Oscar Pistorius - Guilty of culpable homicide ** UPDATE** Now guilty of Murder!

Oscar Pistorius

Athlete



Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African sprint runner. Although both of Pistorius' legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, he competes in events for single below-knee amputees and for able-bodied athletes.





Born: November 22, 1986 (age 27), Sandton, South Africa



Height: 1.84 m



Nationality: South African





On 14 February 2013, Pistorius was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, whom he had fatally shot at his home in the early hours of that morning. He was granted bail on 22 February 2013 and at a hearing on 19 August 2013, dates were set for a trial to start on 3 March 2014.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius

Murder case

Main article: Trial of Oscar Pistorius

In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed South African model Reeva Steenkamp, his girlfriend of three months, at his home in Pretoria.[142][143][144] Pistorius acknowledges that he shot Steenkamp, causing her death, but says that he mistook her for a possible intruder.[145] Pistorius' trial for murder began on 3 March 2014 in Pretoria.[146][147] On 20 May 2014, the trial proceedings were adjourned until 30 June to enable Pistorius to undergo psychiatric evaluation to establish whether he was criminally responsible for shooting Steenkamp. Judge Thokozile Masipa agreed to a request for the evaluation by prosecutor Gerrie Nel after forensic psychiatrist Merryll Vorster testified for the defence that she had diagnosed Pistorius with generalized anxiety disorder.[148] On 30 June 2014, the trial resumed after the evaluation reports which said Pistorius could be held criminally responsible. The state prosecutor was quoted as saying, "Mr Pistorius did not suffer from a mental illness or defect that would have rendered him criminally not responsible for the offence charged".[149] The defence closed its case on 8 July and closing arguments were heard on 7 and 8 August. Judge Masipa adjourned the trial until 11 September when she will give her verdict.[150][151]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius

I've followed this trial very closely and look forward to see which way the Judge goes with her decision.

Hi wjk

I think, she can do no other than sentence him for murder. For me the springing points were, that there was a bullet shell found in the rather long corridor between the bedroom and the bathroom [used as a dressing IIRC] AND that poor Reeva had locked herself into the toilet early morning hours with her mobile with her ...

Yep, I'm with you, Conviction.
I can't see how she can possibly find him anything other than guilty of murder, but I also thought the same with the OJ trial, thats what makes me say, which way will she go with her decision.
Gerry Nel was absolutely fantastic, wasn't he? I'd love to see the Mc's in front of him!

This MorningVerified account ‏@itvthismorning 2h
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: @mwilliamsthomas is the only journalist to have spent time with #OscarPistorious during his arrest: http://bit.ly/WRTA8J






Mark Williams-Thomas @mwilliamsthomas  ·  3h
Over the past year I have had exclusive access to #OscarPistorius & his family - speaking to him & them about the tragic events #OscarTrial



Mark Williams-Thomas @mwilliamsthomas  ·  2h
Video: My insight & access to Oscar Pistorius for @itvthismorning ahead of verdict-full insight tmrow in @DailyMirror http://goo.gl/TQm3HA

IMO, it should be premeditated, if Reeva had went to the bathroom when Oscar was in the bedroom and he whispered to her, she didn't answer so there you go, most people would've thought, oh, must be Reeva that I heard. Reeva was facing the door, so that to me means she had probably used the loo, washed her hands and turned towards the door to open it, obviously she must have flushed the chain, and I don't believe an intruder would use the toilet before carrying out what he had planned to do. She's went there out of fear IMO

Yes, IMO out of fear. And she had her mobile phone with her at 3 am ... in the toilet ... imagine ...

Judgement coming, they are on a break now, so far  this.............



Oscar Pistorius trial: Judge questions witness reliability


The judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial has questioned the reliability of several witnesses in court, as she delivers her verdict on the athlete.

Judge Thokosile Masipa said humans were fallible, and may not have heard gunshots or screaming as they thought.

Correspondents say this could make a premeditated murder verdict unlikely.

Mr Pistorius denies intentionally killing Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year, saying he thought there was an intruder.

The judge could also find him guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, for which he would face a long jail term.

Mr Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces, including two counts of shooting a firearm in public and the illegal possession of ammunition.
'Insignificant' evidence
Judge Thokosile Masipa began by detailing the charges against the athlete and repeating extracts of his testimony, reading in a slow, measured way.

She then moved on to a summary of the trial.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29143540

From the last few comments from Judge Masipa I think Pistorius might be going away for a long time. Not pre-meditated murder - and with that I agree - but common-law murder, shooting to kill in the heat of the moment. Sounds right to me.

