03-14-2014, 03:06 PM
Two week in...
I think the prosecution had a better first week than did the defense. But, the defense scored some major points during this second week, particularly in attacking the police investigation and the state's forensic analysis.
The prosecution's case now, as told in opening statements and as testimony suggests, is that Pistorius and Reeva were fighting. She was screaming and fled to the toilet; locking herself in. Pistorius, in a rage, shot her through the toilet door - with intent to kill. He used a cricket bat to break the door.
The prosecution claims that Pistorius was on his stumps when he shot Reeva and banged down the door with the bat (according to the testimony of Vermeulen) and put on his legs to carry Reeva down the stairs.
I'm still not clear as to whether Nel is suggesting that the first set of bangs that the neighbors reported hearing was Pistorius trying to get at Reeva using the cricket bat before he gave up and chose to shoot instead, or if Nel is instead in agreement with the defense that Pistorius tried to bang down the door after the shooting and Nel just hasn't gotten around to explaining the two sets of bangs with an interim between.
The defense claims that Pistorius and Reeva were fine, went to bed around 10 p.m., Pistorius went to put a fan out on the balcony and was alarmed by sounds from the toilet - thinking it was an intruder. He yelled at Reeva to call police, retrieved his gun whilst on his stumps, shot through the door and then realized Reeva wasn't in the bedroom. So, he put on his legs and tried to kick the toilet door down and then used the cricket bat.
I think Nel scored his biggest points early on with the ear witness neighbors insisting that they only heard gunshots and not cricket bat bangs and that they'd heard two distinct voices during the incident - male and female. The other prosecution witnesses, Guard Baba, ex-girlfriend Taylor, and Darren Fresco help to depict Pistorius as wanting to cover his ass and being reckless with guns, but I don't know how much the judge is gonna weigh those factors in the murder decision (though I think the separate gun-related charges were bolstered by Taylor and Fresco).
Next week may be the final week of trial. We've heard nothing about the phone content at trial yet. Were investigators able to uncover anything of any significance on Pistorius' iPad? Do Reeva's phone records offer anything to support the prosecution's theory? If the phone content didn't render anything that the prosecution can use to bolster its theory, I hope Nel has some other big reveals in store. I don't think this is a slam dunk for the prosecution by a long shot, based on the trial to date.
I think the prosecution had a better first week than did the defense. But, the defense scored some major points during this second week, particularly in attacking the police investigation and the state's forensic analysis.
The prosecution's case now, as told in opening statements and as testimony suggests, is that Pistorius and Reeva were fighting. She was screaming and fled to the toilet; locking herself in. Pistorius, in a rage, shot her through the toilet door - with intent to kill. He used a cricket bat to break the door.
The prosecution claims that Pistorius was on his stumps when he shot Reeva and banged down the door with the bat (according to the testimony of Vermeulen) and put on his legs to carry Reeva down the stairs.
I'm still not clear as to whether Nel is suggesting that the first set of bangs that the neighbors reported hearing was Pistorius trying to get at Reeva using the cricket bat before he gave up and chose to shoot instead, or if Nel is instead in agreement with the defense that Pistorius tried to bang down the door after the shooting and Nel just hasn't gotten around to explaining the two sets of bangs with an interim between.
The defense claims that Pistorius and Reeva were fine, went to bed around 10 p.m., Pistorius went to put a fan out on the balcony and was alarmed by sounds from the toilet - thinking it was an intruder. He yelled at Reeva to call police, retrieved his gun whilst on his stumps, shot through the door and then realized Reeva wasn't in the bedroom. So, he put on his legs and tried to kick the toilet door down and then used the cricket bat.
I think Nel scored his biggest points early on with the ear witness neighbors insisting that they only heard gunshots and not cricket bat bangs and that they'd heard two distinct voices during the incident - male and female. The other prosecution witnesses, Guard Baba, ex-girlfriend Taylor, and Darren Fresco help to depict Pistorius as wanting to cover his ass and being reckless with guns, but I don't know how much the judge is gonna weigh those factors in the murder decision (though I think the separate gun-related charges were bolstered by Taylor and Fresco).
Next week may be the final week of trial. We've heard nothing about the phone content at trial yet. Were investigators able to uncover anything of any significance on Pistorius' iPad? Do Reeva's phone records offer anything to support the prosecution's theory? If the phone content didn't render anything that the prosecution can use to bolster its theory, I hope Nel has some other big reveals in store. I don't think this is a slam dunk for the prosecution by a long shot, based on the trial to date.