OSCAR PISTORIUS MURDER TRIAL: the blade runner oscar pistorius shoots girlfriend

[ramseycat]

[HairOfTheDog]

ETA: apologies HotD, I know this is the crime forum, no more OT.

No worries, crash -- the only thing that I'll push to another sub-forum is off-topic trolling or an extended off-topic conversation/battle that better fits somewhere else.

I agree with you that Pistorius telling Stander that he'd mistaken Reeva for an intruder right after the shooting probably bolstered the defense's version of events. Nel pushed on the Standers in cross, but there wasn't too much he could do to poke holes in their testimonies without looking like a bully for little benefit. Their testimonies were largely just their opinions of Pistorius' state of mind/heart.

I think Nel will probably continue trying to poke holes and question the integrity of non-expert defense witness testimonies during his cross-examinations -- but, he'll want to get them off the stand quickly. Then, in closing arguments, he'll focus heavily on all the other on-the-spot lies that Pistorius has told in the past (and sometimes asked others to tell) in order to cover his ass when he crossed the line. IMO.

[HairOfTheDog]

THE SILENT MAID AND THE CHATTY NEIGHBORS -- NO FEMALE SCREAMS HEARD

Someone else was inside Oscar Pistorius' home in Pretoria, South Africa, the night the athlete shot his girlfriend to death -- his longtime housekeeper, Frank Chiziweni.

Chiziweni was sleeping in his room off from Pistorius’ kitchen on Valentine’s Day 2013. His presence was revealed in court Monday, when a neighbor testified that Chiziweni greeted her at the home.

The defense and prosecution have declined to call Chiziweni, a Malawian, to the stand. They believe he wouldn’t have said anything. Following the shooting, he told police that he “heard nothing” that night, sleeping through what witnesses who lived 200 yards away described as “bloodcurdling” screams.

None of the witnesses called today heard a female scream, a stark contrast to the state’s witnesses, who testified about hearing screams and a woman’s voice.

Pistorius’ neighbors demonstrated the screams that they heard in court today. Witnesses Rita Motshuane and Eontle Hillary Nhlengethwa mimicked the high-pitched, almost howling cries they heard after Pistorius shot his girlfriend to death.

Nhlengethwa’s husband, Mike Nhlengethwa, testified that Pistorius introduced Steenkamp to him as his fiancee, a meeting that occurred days before the shooting. When Nhlengethwa went to shake Steenkamp’s hand, she instead opened her arms and hugged him.

Nhlengethwa said Pistorius, with whom he shared a passion for cars, told him he wanted to move from Pretoria to Johannesburg, South Africa, to be with Steenkamp, a model and reality TV star. Nhlengethwa was sad about the prospect of his neighbor moving away, but it was worth it for a woman like Steenkamp, he said.

Nhlengethwa, who was Pistorius' next-door neighbor, testified that his wife woke him up after hearing a bang and that he did not hear gunshots. He said he then heard a man crying in a high-pitched voice that indicated he urgently needed help. Nhlengethwa could not make out most of what the man was saying, though he heard the words: "No, please, please, no."

The neighbor's bedroom window was around 80 feet from the balcony doors of Pistorius' bedroom, closer than neighbors called by prosecutors and who said they heard a woman screaming on the night of the shooting.

The defense was trying to present Nhlengethwa as a more reliable witness on the events of the night because of how much closer he lived to Pistorius' villa. A neighbor who testified to hearing a woman's "blood-curdling" screams on the night lived around 560 feet from Pistorius' house.

Nhlengethwa testified that he called estate security to ask them to come to their road.

The trial was adjourned to Thursday, as elections are scheduled for Wednesday in South Africa.

Rioux told the court that he's on track to finish the defense case by Tuesday, May 13^th.

Refs:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/pist...d=23602899
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscar-pistor...of-events/

[ramseycat]

How did the butler not hear anything? That makes no sense.

[HairOfTheDog]

How did the butler not hear anything? That makes no sense.

He's lying. IMO.

[aussiefriend]

In the news today, Oscar has whispered into Reeva's friends ear an intimidating word saying 'how can you sleep at night?'. He is denying it of course. He really is a silly man, he is literally digging his own grave.

[ramseycat]

How did the butler not hear anything? That makes no sense.

He's lying. IMO.

Agreed.

[HairOfTheDog]

THE LAST MEAL

The defense called Christina Lundgren, an anaesthetist, as an expert witness. She was shown copies of the post mortem report and testified that there were many factors that could have delayed gastric emptying in Ms Steenkamp's stomach, including sleep, exercise, medication, and her age.

"In an ideal world, after six hours of fasting after [the] meal her stomach should probably have been empty. But there are so many unknowns about possible factors that might have delayed gastric emptying," she said.

"One cannot state it as being fact" that Ms Steenkamp's stomach would have been empty six hours after eating, Prof Lundgren said. "I would say it is purely speculative."

In his cross-examination, prosecutor Gerrie Nel indicated that Prof Lungdren's list of factors that could delay gastric emptying may not apply to Ms Steenkamp.