Briefly :

judge right to dismiss all speculation over dynamics of relationship, defence and state's contentions re this not helpful to establishing what happened .

right to say inferences drawn from stomach contents not necessarily correct.

right to say OP intended to fire his weapon given where door was hit.. it was not an accidental discharge of bullets.

the state has not imo established beyond reasonable doubt that OP intended to kill a person

the judge needs to be convinced without reasonable doubt that he intended to kill to find him guilty of premed murder

she unlike most of public viewing on tv, has heard all evidence, which she wisely and fairly is weighing against objective facts eg phone records.

she knows SA case law, which she will apply to her verdict and sentencing.

I doubt she will acquit, because imo he used UNREASONABLE actions to defend himself

I doubt that she will jail him for premed murder, because I do not think the state has made its case [based on what I heard]

I think that OP will be found guilty of culpable homicide which base on what I know of the case, appears to be the correct verdict.

wlbts wrote:From the last few comments from Judge Masipa I think Pistorius might be going away for a long time.  Not pre-meditated murder - and with that I agree - but common-law murder, shooting to kill in the heat of the moment.  Sounds right to me.

If he shot to kill, no matter who he thought was in toilet, that is premed murder acc to law.
If he shot, NO INTENT TO KILL, but was reckless and used unreasonable force in circumstances when there were other options, it is CH.[ Equiv to UK manslaughter]

Russian Doll wrote:

wlbts wrote:From the last few comments from Judge Masipa I think Pistorius might be going away for a long time.  Not pre-meditated murder - and with that I agree - but common-law murder, shooting to kill in the heat of the moment.  Sounds right to me.

If he shot to kill, no matter who he thought was in toilet, that is premed murder acc to law.
If he shot, NO INTENT TO KILL, but was reckless and used unreasonable force in circumstances when there were other options, it is CH.[ Equiv to UK manslaughter]

I'm not sure that's correct.  According to the BBC, premeditated murder would be "Intended and planned to unlawfully kill Reeva Steenkamp, or an intruder".  Common-law murder would be "Unlawfully intended to kill in the heat of the moment but without 'malice aforethought'. Either: Shot door intending to kill, or knew someone might be killed and still fired gun".

Another 5 minute break.

Verdict is imminent hopefully after the break.




11:09: "The state clearly has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder. There are just not enough facts to support such a finding," says Judge Masipa.

11:08: Timeline and chronology of events tip the scales in favour of the accused's version in general, saysJudge Masipa.

11:07: In the charge of premeditated murder, the evidence is purely circumstantial, the judge says.

Not watching it on the news but at a guess, I think he will be given 15 years.

Andrew wrote:Not watching it on the news but at a guess, I think he will be given 15 years.

I think a lot less

more tweets...

issue of onus: "No onus rests on the accused to convince this court of the truth of the explanation he gives. If he gives an explanation, even if it is improbable, the court is not entitled to convict unless it is satisfied that not only is it improbable, but that it is beyond reasonable doubt false."
Pumza Fihlani, Pretoria High Court BBC News tweets: Judge Masipa is running through the verdict quite quickly. Tension is overwhelming. It feels like it could be over soon. #OscarPistorius

Andrew Harding Africa correspondent tweets: Sombre faces from #OscarPistorius family on bench. The prosecution case may be crumbling. But athlete's own testimony clearly damaging...

11:12: Oscar Pistorius cried in court as Judge Masipa continued to read her verdict.

South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius reacts in the dock during the verdict in his murder trial, Pretoria, South Africa, 11 September 2014

11:16: "If there is any reasonable belief that his explanation is true, then he is entitled to his acquittal. The onus is on the state to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is guilty of offence which which he is charged," the judge added.

Breaking News

Judge Thokozile Masipa has rejected the charge of premeditated murder at Oscar Pistorius' trial.

I agree that he's going to be found guilty of culpable homicide, maximum 15 years.

Early lunch now, this is being stretched out.  Judge obviously wants an extra whole days pay

Why on earth all this I don't understand, she is just reading documents.  Why not just state the verdict, and put people out of their misery, then publish the documents and give all those concerned copies.

The judge is talking a load of brown stuff now.

"How could the accused have reasonably foreseen the shot he fired would have killed the deceased? Clearly he did not subjectively foresee this, that he would have killed the person behind the door, let alone the deceased."

If you shoot a gun through a door four times, how can you not foresee that you're likely to kill the person behind it?

'Evidence shows that at time he fired shots at toilet door, Mr Pistorius believed the deceased was in the bedroom, the judge says. This belief was communicated to a number of people shortly after the incident, she adds. The judge says the defence argues it is highly improbably the accused could have made this up so quickly and consistently, even in his bail application, and before he was privy to evidence at the bail application.'

Complete nonsense.

he's gonna walk.

11:48:
To recap: Judge Thokozile Masipa has now dismissed all the possible murder charges in the Oscar Pistorius trial. The only two remaining charges are either culpable homicide or acquittal

nkosi_milton 12m
Oscar Pistoroius in not guilty of murder. In other words the state could not prove 'intent' - a crucial block in building a murder case.