9:42 am - 02/22/2013
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius will be released on bail while awaiting trial in the shooting death of his girlfriend, a South African magistrate ruled Friday.
Pistorius, an Olympic and Paralympic track star, is charged with premeditated murder in the death of Reeva Steenkamp.
In a decision that took nearly two hours for him to explain, magistrate Desmond Nair said Pistorius is not a flight risk and does not show "a propensity for violence" or constitute a risk to the community.
"The issue is not guilt but whether the interests of justice (are served) in relation to bail," Nair said. "I am not seized with finding beyond reasonable doubt whether he committed premeditated murder…At this stage, I have to examine the facts the state has presented – right now all the state has right now is circumstantial evidence."
Before issuing the ruling, Nair read a full recap of all statements and evidence in the hearing. He detailed how friends of Pistorius had noted that the couple "hit it off" and "were very much in love." Pistorius sobbed through parts of the hearing.
The defense had to show that "exceptional circumstances" existed for Pistorius to be granted bail.
Police say Pistorius, 26, shot and killed Steenkamp in his bathroom where she was hiding after an argument on Valentine's Day. He says he accidentally shot Steenkamp because he thought she was an intruder.
Prosecutors argued before Nair's ruling that Pistorius is a flight risk.
"(Pistorius) is treating it as, 'Let me go, let me carry on my business as usual," prosecutor Gerrie Nel said. "But it can't be business as usual."
But Pistorius, a double amputee, isn't a flight risk because his prosthetic legs "need maintenance and adjustment on a monthly basis," defense lawyer Barry Roux said.
Legal experts say the trial is at least months away. When the case goes to trial, a judge will decide Pistorius' fate. There are no jury trials in criminal cases in South Africa.
Roux introduced culpable homocide as a possible charge for Pistorius.
"He did not want to kill Reeva. He had no intent to kill Reeva," Roux said.
The fourth day in court was more subdued than earlier in the week when the hearing resembled a full-blown trial with detailed arguments and evidence presented by both sides.
Pistorius' case took a dramatic turn Thursday as police announced that lead investigator Hilton Botha has been replaced. Botha, who testified earlier in the week, faces attempted murder charges from a 2011 case. The charges stem from an incident in which Botha and two other police officers allegedly shot at a minibus they were trying to stop.
The charges revealed against Botha had originally been dropped in March 2012 but were reinstated Feb. 4. Nel said he learned about the charges Wednesday.
The decision to remove Botha from the case came a day after the detective appeared to damage the prosecution's case against Pistorius. Botha testified that police have found nothing inconsistent with Pistorius' account of the events that led to Steenkamp's death.
Earlier in the hearing, Botha said needles and testosterone were found in Pistorius' bedroom. The defense said the substance was herbal. A spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Agency said the substance is still being tested.
In spite of the prosecution's missteps, many South Africans, riveted by the case, are more convinced of Pistorius' guilt than his story.
"All his stories sound like lies," said Ryan George, 28, of Johannesburg
Others said Pistorius, a national hero in South Africa, assumes that his celebrity status affords him special protection and that he will probably get away with murder.
"No doubt that he wanted to kill her," said Andre Van Biljoen, 54, of Johannesburg. "If you look at his attitude at the Paralympics, you can see this guy is a narcissist."
Source
Oscar Pistorius will be Released on Bail
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius will be released on bail while awaiting trial in the shooting death of his girlfriend, a South African magistrate ruled Friday.
Pistorius, an Olympic and Paralympic track star, is charged with premeditated murder in the death of Reeva Steenkamp.
In a decision that took nearly two hours for him to explain, magistrate Desmond Nair said Pistorius is not a flight risk and does not show "a propensity for violence" or constitute a risk to the community.
"The issue is not guilt but whether the interests of justice (are served) in relation to bail," Nair said. "I am not seized with finding beyond reasonable doubt whether he committed premeditated murder…At this stage, I have to examine the facts the state has presented – right now all the state has right now is circumstantial evidence."
Before issuing the ruling, Nair read a full recap of all statements and evidence in the hearing. He detailed how friends of Pistorius had noted that the couple "hit it off" and "were very much in love." Pistorius sobbed through parts of the hearing.
The defense had to show that "exceptional circumstances" existed for Pistorius to be granted bail.
Police say Pistorius, 26, shot and killed Steenkamp in his bathroom where she was hiding after an argument on Valentine's Day. He says he accidentally shot Steenkamp because he thought she was an intruder.
Prosecutors argued before Nair's ruling that Pistorius is a flight risk.
"(Pistorius) is treating it as, 'Let me go, let me carry on my business as usual," prosecutor Gerrie Nel said. "But it can't be business as usual."
But Pistorius, a double amputee, isn't a flight risk because his prosthetic legs "need maintenance and adjustment on a monthly basis," defense lawyer Barry Roux said.
