(04-06-2014, 06:16 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: Even if the defense objects to Pistorius' testimony being televised, I believe that audio broadcast will still take place and (hopefully) the live tweets from the courtroom will still be permitted.

If I don't get to see him squirm on the stand, that will almost be good enough.

(04-06-2014, 05:15 PM)Duchess Wrote:

(04-06-2014, 04:22 PM)Teacher Wrote: Don't think his testimony is going to be televised.

Bummer. Was any reasoning behind that decision reported? I ask because that seems like a courtesy to me and I don't think he's entitled to one. Of course I also think he's guilty as sin so...

Have been searching to see if any info was given in making that decision not to televise. Can't find it - just that he won't be but audio will be allowed. The following paragraph is all I could find:

The audio of Pistorius's testimony is likely to be broadcast on television, but the cameras in court will not be able to show him, a judge ruled in February.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/osca...-pistorius

Good grief. GMA just played the audio of this jackass apologizing on the stand. His whole speech was about how HE feels. Not about how her family must feel. I hope this asshole goes down.

(04-07-2014, 07:05 AM)ramseycat Wrote: His whole speech was about how HE feels.

I expected nothing less. It's ALWAYS about Oscar.

(04-06-2014, 08:01 PM)Teacher Wrote: Have been searching to see if any info was given in making that decision not to televise. Can't find it - just that he won't be but audio will be allowed. The following paragraph is all I could find:

The audio of Pistorius's testimony is likely to be broadcast on television, but the cameras in court will not be able to show him, a judge ruled in February.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/osca...-pistorius

Thank you!

Thanks, Teacher.

Judge Masipa has addressed and overturned some of the February decisions during the trial, but looks like we will only hear and not see Pistorius. Kind of a bummer, but the defense fought hard not to have any of the trial televised before the February rulings, so I'm glad the audio and tweeting/media reporting is at least available.

The defense case began today. The defense experts can be televised with visual and audio; other defense witnesses can choose to have the visual blocked (same as for the prosecution's witness testimony).

The defense announced earlier today that it will call between 14 and 17 witnesses to testify to issues such as ballistics, blood spatter, lighting and visibility, vulnerability and disability.

DEFENSE BEGINS ITS CASE


^ Pistorius cried in court again today as the Defense's pathologist expert (Botha) testified

Retired pathologist and professor Jan Botha testified first for the defense (same name as the original lead detective in the case, but no relation).

The stomach contents - last meal time:
He testified that the science behind determining when Reeva ate her last meal was inexact.

The bullet sequence - Reeva's last moments:
He also testified that it was his belief that Reeva was shot first in the hip and last in the head (in agreement with the Mangena, the prosecution expert).

Reeva Steenkamp would have died within seconds after her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius shot her in the head, he told the the High Court.

"I don't think she survived very long thereafter." Botha said the four shots fired at Steenkamp that hit her thigh, arm and finally her head would have taken about four seconds, five at most.

Steenkamp would have been filled with emotions of shock, fear, possibly pain. He testified that after being hit in the thigh, in his opinion, she slid down, was hit again in the arm and then in the head.

She would have had very little blood in her upper respiratory cavity. "So I think death ensued very quickly after sustaining the head injury," said Botha.

Asked by Roux if she could have called out as the shots were fired he said: "I think it's highly unlikely that she would have been able to call out." He said: "Before she could react the remaining bullets would have struck her."

Both testified that he believed the injuries on Reeva's back were caused by her sliding against the magazine rack, and not from ricochets from the "black talon" bullets Pistorius used. This was because there was blood spatter from Steenkamp's injuries on the front of the rack but not inside it.

Nel's Cross-Examination
Prosecutor Nel grilled Botha hard.

He had Botha flustered and often claiming, "I am not a ballistician".

By the end of Nel's cross-examination, Botha had conceded that Reeva could have eaten a couple of hours before her death as the state pathologist Saayman testified, that Botha had not considered height of the bullet holes in his analysis, and that Botha was not certain of the sequence of events.

He also got Botha to reverse his position regarding Reeva sliding rather than falling onto the magazine rack. Nel provided Botha with the evidence photos of the wound and the weave of the top Reeva was wearing. Botha said: "It is far more likely now that this has been brought to my attention that this was caused by a magazine rack rather than the weave."

