Pistorius trial

[fatmick]

Back agreeing with you David! So bored of this "celebrity" nonsense!

[David Johnson]

Well even I don't talk shite all the time, you know?

Cheers

[frankthring]

Sorry if you lot in UK are getting non-stop coverage of this trial but it is
interesting.....up to a point.
I know South Africa well having been there 4 times. Johannesburg, where
Pistorius lives in a white guarded community, has a high murder rate and
most intruders would carry a gun and not think twice about killing you, Mr
Householder.
That said - Pistorius too has a gun obsession (I think he and his father own
28 firearms between them, enough to mow down a small army). Clearly
he has temper problems, ego problems and it seems highly likely that his
relatively recent relationship with Reeva Steenkamp was stormy.
Add to that the fact that he does not check exactly where she is before
blasting away at the "toilet intruder" and one is drawn inextricably to the
conclusion that his statement is as full of holes as his loo door !
What is most fascinating is his behaviour in court - the wailing, retching,
hands over ears routines. Such signs may well be acted up, but they
demonstrate in my mind a mental instability that makes the likelihood of a
romantic argument...leading to a tantrum...leading to gun blasting all the
more likely !

[andy at handiwork]

Various cases of 'shoot first, dont ask questions later' madness from Florida/Texas.
















Of course none of these examples include the many shootings of a spouse in the home, usually the woman killed by the husband, that happen every year in the US.

[Essex Lad]

David Johnson wrote:

> Either way it looks like murder to my untutored legal eye.
Me too. However...

> Unless in South Africa you are allowed to fire four bullets
> into the bathroom without any warnings being issued, when you
> allegedly hear some noises.

Suppose it depends on the racial make-up of the jury ? the blacks got OJ off and the whites let Robert Blake go...

If Pistorius was a poor black man would the trial have lasted this long?

In any case, how many burglars/intruders stop to use the bog?

[fatmick]

I am sure I read somewhere that there is no jury in this trial. It is the judge and her two assistants who decide.
On a separate note I am reliably informed by a police friend of mine that burglars SHOULD stop to use the loo as it is commonplace for a burgled house to stink of shite!

[max_tranmere]

I started a thread a while ago on here about Oscar Pistorius and the huge coverage his trial was getting, I said I hadn't actually heard of him before and how I was puzzled this was such a mega-story. Sky News are really going for this, it is their primary story on every bulletin and they have special programmes every night about it - it is rare they do that, they normally just have unrelenting rolling news as we all know - but there are 'specials' each day informing everyone of the minutia detail of everything to do with this. If he goes down I doubt we'll hear much more about him or anything to do with this issue later on.

I've not followed this closely but I think he probably did it intentionally. Think about it: if you accidentally murdered the love of your love you would be distraught, almost paralysed with remorse, fear, terror and suicidal feelings. You would barely be able to speak or move. You would be in a terrible state, not just strolling into Court each day and shedding a few tears here and there.

[Essex Lad]

fatmick wrote:

> I am sure I read somewhere that there is no jury in this trial.
> It is the judge and her two assistants who decide.

Ah okay. I did not ice that the copper who read out the text messages in court seemed to have difficulty reading aloud ? not exactly inspiring.

> On a separate note I am reliably informed by a police friend of
> mine that burglars SHOULD stop to use the loo as it is
> commonplace for a burgled house to stink of shite!

Yes there are lots of stories of burglars defecating in beds before they leave.

[Sam Slater]

I see Pistorius is now saying he 'cried out in terror', moments before he started shooting.........probably to account for the neighbour's account of hearing screaming before hearing the shots fired.

Still leaves the obvious question.....if he screamed in terror before shooting, why didn't Reeva cry out that it was just her in the toilet?

[Arginald Valleywater]

Is she was black he wouldn't even be on trial.....and we wouldn't be getting wall to wall chuffing coverage.