Legal experts say the trial is at least months away. When the case goes to trial, a judge will decide Pistorius' fate. There are no jury trials in criminal cases in South Africa.
Roux introduced culpable homocide as a possible charge for Pistorius.
"He did not want to kill Reeva. He had no intent to kill Reeva," Roux said.
The fourth day in court was more subdued than earlier in the week when the hearing resembled a full-blown trial with detailed arguments and evidence presented by both sides.
Pistorius' case took a dramatic turn Thursday as police announced that lead investigator Hilton Botha has been replaced. Botha, who testified earlier in the week, faces attempted murder charges from a 2011 case. The charges stem from an incident in which Botha and two other police officers allegedly shot at a minibus they were trying to stop.
The charges revealed against Botha had originally been dropped in March 2012 but were reinstated Feb. 4. Nel said he learned about the charges Wednesday.
The decision to remove Botha from the case came a day after the detective appeared to damage the prosecution's case against Pistorius. Botha testified that police have found nothing inconsistent with Pistorius' account of the events that led to Steenkamp's death.
Earlier in the hearing, Botha said needles and testosterone were found in Pistorius' bedroom. The defense said the substance was herbal. A spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Agency said the substance is still being tested.
In spite of the prosecution's missteps, many South Africans, riveted by the case, are more convinced of Pistorius' guilt than his story.
"All his stories sound like lies," said Ryan George, 28, of Johannesburg
Others said Pistorius, a national hero in South Africa, assumes that his celebrity status affords him special protection and that he will probably get away with murder.
"No doubt that he wanted to kill her," said Andre Van Biljoen, 54, of Johannesburg. "If you look at his attitude at the Paralympics, you can see this guy is a narcissist."
Source
If you don't have anything nice to say about someone, come sit next to me. ;-)
More like rich, powerful, influential men. Race has nothing to do with it.
a) feel guilty and kill himself.
Or b) be the arrogant shit that he is and run for it
I say b.
Edited at 2013-02-22 03:35 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2013-02-22 05:22 pm (UTC)
Also, RIP Reeva Steenkamp.
Piers Morgan @piersmorgan
If anyone's ever wondered if expensive lawyers are worth their fees - ask Oscar #Pistorius right now.
Given the crime he's charged with, there are supposed to be exceptional circumstances for bail to be granted. What are those circumstances?
Edited at 2013-02-22 03:11 pm (UTC)
he has no legs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/fe
If that guy can be in prison while awaiting trial for a much lesser crime, it's clearly not considered an exceptional circumstance in South Africa. Not to mention the magistrate didn't even mention it when giving his reasons for granting bail.
Edited at 2013-02-22 03:41 pm (UTC)
And Nel (prosecutor) questioned why Steenkamp would have stayed silent and not alerted Pistorius that she was in the bathroom.
“Why would she not have shouted, 'Where are you (Oscar)? What's going on?’” Nel said. “She did not say a word, she did not scream, she did nothing! I think that's improbable ... It's not true!"
In a statement read to the court on Tuesday, Pistorius described waking up and and going to his bedroom balcony to bring a fan inside and close the sliding glass doors and blinds. After hearing a noise in the bathroom, the double-amputee said he felt "a sense of terror" and feared a prowler was in the house.
Pistorius' account added:
"I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted at Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding.
"When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet."
The prosecutor argued Friday that the runner’s attitude to the case had been “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Nel said he was “not saying the murder of Reeva Steenkamp was planned days in advance, weeks in advance,” but certainly earlier that night.
He also questioned why someone who was concerned about burglaries would sleep with open doors and windows.
This was my biggest question too.
And he's such a fucking liar, omg. How the fuck did she not respond when he said "Reeva phone the police"? Bull-fucking-shit. And he's claiming she didn't scream anything when he fired those shots? Oh okay......wooooow. Piece of dog shit.
I could never go into law. My mind can't handle this mess lol.
to be fair, if i thought someone had broken into my apartment and was in my bathroom, i'm not waiting for them to come any closer to me before i smash their face in.
but that's exactly how family members get shot in "home invasion" scenarios. itchy trigger finger and all that.
Then there's the fact that if they had a fight earlier in the evening, it's not unreasonable for her to possibly not go to sleep in the same bed/room as him, or to later move beds/room. (This is pure anecdotal speculation from my parents and my relationships: big fight, probs don't want to share a bed). So he wakes up, his girlfriend isn't in the bed with him, but this doesn't necessarily mean she's in the bathroom.. So he drawss the conclusion that it's an intruder.
I'm not defending him. Rather, all we *know* is that he fired shots into the bathroom, Reeva was in the bathroom, and now Reeva is dead. Just speculation how the defence just has to get over the reasonable doubt argument, and how they may actually be able to reasonably do so.
...See, normally I'd say that sounds like unreasonable victim-blaming, but if he's using the burglar thing to lie about murder...
someone of his level of fame wouldn't live in a house without a security system
I watch too much Law & Order.
This is going to end badly imo.