Very good outcome for Nel, IMO. The defense pathology expert and first witness did essentially nothing to weaken the prosecution/state witnesses' testimonies or theory.

Pistorius Testifies - The Apology

At Pistorius' request, he was not shown on the court's camera, but the audio was carried.


^ Pistorius apologizes to Steenkamp family

His voice was tearful and shaky as he began his long awaited account by apologizing to Steenkamp's family.

"There hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven't thought about your family," Pistorius said. "I wake up every morning and you're the first people I think of, the first people I pray for."

Reeva Steenkamp's mother sat stone-faced in the courtroom.

“I was simply trying to protect Reeva,” he said. "I can promise that when she went to bed that night she felt loved."

He told the court that he is haunted by her death and that his love affair with guns is over. "I'm scared to sleep. I have terrible nightmares about things that happened that night. I can smell the blood and I wake up to be terrified.... I'd rather not sleep," he said through sobs.

Pistorius said that he is on anti-depressants and takes sleeping pills. Pistorius, who owned several guns and used to sleep with one, says he doesn't want to touch a gun again. Instead, a security man stands outside his door, he testified.

In talking about his childhood he said his mother slept with a firearm tucked inside a padded bag underneath her pillow. "She often got scared at night. We didn't live in the best of areas. There was a lot of crime. She would call the police, call us to her room and we would wait for the police to arrive," he said.

Ref:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/osca...d=23218935

Day 17 - 07 April 2014 - REFERENCES

Defense first witness testimony: Pathologist Jan Botha


Cross-examination of Botha by Prosecutor Nel


The full apology and start of Pistorius testimony

What we will and won't see during the Defense Case

As Teacher noted, the February ruling prohibited defense witnesses (including Pistorius) from being televised during the trial (no such prohibition for the state/prosecution expert witnesses).

However, the rulings stated that for defense witnesses the court could consider showing some testimonies from behind the witness stand, obscuring faces or using a general wide shot of the court (HOTD: this is what they did today and what they did for non-expert prosecution witnesses). No parts of confidential discussions between Pistorius and his lawyers can be broadcast, nor can discussions between the prosecution, defense and judge, Mlambo said in the pre-trial television decision.

It's a little confusing and not consistently reported as to what "can or can't" be televised, but Judge Masipa has discretion and it looks like the cameras will keep rolling along with the audio during the defense case, the live stream will continue, and the television camera focus will simply not be on the witnesses' faces while they are on the stand. Judge Masipa has authority to stop the television cameras as well.

I'm fascinated by Oscar's demeanor, utterly enthralled and I believe he's deeply sorry however, I also believe he has major issues with self-control and Reeva's death is directly related to him losing control of his emotions. I think he does whatever he wants to do in whatever manner he chooses, good or bad and I think people have cleaned up or taken responsibility for Oscar's bullshit for a long time. This time he needs to pay for his actions himself.

He went to far this time.

(04-07-2014, 10:47 AM)Duchess Wrote:
This time he needs to pay for his actions himself.

And that's why he's "deeply sorry". . . only for himself.

(04-07-2014, 11:07 AM)BlueTiki Wrote: And that's why he's "deeply sorry". . . only for himself.

No doubt about it.

(04-07-2014, 10:47 AM)Duchess Wrote: I'm fascinated by Oscar's demeanor, utterly enthralled and I believe he's deeply sorry however, I also believe he has major issues with self-control and Reeva's death is directly related to him losing control of his emotions. I think he does whatever he wants to do in whatever manner he chooses, good or bad and I think people have cleaned up or taken responsibility for Oscar's bullshit for a long time. This time he needs to pay for his actions himself.

Definitely self-control issues and having his ass covered by others; there's a pattern of that going on long before he killed Reeva.

I don't know if I believe the vomiting and the tears are sincere and that he is remorseful. Could be. Could be that he's working hard to present himself as weak and vulnerable.

The defense needs the court to believe that Pistorius' actions shouldn't be judged on what "a reasonable South African citizen" would do under the same circumstances. They will make a case that his disability makes him more vulnerable and what's reasonable for most citizens shouldn't apply to him, IMO.

The second prosecution witness was the neighbor who lived closest to Pistorius. Estelle van der Merwe testified that when the final screaming was going on, her husband said it wasn't a woman, but instead Pistorius (whose voice he knows). Will be very surprised if Roux doesn't call Mr. van der Merwe to the stand as a defense witness. The court cannot believe beyond reasonable doubt that Reeva was screaming (as the other neighbors testified) without convicting Pistorius.

