09-11-2014, 08:43 AM
Court just adjourned for the day. Masipa ended today's session with the following:
-- She finds the debate over where Reeva was located in the bathroom to be irrelevant to the charges.
-- She finds that Pistorius did not take the legally required reasonable actions before choosing to retrieve a loaded weapon and shoot four times through the door at what he believed was an intruder; he could have called security and he could have run to the balcony and screamed as he did after the shooting.
-- She understands that Pistorius grew up in a high-crime area with a paranoid mother who always carried a gun. She basically said, "yeah, welcome to the club." Those explanations by the defense were just that -- explanations; they are not valid excuses.
-- Judge Masipa said that Pistorius did not act reasonably at the perceived threat; he acted negligently. She said a reasonable person, with or without Pistorius' disability, would have taken other action before shooting and would have expected that whomever was behind the door could die from the shots.
That's where she left off when court was adjourned for the day. Judge Masipa did not say, "he is guilty of culpable homicide" directly, but she explained why he she finds that he acted "too hastily", "negligently", and "unreasonably".
Verdict delivery continues tomorrow. It's very nerve-racking to watch/hear the verdict explained and delivered in this manner, but extremely interesting and informative.
P.s. Maggot: if your prediction is correct and he is found guilty of manslaughter/culpable homicide but winds up getting a suspended sentence for that, I hope he gets the max on each gun charge and is sentenced to 15 years.
-- She finds the debate over where Reeva was located in the bathroom to be irrelevant to the charges.
-- She finds that Pistorius did not take the legally required reasonable actions before choosing to retrieve a loaded weapon and shoot four times through the door at what he believed was an intruder; he could have called security and he could have run to the balcony and screamed as he did after the shooting.
-- She understands that Pistorius grew up in a high-crime area with a paranoid mother who always carried a gun. She basically said, "yeah, welcome to the club." Those explanations by the defense were just that -- explanations; they are not valid excuses.
-- Judge Masipa said that Pistorius did not act reasonably at the perceived threat; he acted negligently. She said a reasonable person, with or without Pistorius' disability, would have taken other action before shooting and would have expected that whomever was behind the door could die from the shots.
That's where she left off when court was adjourned for the day. Judge Masipa did not say, "he is guilty of culpable homicide" directly, but she explained why he she finds that he acted "too hastily", "negligently", and "unreasonably".
Verdict delivery continues tomorrow. It's very nerve-racking to watch/hear the verdict explained and delivered in this manner, but extremely interesting and informative.
P.s. Maggot: if your prediction is correct and he is found guilty of manslaughter/culpable homicide but winds up getting a suspended sentence for that, I hope he gets the max on each gun charge and is sentenced to 15 years.