Pistorius Cleared!

[MargoTester]

Just heard on the news.

[Bathsheba]

http://news.sky.com/story/1333817/oscar-pistorius-cleared-of-reeva-murder

There's a surprise !!

[jennyjoan]

Of murder - will be tried for manslaughter.

[Henrietta]

That's horrible news! Imo he was guilty as sin.

The poor girl and her family never got justice :(

[Henrietta]

Ooops can I say that or is this site under some kind of legal restriction?

[retrocop]

Well all you wives and girlfriends out there better watch your p's and q's because if he limps away from that rap what chance for you lot ???

[ummmm]

He killed her so you can say it. It's his intentions that were on trial.

[Jomlett]

Masipa said it was clear that Pistorius had acted unlawfully in shooting the person behind the door. She will return after lunch to deliver her decision on whether he is guilty of culpable homicide.

[Bathsheba]

dunno Henrietta,...but the way is nearly clear for all the poor taste funnies to sprout up...:p

x x

[stokemaveric]

i have friends who built a house in south africa and while under construction the police advised them to have panic alarm buttons fitted,which they duly did,i have often wondered if his house had them fitted [and according to him he was very scared of intruders and so i imagine they would have been fitted], why he did not press one which would have alerted the police that there was an intruder before he pulled the trigger 4 times...just a thought....

[ummmm]

I'm sure he didn't get up that morning with the intention of killing her. My opinion, he did it in a fit of rage.

[jim360]

I was expecting him to be found guilty only of Culpable Homicide. That's still to come.

[Ellipsis]

My opinion, firing a gun several times into an enclosed space where you correctly suspect somebody to be is undeniably evidence of trying to shoot that person and you should know that you had a good chance of killing them.

I had it down as murder, no matter who he thought was in the bathroom. I think he's very lucky.

[DTCwordfan]

Roses are red
Masipa is glorious
Oscar's murder premeditated
He's not guilty and victorious.

[DTCwordfan]

More seriously, Masipa still can whack him with a very heavy sentence, there is no min or max term in South Africa for this. It's worth understanding the nuances here.

Culpable homicide, like murder One is a form of unlawful killing in the country.

The crucial difference, however, is that if a person kills intentionally it is murder, whereas if he or she kills negligently it is culpable homicide.

Previously, South African case law took the view that a person who kills intentionally, but in mitigating circumstances, is guilty of culpable homicide rather than murder. For example, where a man uses excessive force to defend himself from attack and kills his assailant, this would be culpable homicide. However, later decisions by the Appellate Division strongly support the trend towards excluding a verdict of culpable homicide where intent to kill is proved.

The essential element of the crime is negligence, but before any court can make a finding of culpable homicide it must be proved by the prosecution that a reasonable man' in the position of the accused would have foreseen that death could result from his actions.

The test for negligence is an objective one, as opposed to the test for intention in murder, which is subjective. For example, if it is shown that a man ought to have foreseen the possibility of killing someone when he fired a gun, negligence is present and he is guilty of culpable homicide. If it is shown that he must have foreseen the possibility of death resulting from his actions or that he intended to kill, intention is proved and he is guilty of murder.

The question of whether he ought to have foreseen the possible consequences of his actions is decided by reference to the 'reasonable man' the diligens paterfamilias or average prudent family man. The behaviour of the man accused of causing the death is objectively tested against what a reasonable man' would do in the same circumstances.

It's that on which the verdict will hang, to borrow a pun.

[chaptazbru2]

I suspect he'll only get a minimum sentence anyway.

[Jomlett]

Oscar's back tomorrow morning to hear whether Judge Masipa deems him guilty of the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp, along with verdicts on three other firearms charges.

[Bathsheba]

Oh that's interesting Jomlett,....thanks.
When I saw elsewhere that they'd jacked it in for the day I just assumed nothing more would be happening till Monday.

[retrocop]

DTC
Thanks for that informative explanation of culpable homicide in S.A. law.
Given his previous track record of negligently discharging firearms (twice I believe) then I believe there is not much doubt about him knowingly and negligently firing that handgun with intent to kill or seriously harm any person.
I believe his load was a round called Black Talon which is a particularly lethal(deliberately) bullet. Not quite a dum dum but powerful and it disintegrates on impact. Firing those through a door into a small room where someone is known to be strikes me as more intentional than negligent.If he is given a term of imprisonment I hope it is long and hard.If I was that poor woman's father I would be waiting outside the gaol on his release date with a magazine full of Black Talon and my actions would be deliberate with fore thought.

[TWR]

Strange world we live in! when me & my OH have words be it day / night, I go for a walk, not a 5 min walk, a long walk.