JudgeJudi
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Hi there!
I'm fairly new here and I'm very new at posting, so please don't be harsh if I do anything wrong :blushing:
I found this newspaper article posted in our local newspaper "Die Beeld" very interesting and wanted to share it with you. Unfortunately it is an Afrikaans newspaper so I translated it into english as best as I could (English is not my first language...) Please bear with melease:. It is based on the comments of a local Prof that specializes in Law at a University in Johannesburg. Here goes...
7 Misconceptions regarding the Oscar Case
The Defence team has closed their case in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius and everyone had an opinion regarding the outcome of the case. Marida Fitzpatrick has indicated 7 big misconceptions that people tend to have regarding the case.
Mistake 1: The burden of proof lies only within the state (PT)
In most criminal law cases it is the case but not in this case.
Pistorius acknowledges that he has shot Reeva Steenkamp. Therefore the burden of proof also lies with the defence team as he needs to prove that his version of what happened is possibly true that he acted out of putative self-defence.
Mistake 2: The state has to show motive
The state has to show above reasonable doubt that Pistorius knew there was a person behind the door and shot with the intention to unlawfully kill someone. They do however not have to show why he did it.
The state argues that they had an argument, but cannot say what about. It is not something that the state needs to prove. It is not a void in their case said Prof. James Grant Criminal Law specialist from WITS University
Mistake 3: Manslaughter / Culpable manslaughter is second prize
Manslaughter is not the diluted version of murder, it is two different charges. A charge of Manslaughter will only be taken into account if the judge accepts Pistorius account and defence of putative self-defence.
If the judge rejects this version, manslaughter will not even be considered.
Mistake 4: The police altered the scene
The defence team claims that this is true, it was however not proven yet. Altered and contaminated is not the same. If you walk through the scene without the necessary foot coverage you may contaminate the scene, if you consciously move pieces of evidence to create a certain impression you are altering the scene.
Pistorius alledges that the police moved certain objects, but he cannot remember where it was originally. He also cannot say why the police would have moved it.
Mistake 5: 1 eyewitness + 1 eyewitness = 2 eyewitnesses
The four eyewitnesses for the state said that they heard a woman scream, this does not only carry the weight of just four witnesses.
Grant said that because they verify each others versions, the weight each witness testimony carries exponentially more weight. The whole is bigger than the sum of the parts
Mistake 6: The defence teams neighbours contradicts the states neighbours
The neighbours that testified for the defence team did not hear a womans screams, but they also did not hear the first three shots and that which preceded it.
They woke up from the last shot and only heard Pistorius cries afterwards.
They are therefore not contradicting the four state witnesses accounts with regards to the screams from a woman that they heard and testified about.
Mistake 7 : The other three charges is not important / small
In comparison with a murder charge, the charges with regards to the firearms act seems small or not important, but it is everything but.
The judge heard how he said the weapon fired on its own while in his hand without him physically pulling the trigger, while we know it is not physically possible, Grant said. It can affect his overall credibility adversely.
- Translated from the Beeld article 7 Mistastings oor die Oscar saak written by Marida Fitzpatrick and published by Naspers on the 9th of July 2014. (http://www.beeld.com/nuus/2014-07-09-7-mistastings-oor-die-oscar-saak)
I would really love to get your thoughts and opinions on this!
What a way to make an entrance to this forum. Thank you so much for this excellent post.
:welcome4: :takeabow: