Oscar Pistorius trial

[Royal Flush]

Great post.

[Karabiner]

The fact that she was fully-clothed behind a locked bathroom door still sits very awkwardly with me as regards a not guilty to murder verdict.

Surely he would have called out and she would have replied.

[Redsgirl]

I think the judge is spot on. He couldn't be found innocent and he couldn't be found guilty of premeditated murder. The only option was whether it would be murder (of whoever was behind the door) or manslaughter. I think his story of what happened is quite likely true.

I no longer think he knew he was shooting at Reeva.
 But I still think he knew he was shooting to kill the 'intruder', which is a scenario I can imagine he has fantasied about doing frequently, given his obvious penchant for guns, his paranoia and his various other dubious personality traits that have become apparent during the trail.
He may not be technically guilty this time but he's far from innocent, and if not Reeva that night then someone, some other time would have surely copped it.

Definitely not a guy that should be loose in society.

Hold on a minute. You want to convict him because he has probably done other stuff, or is very likely to do so in the future? That's the basis of the Birmingham 6 and Guildford 4 convictions.

No. I want to convict him because he is a arrogant, manipulative man with little or no regard for the safety of others, or the law, if it interferes with him living his life how he sees fit.
I want to convict him because I don't think they should set a precedent where people can get away with killing people because they're a bit highly strung.

I also don't think being rich, white and famous should make you immune to punishment.
Plus, Oscar Pistorius is the only person who has done anything wrong here. While I can sympathise with the fact he feels vulnerable and lives in a violent country, there was no intruder, no threat, nothing except a situation he created in his head, and then decided to act in the most unreasonable way imaginable despite numerous obvious things he could have done.
He should be made to take responsibility for these actions, which he hasn't made any attempt to do so far.

Don't really get your comparison to the Guilford four/Birmingham six. He did it, that's the one thing we do know for sure. I'm not sure how he is managing to come off as the victim in this scenario either, but he really is playing a blinder!

[Jon MW]

The fact that she was fully-clothed behind a locked bathroom door still sits very awkwardly with me as regards a not guilty to murder verdict.

Surely he would have called out and she would have replied.

Something I read suggested that the court ruled that it can't have been murder because he didn't know for sure he would kill the person behind the door. Given he seemed to know his way around guns suggests to me he probably did know it would kill them - shooting at someone knowing it'll probably kill them sounds like murder to me.

[kinboshi]

The bullets he had also suggested he knew what the shots would do.

[nirvana]

The fact that she was fully-clothed behind a locked bathroom door still sits very awkwardly with me as regards a not guilty to murder verdict.

Surely he would have called out and she would have replied.

This is the bit I  have never understood - it stretches my credulity that he wouldn't have made some effort to know where she was before opening fire on a closed door.

I don't really buy the convoluted psychobabble going thru a million texts and circumstantial evidence to try and understand any couple's relationship - literally no one, except the couple knows what a relationship was or wasn't.

What I know is that under no evident or immediate threat and notionally without a clue where she was he decided to shoot through a closed door and kill her. Go to jail, go directly to jail. Hanging's too good chunder chunder

[MANTIS01]

I know South Africa is a dangerous place and all that but it shouldn't mean they have the right to value life any less. Even the most anxious & vulnerable of shooters knows they're gonna kill somebody blasting bullets through the door like that. No doubt he is guilty of murder, even if technically you can't convict him of such. Whether he knew which person he was killing is rather immaterial I think.

People should be held accountable for the free choices they make. This dude has decided that despite all his vulnerability issues and inner demons he wants to own a gun and he wants it lying around to hand should he get frightened at night. He chooses to live in South Africa, where as we've heard, rich white guys are targets. He chooses not to check on his mrs when he senses danger which is not a very dashing trait imo. Chooses not to identify the threat to himself before finally deciding to unload into the cubicle. Then somebody got killed. Think it's pretty irrelevant how arrogant he is, or how we feel about him, or how much snot came out of his nose during the trial or how tall he stands when fully erect on stumps. The dude clearly killed somebody by shooting his gun at them several times.  

[MintTrav]

The fact that she was fully-clothed behind a locked bathroom door still sits very awkwardly with me as regards a not guilty to murder verdict.

Surely he would have called out and she would have replied.

He shouted “Get the fuck out of my house!" a couple of times. It is conceivable that she could have assumed that there was an intruder and decided to stay quiet.

[nirvana]

The fact that she was fully-clothed behind a locked bathroom door still sits very awkwardly with me as regards a not guilty to murder verdict.

Surely he would have called out and she would have replied.

He shouted “Get the fuck out of my house!" a couple of times. It is conceivable that she could have assumed that there was an intruder and decided to stay quiet.

even when she heard the eerie stump..stump..stump coming up the hallway. Amaze

[Graham C]

Perhaps he should have called "Reeva, is that you in the carsey?"

[china mug]

i had occasion to appear as a witness in a silly little car theft case in the uk,as i was politely invited to wait if i wished in a private waiting room i found my self in a room with several police officers who assumed that i was one of them and chatted about all types of activities that they chose to to pass time as they waited to be called for there cases......the story that relates to south Africa is that one of the officers was over there with a English youth rugby team and despite all there advise to all there young players to not go here and don't wander off on your own he got a report that one of there young lads had left the safe area of the hotel disco and gone with a local girl to a bar down the street,the British cop got the hotel manager who called some cops who turned up very quickly assed the situation and the fact that the British guy was a cop and had had fire arms training....they took him to there car got a gun called a mak some thing or other gave it to him and said were going into these bars looking for your rugby player if any one gets in you re face shoot them.....a search of several bars latter ,missing guy wanders back on his own.
the mind set of the cops  would seem to be take lethal action and worry about the paper work later.....possible there upbringing in south Africa turns them to it.
no DOT hollywood will make a film about the shooting in south Africa and some a Lister star will have a crisis of conscience about playing the lead part then decide that he could do with another 5 million for a extension to his week end house and do it.....please god dint let it be sylvester stallone

[Graham C]

Sentencing begins tomorrow.

[the sicilian]

They reckon its gonna take a week for sentancing...jeez !

[Redsgirl]

They reckon its gonna take a week for sentancing...jeez !

Aren't lawyers paid by the hour?

[the sicilian]

So the parents took monthly payments from Pistorius after he shot their daughter cos they were skint.... not if i was starving in the gutter...

I see they made a nice amount selling their story and admitted that their daughter was their meal ticket... they sound a pretty pair... i know I shouldnt be startled at how low human beings will sink for money..but I am