Nel added that in normal circumstances one would expect the stomach to be empty eight hours after eating food. He also point out to her that the state's expert, Saayman, was able to identify vegetables in the stomach content and asked her if that would be possible after 8 hours. She said, "no comment" and that she didn't want to criticize Saayman.

It's the prosecution's contention that Pistorius is lying about the time line because he and Reeva were up arguing late that night and early into the morning when she was shot and killed.


THE SURPRISE WITNESS

The defense called a social worker and probation officer who visited Pistorius in a police cell a day after he fatally shot Reeva Steenkamp to testify. The social worker's testimony was unexpected. She said she only contacted Pistorius' defense team two days earlier to say she was willing to testify.

Social worker Yvette van Schalkwyk said she observed an emotionally devastated Pistorius last year who was grieving for his slain girlfriend and concerned for her parents.

"I saw a heartbroken man. He cried 80 percent of the time. He talked to me about what they planned for the future, his future with her," said van Schalkwyk, who told the court that she decided to testify at the trial because she was upset by suggestions reported in the media that Pistorius was feigning grief to sway the judge in his favor.

Gerrie Nel, the chief prosecutor, objected to van Schalkwyk's testimony, saying it was not relevant to the charges against Pistorius, but the judge allowed her to proceed.

Nel countered that it was hardly surprising that Pistorius would be traumatized immediately after killing his girlfriend amid intense global interest in the case, and pushed van Schalkwyk to acknowledge that Pistorius never specifically said to her he was sorry he killed Steenkamp. That omission, according to Nel, supported his contention that Pistorius was feeling sorry for himself and was unwilling to take responsibility.

"It's all about him," the prosecutor said.

Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27321709
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/05/08/...last-meal/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...=310659483

[HairOfTheDog]

DEFENSE EXPERT CLAIMS REEVA WASN'T "COWERING"

A ballistics expert called by Pistorius' defense at his murder trial testified that Reeva Steenkamp was falling back in a toilet cubicle in the double-amputee athlete's home when she was hit in the head by the last of the four bullets Pistorius fired through the cubicle door.



"She was not sitting yet when the last shot was fired," expert Wollie Wolmarans (pictured above) testified. Wolmarans is a retired South African Police forensics analyst.

Wolmarans' testimony contradicted evidence given by the prosecution's police ballistics expert who said Steenkamp was sitting on a magazine rack and desperately protecting her head with her arms when the last shot struck her.

Both sides say the first shot likely hit Steenkamp in the right hip as she was standing behind the door, causing her to fall.

The painstaking debate over detail reflects the defense's efforts to show that Steenkamp was not arguing with Pistorius after fleeing from him when she was shot in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013 - as the prosecution contends.

Nel battered Wolmarans as the cross-examination began, demanding to know how many different versions of his analysis he gave the defense team, whom he consulted about it and whether he had changed any of his report.

Flustered and occasionally appearing angry, Wolmarans said he had fixed some of the English in his report -- it not being his native language -- but not his conclusions.

He also said he would not have changed his conclusions based on conversations he had over beer with another defense expert, Roger Dixon, because Dixon is not a ballistics expert.

Nel pounced, demanding whether the court should also disregard Dixon's testimony.

Sources:
http://www.kptv.com/story/25471935/pisto...-last-shot
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/09/world/...index.html
==========================

Rioux confirmed that he will finish presenting the defense's case on Tuesday.

Hoping there's a verdict before end of month.

[HairOfTheDog]

WHAT'S "REASONABLE" FOR OTHERS SHOULD NOT APPLY TO OSCAR PISTORIUS -- SO SAYS THE DEFENSE PSYCHIATRIST

Snip:

Pistorius would have experienced the amputation of both of his legs below the knee as a "traumatic assault" because he was too young to speak or understand what was happening to him, Dr. Meryl Vorster said in court.

Oscar Pistorius suffers an anxiety disorder stemming from his double amputation as an infant and his unstable parents.

His parents then put pressure on him to appear normal, and his mother abused alcohol at times after she and Pistorius' father divorced, she said.

She raised him and his siblings "to see their external environment as threatening," and "added to the anxiety," Vorster said.

Pistorius earlier testified that "Everything I learnt in life, I learned from her."

The defense is trying to show that Pistorius made a reasonable mistake and responded reasonably on the night he killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

Because of his disability, she said, when he faces a fight-or-flight situation, he cannot flee, and so his instinct is to fight, she said.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel then pressed the psychiatrist on whether Pistorius was mentally ill and whether he could distinguish right from wrong.

The psychiatrist said he could. Many people have general anxiety disorder, and it does not imply that one has lost touch with reality, she said..

Ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/12/world/...?hpt=hp_t3

[HairOfTheDog]

DEFENSE CLOSE TO RESTING ITS CASE -- ALL BASES COVERED

Not surprising that Pistorius would toss the family under the bus (mostly mom and she's dead; the rest of the family probably doesn't care anyway if such claims get Oscar set free, IMO).

