the accused twice '' by putting him in a situation where he had to be locked up , and asked if he could be evaluated as an outpatient . Pistorius should learn the answer on Tuesday . Neither side believes he 's mentally ill , so what 's this all about ? The defense team put a psychiatrist , Dr. Merryll Vorster , on the stand to testify that Pistorius suffers from `` generalized anxiety disorder . '' The disorder means he has `` excessive '' concerns about security , and that he felt threatened even when , objectively , he was not , she testified . Prosecutor Gerrie Nel seized on the psychiatrist 's testimony , arguing that if the defendant 's mental health is even potentially an issue in the trial , he needed to be referred for expert evaluation . The defense is not arguing that mental illness played a role in Pistorius shooting and killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp , so they opposed the motion . But after considering the question overnight , Masipa granted the prosecution request . Was Nel 's push for tests a total surprise ? What 's his strategy ? Yes . It 's incredibly unusual for the prosecution -- rather than the defense -- to argue that a defendant might have defense of insanity . Nel seems to be placing a high-stakes bet that experts will disagree with the evidence of Dr. Vorster . How will finding on mental state affect the trial ? The expert panel evaluating Pistorius has three options . They could find that Pistorius was mentally incapacitated when he shot Steenkamp , which would end the trial immediately in a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness . That would lead to the athlete being committed to a mental institution until he is ruled not to be a danger . The doctors could also find that he had `` diminished responsibility '' at the time he killed Steenkamp . In that case , the trial would resume , and the experts ' finding would be taken into consideration during sentencing if he is found guilty . The third possibility is that the experts could disagree with the defense psychiatrist and say that Pistorius ' mental health is not an issue at all . If that happens , Vorster 's testimony could be disregarded . The experts might not all agree with each other , and lawyers on either side could disagree with the experts ' report , leading to any number of possible outcomes . If there is any dispute , the final decision about what to do with the experts ' report lies with the judge . Is this good or bad for Pistorius ? It all depends on what the mental health experts decide . If they agree with Vorster or find he was incapacitated , that will help Pistorius . In one respect , though , the ruling is not to his advantage : It pushes off the end of his trial , leaving him in legal limbo at least another few months .
A surprise order for mental testing for Oscar Pistorius raises questions for his trial . The South African athlete is accused of killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a premeditated shooting on Valentine's Day last year. A prosecution move for mental observation is very unusual . How the move affects Pistorius and the verdict depends on what experts decide .