Meanwhile, back in Pretoria . . .

[devogue]

Panes et circusem...

CIRCUSES THEY GO BREAD!!!????

[pErvinalia]

They do!

I reckon he'll be feeling footloose and free if he gets off this charge!

[JimC]

Panes et circusem...

CIRCUSES THEY GO BREAD!!!????

I was attempting to salute my old latin teacher...

[mistermack]

I reckon he'll be feeling footloose and free if he gets off this charge!

He certainly will.
If they say not guilty, you'll see a real spring in his step.

[SnowLeopard]

Why does anyone outside of South Africa care about this?

People with disabilities and missing limbs are meant to be nice. That's the general theory...

[mistermack]

Why does anyone outside of South Africa care about this?

People with disabilities and missing limbs are meant to be nice. That's the general theory...

Aaaaaaaaarr, Jim Lad !!

[mistermack]

I have no idea what's going on in the Judges' heads, but from where I am standing, it's not going well for Pistorius.

He's making a ridiculous spectacle of himself, with fake tears, and making himself throw up.
If I was the judge, I'd view it as fake theatrics, and would bear it in mind, when deciding if he was GENUINELY upset, when people first arrived at his house, or if he was acting.

With all the acting he's doing in court, I would be pretty cynical about his ''concern'' for the woman he shot.

I don't think his lawyer is all that good either. So far, he's just come across as irritating.
Making a big deal out of stuff that doesn't really matter.
I guess his tactic is to give the impression that the forensics are incompetent.
I think in South Africa, they don't expect FBI standards so he's flogging a dead horse.

[klr]

Roses are red
Violets are glorious
Don't turn your back
On Oscar Pistorius

That's better than the version I heard last year:

Roses are red
Violets are glorious
Don't ever startle
Oscar Pistorius

As to whether I think he's guilty: Yes, although to what degree (anything from manslaughter to the SA equivalent of murder one) is another matter. But what if anything will he be found guilty of? As I am not an expert on the SA criminal justice system, I am not going to even bother discussing it until the verdict has been announced.

[JimC]

If enough police stuff-ups are demonstrated by the defence, the judge may simply have to throw the case out...

[mistermack]

If enough police stuff-ups are demonstrated by the defence, the judge may simply have to throw the case out...

I doubt it. In the USA maybe.

As the case rests on whether Pistorius's claim that he believed there was a burglar is reasonable, all this stuff about police procedure is fairly irrelevant.

There are some big facts against him. Credible witnesses who heard her screaming. The food in her stomach that proves he lied about going to bed at ten. The locked toilet door. ( that's a big one ).
The fact that he claims that he shot without uttering a word, to check whether it was Riva or not.
And the odds of his first shot killing her, so that she couldn't scream before he fired three more shots.
Thee to one against.
And the fact that he told the security man on the phone that ''everything's all right'' after just ''accidentally'' killing his girlfriend.

Then the silly claims that he sounds like a woman, when he screams for help. And the ridiculous performance in the courtroom, which I think casts serious doubt on his apparent upset after killing her.

If there's any justice, he hasn't got a chance.

[mistermack]

You can see why Pistorius' defence wants to belittle the abilities of the forensics.

They have worked out that Riva was standing when he fired the first shot, and he hit her in the hip.
The blood spatter evidence shows that. Then the next bullet missed. Then two more shots hit her elbow and hand and head.

the forensics say the last two can't be put in order, but she was defending her head with her hand, when she was hit in the head.

He says she never screamed, which means the first shot must have been the head shot.
So there's no possible way she could have been standing when she was hit in the hip.
I'm sure that the defence will have some tame forensics man to give a different version.
Otherwise, they might as well pack up now.

I'm betting on a verdict of cheese and bacon.
Or guilty as hell, if he's lucky.

[mistermack]

I'm not that impressed by the prosecutor. Yes, he's tenacious, but he seems to be missing an awful lot of opportunities.

Pistorius seems to have undermined his own defence constantly, but the prosecutor hasn't nailed him on it.
Pistorius's claim is that he fired, ''before he knew it''. He's constantly denied that he fired deliberately.
He says it was out of fear. But if you lose it so much, that you can fire four shots ''before you knew it'' out of fear, how different is that to firing four shots ''before you knew it'' in a rage, and to stop the "bitch" from screaming her head off?

That's what I think happened. They had a row, he went mental and threatened her with the gun.
That might sound odd, but not if you have no legs, and are gun-obsessed.

She ran to the toilet screaming her head off. He shot, because he knew that her screaming would ruin his reputation, and that's what put him in a murderous rage.

[Mysturji]

A coworker said Oscar Pistorius must have a screw loose.
I said No: If he had a screw loose, he'd fall over.
Then he'd be off his rocker.

[mistermack]

A coworker said Oscar Pistorius must have a screw loose.
I said No: If he had a screw loose, he'd fall over.
Then he'd be off his rocker.

It's unlucky that they ever dated. Apparently he was on the rebound, that spring, and was bounced into going on a date.