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BIB: I see what you're saying but, with respect, I think that's an inference rather than what she actually stated. She definitely dozed off after putting the pillow on her head, but then at some stage got up again to see if she could see anything through the window. She couldn't so she then...

Sorry, I've just realised that the defence came up with a credible alternative reason for the fact that she didn't hear screaming. Mrs Van Der Merwe also reported hearing an argument outside the Pistorius house on the evening of the 21st February 2014 and seeing what appeared to be a white...

That's a good point. However it is also true that she didn't immediately connect the woman's voice she heard earlier to the gunshots. When asked in cross exam why she had not mentioned the earlier voice to her husband she said that it was because she wasn't in any way certain they were related...

I'm also surprised in that case. He definitely heard the shots because it was he who clarified what his wife heard. I will definitely revisit this after later testimony. I cannot disagree. Around 03.00 might include 10 past, but the nearer three the more likely in my opinion.

I've only got to the second witness so I haven't heard testimony relating to two sets of sounds yet. I understand the general argument though. What I would say so far is that the fact she was awake for the entire period and only heard one set of loud bangs indicates a large distinction between...

Yeah, he doesn't sound particularly like a woman to me either. However it is apparent that he did to Mrs Van Der Merwe.

Sorry, I think this bit needs to be clarified. From listening to her evidence it seems that her hearing Oscar crying out was after "a commotion" outside his house. This is when people started to arrive in cars etc. She actually testified to hearing none of the screaming at all. Roux explained...

BIB - I should have also added that this speaks towards Oscar sounding like a woman when in distress.

She was fairly non specific stating only that it was "around 03.00". She was unsure that the sounds she heard were in fact gunshots. She finally termed them 'thud-shots' but only after pressing (She was extremely nervous and highly strung, finding it difficult to get her words out). She...

Started playing catchup and have gotten as far as the end of Mrs Van Der Merwe. The one thing in her testimony I thought might be important was that she heard 4 sounds followed by a woman's / Oscar's crying. She said that she heard no other sounds (other than the 'woman's' side of a possible...

It is certainly a point in favour of a guilty verdict in the respect of culpable homicide, wherein his actions only need to be found negligent as compared to those perceived to be reasonable of an average South African reacting to the same circumstance. Off the top of my head an argument...

Sorry I can't be more help, it's just the sky news one (and it's pretty unreliable). I tend to listen to the testimony and read it at the same time.

I still think the prosecution case for premeditated murder is unclear (not a good thing), but expect it to be made clear in the closing arguments. If it isn't a very good argument at that stage then it will be shown not to be. On the basis of how the law works in SA (or at least my...

Personally I'll be waiting till after the closing arguments to make a personal decision as to what I think OP is guilty of with regards to what happened on the evening of the 14th February. I've only just started reading the transcripts of the prosecution case prior to Pistorius taking the...

I don't think it is necessary to be that far back in order to replicate the trajectories. I'm not sure (and maybe I'm wrong), but I can't believe that ballistics can demonstrate with sufficient accuracy how far away from the door Pistorius was when he fired the bullets. (I'm willing to be...

Fair enough. An alternative scenario (I don't necessarily agree with it I'm just trying them out) If I imagine myself as an attacker in the situation you describe I suspect I would step back and give myself a bit of space before I shot. I think I might also step to the side in order to...

A definite possibility, and very probably a factor in his favour but not necessarily so. Is there a diagram indicating the probable paths of the bullets across the bathroom? This is entirely speculation buy I can imagine a scenario whereby Pistorius storms off to his room, grabs his gun...

I do have my problems with the way the sound test was done. The first problem I have is the open nature of the space in which they were testing. This is a personal observation but if you have ever been on a balloon flight you can notice sounds from a distance that you would be unable to hear...

That's true. What the defence team seems to be doing is muddying the waters with regards to what the ear witnesses actually heard. If the witnesses cannot reliably differentiate between gunshots and cricket bat strikes then it creates a reasonable doubt as to what the first sounds were...

Right, the reliability of Dixon has really got me riled up with regards to the exterior photographs (which is the part of his cross exam I'm up to). The fact he used a shorter person than Pistorius in the photo and the fact he failed to measure the distance from which he took the photograph can...