Oscar Pistorious not guilty verdict

No I am shocked too, not sure why though.

Blimey!

Not guilty of premeditated murder/murder. He could be found guilty on lesser charges.

Indeed Ana But I was so sure he would be found guilty of murder.

The judges summing up (in reverse order to how she said it, so you read the end first) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/oscar-pistorius/11087281/Oscar-Pistorius-verdict-live.html

Just heard the end of the radio news which sad something about he could still be jailed for up to fifteen years.

It's not finished yet! There are still verdicts to be given.

I have been watching it and the judge seems to be doing a good job, ignoring all the flim flam and using the law.

Thank you for the link Elegran makes sense when you read it actually.

He seems to be a very anxious individual. I have not heard any more about the steroids he had been taking, but they were mentioned some time ago, and would have affected his attitudes. S A is a violent country, and people have guns to protect themselves from intruders. Add that to his personality,and you get a rather trigger-happy man in a culture where using a gun is a less extreme concept than it is here.

He should have checked that his girl-friend was still in bed. He should have called the authorities and not dealt with it himself.

If it had not been for the earlier disagreement with his girl-friend, I would have gone along with his story. I suspect he meant to frighten her, but she was in line with the shot and was killed. He was beside himself when the authorities turned up - was that because he realised what he had accidentally done, or because he had cooled down and realised that he was guilty of murdering her?

He has not been a good witness, by all accounts, having an eye more on his testimony showing him in a good light than on the absolute truth, and contradicting himself.

"He should have checked that his girl-friend was still in bed. He should have called the authorities and not dealt with it himself"

Exactly Elegran who on earth would go straight to the bathroom, with a gun (or crow bar for that matter) before checking that the person you were previously in bed with is still there? This is what I can't understand.

I am disappointed, but not at all surprised. I haven't followed the case closely, but the outcome seems to have a touch of the O.J. Simpsons!

I think he'll be convicted of manslaughter - after all, there's no doubt about the fact that he actually killed Reeva - but we shall see.

The judge has just about said that Ana and then, strangely, stopped for the rest of the day.

They showed some texts from Reeva to him on the news today which indicated that she was afraid of him.

I am gob smacked, it does not make sense- if as he claimed he was calling to reeva to call the police, then she would have shouted back that she was in the loo!

Surely on hearing someone in the bathroom at night, you would think it was your partner, and only if they were in bed with you, would you suspect a burglar?

With gun in hand, and bearing in mind other evidence against him of the reckless use of a gun, this man faced the closed toilet door and at no personal risk to himself, he blasted four shots into it without knowing who or what was behind it. Hmm...utterly irresponsible at best. Why didn't he shout out for his girlfriend first. Was she hiding from him? Only he knows.

I could understand that it might be impossible to have proved intent to shoot Reeve.
However the judge can consider a verdict of culpable homicide (manslaugher.)

I can see the point in this. I wonder if he had been found guilty of murder and successfully appealed against that then they might not have been able to consider the alternative charge of culpable homicide. Better to hang on to him as a prisoner somehow. He does appear to be thoroughly objectionable arrogant git man
More info here
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29162620

They showed some texts from Reeva to him on the news today which indicated that she was afraid of him.

Only one text said that sometime she was frightened of him and many more showed a happy relationship. The judge ruled that they were none of them were pertinent to the trial KatyK

You do have to remember that, like our system, his guilt has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt susieb755 and that he was actually the only witness.

Given the type of bullets and the fact that the toilet was a relatively small enclosed space, I cannot see how anyone could possibly imagine that firing four times through the door at virtually point blank range would do anything other than kill the person on the other side.

How big is this bed that the couple were sleeping in? It does seem strange to me that he could be unaware of his girlfriend's absence from it?