The defense case is all but over. Pistorious, via Rioux, has challenged the state's claims of premeditated killing, intentional shooting, and unreasonable use of deadly force.

This is Oscar Pistorius' story presented at trial:
-Oscar did not intend to shoot or kill Reeva; he was in reasonable fear for his life and thought he was shooting at an intruder (if the judge believes this was proven beyond reasonable doubt, premeditation is out).

-Oscar did not intend to pull the trigger at all when he shot through the bathroom door four times; it was reflexive survival instinct in what he thought was a self-defense situation (if the judge believes this was proven beyond reasonable doubt, culpable homicide may be out or a very light sentence for it could be handed down).

-Oscar should not be held to the same standard of what constitutes "reasonable fear" and "reasonable response" as other South African citizens would be when claiming a self-defense mindset. He has an anxiety disorder resulting from childhood trauma, his mom's influence, and his disability. This makes him more vulnerable than others -- that's what the psychiatrist said today (this is the icing on the cake for the defense, essentially -- "I didn't act irresponsibly when I killed Reeva, but if you think that I did, it wasn't my fault").

Closing arguments will likely begin tomorrow or Wednesday; they should be very impassioned and interesting. I'll post the videos as soon as they're available.

[HairOfTheDog]

PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION FOR PISTORIUS TO DELAY TRIAL?




Prosecutor Nel argued today that the "anxiety disorder" diagnosis introduced by Pistorius' team and psychiatrist Vorster yesterday should be questioned if the judge is at all considering it a valid defense point or mitigating factor.

If, in deliberations, the judge is going to consider that Pistorius had such a disorder brought upon by his childhood, disabilities, and shallow relationships (as Vorster testified), Nel is adamant that Pistorius must undergo psych eval which requires 30 days of testing and could delay the trial for some time.

Roux passionately objected to the testing and the delay; he says Nel's interpretation of the law is "unfortunate" and the trial should proceed as scheduled.

Judge Masipa adjourned court today to consider both sides.

Ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/13/world/...ius-trial/

I REALLY don't wanna see the trial delayed, but I think Nel's right. Pistorius' team essentially introduced a mental impairment defense at the last minute and without notice; with Dr. Vorster going so far as to testify that Pistorius never should have been allowed to have a gun in the first place given his condition.

(HOTD edit: corrected psychiatrist's name)

[Duchess]

Look at him. He looks smug & I don't think it's my imagination.

[ramseycat]

He does look smug.

[Duchess]

How are they allowed to introduce something so close to the end of the trial. They had months to prepare. I don't like this at all.

[HairOfTheDog]

How are they allowed to introduce something so close to the end of the trial. They had months to prepare. I don't like this at all.

I wonder if Judge Masipa is gonna just toss the psychiatrist's testimony?

I also wonder if Roux 'effed up and didn't prepare his expert witness on where to draw the line if asked certain questions by Nel, or if he was instead trying to sneak in an informal "not guilty by mental impairment plea" in the guise of the expected "he's so vulnerable" testimony.

I'm leaning towards Roux having 'effed up. He really doesn't seem to want that psych door opened further. Kinda hard to explain how someone with severe anxiety disorder has a proven history of proactively confronting people and taking high risks as if it were no big deal.

Like most of Pistorius' histrionics during the trial, I think the anxiety disorder bit is bullshit. Hoping Judge Masipa does too, boots it, and moves the trial forward as planned.

[Duchess]

I guess I'm just feeling a little anxious given we are so close to the end. I don't like surprises like this.

[Duchess]

The judge is sending Oscar for a complete mental examination.

[HairOfTheDog]

The judge is sending Oscar for a complete mental examination.

I just read about it. I'm not sure what to think about this development and delay in terms of its impacts on possible verdicts and sentencing. What if Pistorius does convince the psychiatrists that he is mentally ill? What if he doesn't? Will dive into the possible implications when I get some time later today.


^ Pistorius doesn't look too upset, but that's just one photo.

Here's the rundown:
-Nel wanted the evaluation so Pistorius can't use the issue of an anxiety disorder, which was brought up at trial at the very last minute and by surprise, as a grounds for appeal if it's not considered and he's convicted.

-Roux said it's not necessary and he still had others witnesses to call.

-Pistorius told reporters yesterday that Nel's application for it was "a joke"

-Judge Masipa said this in her ruling today:
Mental illness and mental defects are morbid disorders that are not capable of being diagnosed by a lay court without expert psychiatric evidence.

The accused may not have raised the issue that he was not criminally responsible at the time of the incident in so many words, but evidence led on his behalf clearly raised the issue and cannot be ignored.

A referral inevitably means more delays in finalising this matter but this is not about anyone's convenience, but rather about whether justice has been served.

Masipa said the decision to refer Pistorius was not intended to "punish him twice".

We'll learn more details about the terms of the psych eval when court reconvenes on Tuesday, but the trial is on hold for at least 30 days.

Ref:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guar...0x372.jpeg

[Duchess]

I heard it as I was getting ready for my day so I didn't get all the details but I did hear the person reporting it say that Oscar's team looked defeated when the Judge announced it.