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Verdict Day Tomorrow for Oscar Pistorius

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 01:06:23 PM EST
Tags: Oscar Pistorius (all tags)
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Judge Thokozile Masipa will deliver her verdict tomorrow on Oscar Pistorius. Time Magazine has this rundown of how the verdict will be delivered and the possible outcomes.

[I]f there are any convictions on the four charges Pistorius faces — murder and three unrelated firearm charges — sentences will only be decided later at a separate hearing.

The Guardian has this summary of the charges and each sides' arguments.

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    Verdict Day Tomorrow for Oscar Pistorius | 11 comments (11 topical)

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    Verdict is tomorrow, right? (none / 0) (#1)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 01:11:15 PM EST


    yes thanks its tomorrow (none / 0) (#2)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 01:18:08 PM EST
    I changed it to tomorrow. They are 8 hours ahead of Denver, it's 8:15 pm there now. S

    Parent
    According to South African media, ... (none / 0) (#6)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 03:39:04 PM EST
    ... per the country's judicial protocols, Judge Masipa will first publicly recount all the evidence and testimony she heard in court before delivering her verdict, so there's a possibility that the verdict itself may not be read until Friday, South African time.

    Parent
    Gonna be interesting, to be sure (none / 0) (#3)
    by Dadler on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 02:24:17 PM EST
    My personal opinion is he's doomed, but he may also get some benefit of the doubt for his disability. That all of this rests in this particular judges hands, even more compelling.  

    At the Bottom of the LInk... (none / 0) (#4)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 03:06:31 PM EST
    ...it mentions that he could get 15 years just for the illegal ammunition, and 5 years for each time he discharge a firearm in public prior to this incident.

    In regards to the restaurant incident, "But the defence has now conceded that he should be found guilty of negligence on this charge."

    His of defense team is conceding to 5 years, that can not be a good sign.

    Parent

    Yep, that's not good (none / 0) (#5)
    by Dadler on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 03:16:26 PM EST
    And it's probably not just a sign, but a gigantic billboard.

    Parent
    Judge Thokozile Masipa is recognized as ... (none / 0) (#7)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 04:17:33 PM EST
    ... a pioneer in post-Apartheid South Africa, as a former prominent journalist for the Johannesburg Post who was imprisoned in 1977 for speaking out in print against the white Afrikaaner government, and who successfully passed the bar in 1990 at age 43. Appointed by President Mandela to the South African High Court in 1998, she is the first Zulu woman (and only the third black woman) to sit on the bench.

    Judge Masipa enjoys a stellar public reputation among lawyers and judicial peers for being fair and honest in her deliberations. But she's also well known for dealing quite sternly with individuals found guilty of violence against women.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Verdict (none / 0) (#8)
    by Uncle Chip on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 04:39:38 PM EST
    I'm betting that politics will temper the judge's verdict but it still won't be good for Oscar.

    Oscar Pistorius had to sell his home ... (none / 0) (#9)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 04:58:45 PM EST
    ... in the exclusive Pretoria suburb of Silver Wood Estates, which was the scene of Reeva Steenkamp's death, to Afrikaaner businessman Louwtjie Louwrens for R4.5m (US $405,900), in order to pay his legal bills. The original asking price was R6.5m (US $591,500). Looks like he wasn't nearly as wealthy as some folks in the media made him out to be. The new owner thinks he got a "good buy," though he says his wife wasn't too keen on the purchase.

    My view (going out on the limb). (none / 0) (#10)
    by Green26 on Wed Sep 10, 2014 at 11:50:07 PM EST
    Based on reading TL and some other articles, and paying attention to what Jeralyn said, I don't think he should be convicted. I evolved from thinking he had to be guilty at the outset. Persuasive to me was the testimony of the expert(s) after the break on the medical analysis. I thought that showed that, due to his leg situation and how he lived, he was different than most of the rest of us, and so insecure in some situations that he would or might react different from how most of us would react in the situation. I found the testimony of neighbors to be helpful, and some of the neighbors far away to be less persuasive.

    However, I think it will be tough for the judge to find him innocent. A woman. A black woman. She certainly doesn't seem to be the type who would be inclined to acquit him. I saw the post saying she is respected and fair. That's a positive in general and for the defendant.

    Thus, I think he will either be found guilty or he won't. Ha. Best I could do.

    I think (none / 0) (#11)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 11, 2014 at 12:59:30 AM EST
    1. In rare occasions, people who do truly horrible things to other people do them because they are simply horrible people.

    2. Somewhat less rarely, I think, people do truly horrible things to other people because of misunderstandings.

    3. But for the most part, I think, people do horrible things to other people because they feel their actions are justified.

    Everything I have seen in this case leads me to believe that option #1 is out, and of options #2 & #3, #3 is the most probable.

    I cannot believe P heard a noise in his bathroom, which he must have heard 100's (1000's? 10,000's?) of times previously, and all of those previous times it was his live-in girlfriend or some other invited guest, but, this time, instead of assuming, or actually checking, that it was, again, for the 1000th+++ time someone he knew, he figured it was a murderous stranger who somehow  surreptitiously entered P's gated community and then, 'cuz he had to, you know, "go," climbed up through P's 2nd story window and proceeded to, because of his modesty, carefully close the bathroom door and cop a squat on P's toilet, and thereby making a noise that resulted in P blindly, shooting multiple times through a closed door at his toilet, and thereby killing his live-in girlfriend Steenkamp, who was, coinkydinkily, sitting on that very same loo.

    Whew!

    Verdict Day Tomorrow for Oscar Pistorius | 11 comments (11 topical)

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