I know I have banged on about this before but it is so important if there is a retrial, especially in the light of what Judge Masipa et al wrote about it not being possible to hear the screams.
Why on earth does she think the Johnsons drew their information from various reports in the press etc? They wrote their statements before any of the details were known. I feel more and more exasperated when I read her judgement.
To refresh my memory I have been re-reading the Judgement and both HOAs and have come to the conclusion that if Nel gets a retrial I hope he ensures he introduces new evidence, particularly in respect of sound. It shouldn't be too difficult for him to produce evidence that the Johnsons would have been able to hear the screams. I am sure the weather conditions are available for that night, in particular the difference between ground and air temperature. He should then find a knowledgeable sound scientist to explain to him all about
temperature inversion affecting the distance noise travels at night.
If he did that, the judge would have to accept it would be possible to hear from the Johnsons' balcony, end of story. Why was the Prosecution team not aware of this phenomenon escapes me and also echos from the rocky outcrop next to the estate? Surely, in Africa, where it is known animal noises travel huge distances at night, it is something that should have been known. It happens when the ground cools and the upper air remains warm. I hope somebody has now made him aware of this well known phenomenon. I was quite staggered to hear the Defence produce a sound engineer who did not mention this - or was he encouraged not to include it in his report??
Below are just three of many articles on temperature inversion affecting sound.
https://sites.google.com/site/kundaparkneighbours/news-about-noise
..when an inversion layer is present (for example early in the morning when ground-level air temperatures are cool, and high-level air temperatures are warmer), if a sound or explosion occurs at ground level, the sound wave can get totally reflected from the warmer upper layer (in which the sound travel faster, i.e. the air has lower acoustic refractive index, so the sound can undergo total internal reflection) and return back to ground level; the sound is therefore heard much further than normal.
At night or during periods of dense cloud cover, a temperature inversion occurs; the temperature of the air increases with elevation, and sound waves are refracted back down to the ground. Temperature inversion is the reason why sounds can be heard much more clearly over longer distances at night than during the day—an effect often incorrectly attributed to the psychological resultof...
http://www.sfu.ca/sonic-studio/handbook/Sound_Propagation.html
Sound propagationUnder conditions of a temperature inversion (temperature increasing with increasing height), the sound waves will be refracted downwards, and therefore may be heard over larger distances. This frequently occurs in winter and at sundown. For instance, the Nine O'Clock Gun in Vancouver has been heard up to 45 miles away under the proper atmospheric conditions.