Exposed to high crime as a kid (Pistorius mentioned that in his testimony today), vulnerable, disabled, and screaming like a woman when he discovered he'd shot the love of his life by mistake. That's what the defense needs the court to believe.

Nel was aggressive during his cross of Botha -- gonna be very interesting to hear him cross-examine Pistorius this week.

(04-07-2014, 11:43 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: I don't know if I believe the vomiting and the tears are sincere and that he is remorseful. Could be. Could be that he's working hard to present himself as weak and vulnerable.

I think his only remorse stems from getting caught. I firmly believe had he the opportunity to clean up and dump Reeva's body somewhere he would have done so and while I couldn't possibly know this I think he has people in his life who would have helped him cover it up. I've never viewed him as weak nor vulnerable because he has no legs, he didn't present himself (before this) as being "less than". I saw him as capable as any man with 2 good legs.

I got annoyed when he apologized to Reeva's family.

Hot D, thanks so much for gathering all that info and posting it for us. I know we all could have found it on our own so I appreciate that you took the time to do so.

No problem -- I appreciate Teacher researching some of the television protocols and you and others posting articles and testimony snippets.

I'm following the trial as much as I can anyway -- really interesting to watch/hear and then read the comments here.

I wish that I felt this was a slam-dunk "guilty as charged" verdict. But, I'm worried that Pistorius may only be convicted of the lesser "culpable homicide" -- if he and the defense team can put enough doubt around the reported female screaming and there's nothing in the phone records to indicate the couple was fighting before Reeva was shot to death.

I stopped feeling confident in verdicts when I started seeing how many people actually get off. It's disheartening and I get annoyed with the justice system and juries.

OSCAR PISTORIUS - HIS VERSION OF EVENTS IN HIS OWN WORDS

Dinner and going to bed
He said Steenkamp had offered to cook for him, and later, when they went upstairs, Pistorius opened the sliding doors on to the balcony off his bedroom because it was a very humid evening and the air conditioning was not working.

He placed two fans in the doorway to the balcony, closed the doors as far as possible, and drew the blinds and heavy curtains to prevent insects from coming in.

He said he had locked the bedroom door and put a cricket bat there to block the way in case anyone tried to enter, as he did every night. Pistorius said he also switched on the alarm system in his house every night.

Earlier in the evening, he had placed his firearm under the bed next to a pedestal, he said. He was sleeping on a different side than usual because his shoulder was sore, he said.

Pistorius said that he had asked Steenkamp to bring in the fan and lock the doors when she fell asleep, and that she said she would.

Waking up and the steps leading to the shooting
He said he fell asleep between 9 and 10 p.m. and woke up later. Steenkamp then asked him if he couldn't sleep, he said -- and he got up to move the fans. He then heard the noise from the bathroom.

He described how he was on his stumps, he found his gun under the bed and made his way toward the passage from his bedroom to the bathroom.

The double-amputee braced himself against a bathroom wall as he noticed that a window was open, and became convinced that an intruder was inside his residence, he testified. The emotion was clear in his voice as he told how he was "overcome by fear."

"There's no barrier between me and the bathroom window. I immediately thought that they could be there at any moment. The first thing that ran through my mind was that I needed to arm myself. I needed to protect Reeva and I and I needed to get my gun," he said.

He screamed for Steenkamp to call the police.

Shortly before he fired his gun, he heard a noise from behind the door where the toilet is, and thought somebody was coming out. "Before I knew it I fired four shots at the door," he said.

The realization that he'd shot Reeva
Once he returned to the bedroom and could not find his girlfriend, the thought crossed his mind for the first time that she might have been the one inside the bathroom, Pistorius testified.

"I was panicking at this point. I didn't know what to make or what to do," Pistorius recounted. "I don't think I've ever screamed like that. ... I was crying out to the Lord, I was crying out for Reeva."

"My lady, that's the moment that everything changed," he told Judge Thokozile Masipa.

NOTE: This was the first time he had indicated that Steenkamp was awake in the moments before the drama unfolded.

The full CNN story and snippet videos of key testimony from today (left of article): http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/08/world/...?hpt=hp_t2