02-27-2014, 12:14 PM
Reeva's phone was in the toilet, Pistorius's was on the mat outside of it.
This news report just released; within the hour.
SNIP:
The South African Police Service has been struggling for months to access text and Whatsapp messages on the iPhone 5 they found lying on the bathmat outside the lavatory where Miss Steenkamp was shot in the early hours of St Valentine's Day morning last year.
Mr Pistorius told detectives that he could not remember the Apple ID code needed to log in to the phone.
The South African authorities claimed earlier this month that America's FBI was dragging its heels on authorising Apple to disclose the encrypted information.
Three senior police officers including Lt Gen Vineshkumar Moonoo and Captain Francois Moller, who is listed as a state expert witness on mobile phone analysis, flew to the US on Monday and are due to visit Apple headquarters today. They are due back in South Africa on Sunday, the day before the high-profile trial is due to begin at Pretoria's high court.
"With or without this evidence, the trial will still continue on Monday and we feel that we have more than enough evidence regardless, but any evidence we can lay our hands on is critical."
Pistorius denies murdering Steenkamp, 29, an FHM model and law graduate who he had been dating for four months, claiming instead he believed she was an intruder. The state says he shot her following a row.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...sages.html
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Damn, I wish all these ducks had been put in a row before this late in the game.
Without Pistorius's phone content (and assuming Reeva's phone content doesn't paint a terrible picture of him that night), I'd bet on Pistorius being convicted of a lesser murder charge than premeditated, along with the illegal weapons possession charges -- based on what's been presented publicly to date. I don't think the judge will buy the "perceived intruder" defense, but IMO the prosecution hasn't shown any cards that prove premeditated killing over recklessly shooting and causing death.
But, if they can get those phone records for Pistorius from that night and they paint a picture of a frustrated man in the midst of a row with his girlfriend, I think prosecutors have a decent chance of convincing a judge it was a premeditated murder - especially if Reeva's phone records also lend credence to the "row" theory.
The physical evidence doesn't clearly support the prosecution's charges on its own -- it's open to interpretation in this case, IMO. I think the prosecution is publicly downplaying how significant the phone records are to supporting its charges; they need those records badly.
This news report just released; within the hour.
SNIP:
The South African Police Service has been struggling for months to access text and Whatsapp messages on the iPhone 5 they found lying on the bathmat outside the lavatory where Miss Steenkamp was shot in the early hours of St Valentine's Day morning last year.
Mr Pistorius told detectives that he could not remember the Apple ID code needed to log in to the phone.
The South African authorities claimed earlier this month that America's FBI was dragging its heels on authorising Apple to disclose the encrypted information.Three senior police officers including Lt Gen Vineshkumar Moonoo and Captain Francois Moller, who is listed as a state expert witness on mobile phone analysis, flew to the US on Monday and are due to visit Apple headquarters today. They are due back in South Africa on Sunday, the day before the high-profile trial is due to begin at Pretoria's high court.
"With or without this evidence, the trial will still continue on Monday and we feel that we have more than enough evidence regardless, but any evidence we can lay our hands on is critical."
Pistorius denies murdering Steenkamp, 29, an FHM model and law graduate who he had been dating for four months, claiming instead he believed she was an intruder. The state says he shot her following a row.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...sages.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damn, I wish all these ducks had been put in a row before this late in the game.
Without Pistorius's phone content (and assuming Reeva's phone content doesn't paint a terrible picture of him that night), I'd bet on Pistorius being convicted of a lesser murder charge than premeditated, along with the illegal weapons possession charges -- based on what's been presented publicly to date. I don't think the judge will buy the "perceived intruder" defense, but IMO the prosecution hasn't shown any cards that prove premeditated killing over recklessly shooting and causing death.
But, if they can get those phone records for Pistorius from that night and they paint a picture of a frustrated man in the midst of a row with his girlfriend, I think prosecutors have a decent chance of convincing a judge it was a premeditated murder - especially if Reeva's phone records also lend credence to the "row" theory.
The physical evidence doesn't clearly support the prosecution's charges on its own -- it's open to interpretation in this case, IMO. I think the prosecution is publicly downplaying how significant the phone records are to supporting its charges; they need those records badly.