09-10-2014, 11:02 AM
VERDICT TO BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW
I'm anxious to hear Judge Masipa's ruling.
Here's my guess, in which I have little confidence: Guilty of culpable homicide, guilty of the gun charges -- 7 to 15 years sentence.
-I think the defense did a good job of creating reasonable doubt around whether the female screams heard by the ear witnesses came before or after the last round of shots, and in posing the possibility that the female-sounding voice could have been Pistorius screaming like a girl when he'd realized what he'd done. I don't believe the prosecution proved that the couple was in the midst of a row at the time of the shooting (though I personally believe that is indeed what went down and Pistorius knew he was shooting at Reeva behind that door).
-IMO, the defense failed when it comes to getting Pistorius off the hook for the equivalent of manslaughter. "I intentionally shot for fear of my life and didn't know it was Reeva; I didn't intentionally shoot -- I accidentally pulled the trigger; I am not responsible for anything that I did because of trauma stemming from my disability"... Which one was it Oscar?
Too much contradictory unconvincing crap to render most of it believable. I don't think there's reasonable doubt that Pistorius was intending to shoot someone without taking the legally required reasonable actions to assess the situation first. He's responsible for the death of Reeva Steenkamp. I think the prosecution did a good job of proving that Pistorius is a self-serving liar and that "reasonable" shouldn't be redefined for Pistorius due to his disability.
-Pistorius was reckless with guns and his companions' testimonies, along with the testimony of other witnesses, proved that beyond reasonable doubt, IMO.
The testimony about Reeva's stomach content, whether she was crouching or fell on to the magazine rack, and the possible footprints on the door was a wash for me. If I were Masipa, I'd take those pieces outta the equation in deliberating the verdict.
Anyone else got a verdict prediction?
I'm anxious to hear Judge Masipa's ruling.
Here's my guess, in which I have little confidence: Guilty of culpable homicide, guilty of the gun charges -- 7 to 15 years sentence.
-I think the defense did a good job of creating reasonable doubt around whether the female screams heard by the ear witnesses came before or after the last round of shots, and in posing the possibility that the female-sounding voice could have been Pistorius screaming like a girl when he'd realized what he'd done. I don't believe the prosecution proved that the couple was in the midst of a row at the time of the shooting (though I personally believe that is indeed what went down and Pistorius knew he was shooting at Reeva behind that door).
-IMO, the defense failed when it comes to getting Pistorius off the hook for the equivalent of manslaughter. "I intentionally shot for fear of my life and didn't know it was Reeva; I didn't intentionally shoot -- I accidentally pulled the trigger; I am not responsible for anything that I did because of trauma stemming from my disability"... Which one was it Oscar?
Too much contradictory unconvincing crap to render most of it believable. I don't think there's reasonable doubt that Pistorius was intending to shoot someone without taking the legally required reasonable actions to assess the situation first. He's responsible for the death of Reeva Steenkamp. I think the prosecution did a good job of proving that Pistorius is a self-serving liar and that "reasonable" shouldn't be redefined for Pistorius due to his disability.
-Pistorius was reckless with guns and his companions' testimonies, along with the testimony of other witnesses, proved that beyond reasonable doubt, IMO.
The testimony about Reeva's stomach content, whether she was crouching or fell on to the magazine rack, and the possible footprints on the door was a wash for me. If I were Masipa, I'd take those pieces outta the equation in deliberating the verdict.
Anyone else got a verdict prediction?