Oscar Pistorius Trial

[J4MES OX4D 10,037]

So the trial is under way and witness numero uno has been called who was a neighbor I believe and she said that screams were heard before shots. The defence may have a job on their hands picking apart that statement right off the bat.

 

It's gonna be a long trial but it doesn't look good for Mr P.

 

I still think he'll get an OJ-inspired acquittal despite the judge not being a cripple (excuse the Family Guy terminology)

 

The crucial part will be regarding the bullet trajectory as to whether he put his 'legs' on or not. That will unfold in due course 

[Chookes 965]

Defence already doing a good job picking her apart. She heard gunshots and a man and woman screaming but she went to sleep instead of calling cops.

[tronic44 3,642]

Yeah she was an awful witness, half the time she didn't even answer the question that was asked.

 

Day 2 and she's gona get grilled like......someone finish that off for me, too tired this morning.

[tronic44 3,642]

and for anyone that doesn't know, you can watch it live here

 

http://news.sky.com/story/1220546/judges-anger-as-pistorius-witness-identified

[tronic44 3,642]

Seems like the witness has been identified by the press, there's going to be a lot on her mind today. I don't get how the press can do something like this part way through a trial, isn't it normally a jail sentence for people who do this sort of thing?

[Chookes 965]

She had already been identified, they weren't allowed to publish her image. Which they did.

[tronic44 3,642]

She had already been identified, they weren't allowed to publish her image. Which they did.

Gangsta!

[Diddums 4,346]

Wait, South african services fucked up? Say it isn't so!

This is going to be another Amanda knox trial. It's gonna drag on amd on with re trials due to the cops, inspectors and investigators fucking up over and over again, and the defense nailing them for it.

The witness is full of shit though. There's no way she heard the screams. Have you seen the size of those houses? And the size of the gardens surrounding them? Bollocks.

Personally I think the whole Pistorius family is dodgy as fuck and many of them already have convictions for battery and assault. I think one of the brothers was also done for waving a gun at a cop. Of course the media keeps this hush hush now because of the trial, but it'll come to light sooner or later.

Strong history of violence in that family. I reckon there was a bit of roid rage in the mix too.

Hang the bastard, and take his whole scumbag family with him. Arrogant pricks.

Also, I love how Sky reported the witness. "She speaks better English than the interpreter."

Priceless. Welcome to south africa. The most beautiful country in the world, run by idiots

[Chookes 965]

The interpreter turned up yesterday, saw the amount of people, cried and wanted to go home.

[tronic44 3,642]

^ you've got be joking?

[J4MES OX4D 10,037]

Yesterday was interesting; apparently he discharged his friend's gun in a restaurant weeks earlier and asked them to take the blame and not himself. Not related to the case but it just shows what a reckless character he can be.

[Dattebayo 446]

Yesterday was interesting; apparently he discharged his friend's gun in a restaurant weeks earlier and asked them to take the blame and not himself. Not related to the case but it just shows what a reckless character he can be.

Yeah, I heard he was a real gun nut, too.

He was pulled over once and the officer found a fully loaded pistol just laying there on the passengers side.

 

His ex also said that he was really protective of his gun and got offended by people touching it.

[J4MES OX4D 10,037]

Pistorius threw up when the post-mortem results were announced!

 

Thank god the judge blocked the TV cameras for that

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

Looks like he's going to serve a longer sentance

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34993002

 

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict.

Pistorious killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting four times through a locked toilet door.

He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.

Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder.

 

It was earlier incorrectly reported that the court had ruled the manslaughter verdict would remain.

 

South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis - whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.

The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but judges can apply some discretion.

South African law does not make provision for someone to be placed under house arrest for more than five years, so

 

Pistorius will be going back to prison, reports the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.

What next for Pistorius?

Will he return to jail?

Yes. He will be back behind bars, less than two months after he was placed under house arrest.

When will he be sentenced?

We don't have a date yet, but it will be next year. The minimum sentence for murder is 15 years, but the judge does have the discretion to lower it.

Can he appeal?

Yes, but only if his lawyers are convinced that the appeal judges violated his constitutional rights. So it's a high threshold, and hard to meet.

So is this the end of Pistorius' professional athletics career?

Almost certainly. He's 29, and will be past his prime by the time he is freed. It is also unlikely that advertisers would want to sponsor him, as the Pistorius brand is now tainted.

 

Pistorius' family gave a brief response, saying lawyers are studying the finding who will advise them on "options going forward".

The panel of appeal judges described the case as "a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions" in their written judgement.

Reading the unanimous ruling reached by the five judges, Justice Eric Leach said that having armed himself with a high-calibre weapon, Pistorius must have foreseen that whoever was behind the door might die, especially given his firearms training.

"As a matter of common sense at the time the fatal shots were fired, the possibility of the death of the person behind the door was clearly an obvious result," the judge said.

"And in firing not one but four shots, such a result became even more likely."

Pistorius always maintained that he believed there was an intruder in the house but the judge said that the identity of the person behind the door was "irrelevant to his guilt".

Justice Leach compared it to someone setting off a bomb in a public place not knowing who the victims might be.

 

South African reaction: Pumza Fihlani, BBC News, Johannesburg

In a packed courtroom with Reeva Steenkamp's family listening to every word, the judge said that when Oscar Pistorius decided to fire four shots through a closed toilet door, he had gambled with a person's life - whoever that was.

Under South African law you cannot just shoot - you first need to determine that the threat to your life is real and that there is no other way to eliminate that threat but to shoot.

Many South Africans have applauded the court's decision on social media, saying justice has now been served for Ms Steenkamp.

This ruling is expected to go some way to show that no-one is above the law, not even South Africa's once beloved "blade runner".

The judge also rejected the argument that Pistorius had acted in self-defence.

He said that the athlete's life was not in danger at the time of the shooting, as Pistorius did not know who was behind the door or if they posed a threat.

The judge added that Pistorius did "not take that most elementary precaution of firing a warning shot".

Pistorius did not attend the hearing in Bloemfontein.

But Ms Steenkamp's mother, June, was present and afterwards she was seen outside the court being embraced by members of the African National Congress Women's League, who were singing songs of celebration.

 

After the ruling Mrs Steenkamp was greeted by members of the women's league of the governing ANC

Our correspondent says that many in South Africa were upset by the original acquittal on murder charges, with women's rights groups arguing he should have been found guilty of murder as a deterrent because of the high number of women who are killed by their partners in the country.