Another thing I just thought of. She basically disregarded much of Scholtz's evidence and accepted that the prison nurse's testimony was reliable, meaning that he lied about and/or exaggerated his prison experiences. So she is acknowledging that he will be economical with the truth to suit his purposes. Then, she turns around and says he has demonstrated remorse based on nothing but him saying he is remorseful, crying at the scene of the crime, making overtures to the Steenkamps and commencing his testimony with a courthouse apology. All things which could be just as false as claiming to have heard a rape and seen a suicide's body. Does she have some special power that can sift lies from truth? No, she doesn't, so how is she so sure of herself and of his remorse?
She performed true to form. I had flashes of optimism, but I knew deep down that this is what it would be. Anyone else the same as me?I have been speechless all day..Masipa ruined my day!
Sentencing OP to 6 years is an insult to Reeva's family..to all women..to the SCA..to all of us. She has no shame!
Back to this tweet in late afternoon after trial ended
https://twitter.com/JamesGrantZA/status/750737562545844224?lang=en-gb
I thought Nel's aggravation arguments and huge range of cases cited was seriously impressive and did wonder if that came from an academic's assistance.
Someone like Grant - all that knowledge of jurisprudence is not the meat and potatoes of Nel & Andrea
Yes , sure, it went right over Ms Masego's head BUT, there would be a more appreciative audience in the SCA, IMO.
So Grant maybe will be reading the transcript tonight too and giving an opinion.
The tweet , maybe he has just given us a big hint?. :It's not over.
[video=twitter;750737562545844224]https://twitter.com/JamesGrantZA/status/750737562545844224[/video]
Damned thing won't paste up.
I'll wait for transcript upload but IIRC she didn't really ref any/many cases in response.
RSBM I feel bad for Nel and really he must just appeal, although Masipa may deny and I don't know that he can go above her, anyone?
She allowed the appeal against the verdict on the grounds that another court's judgement might differ from hers. Now, she has given less than half of the minimum sentence and essentially just added one more year despite a big jump in the seriousness of the crime. With that in mind, maybe it is not even her choice anymore and the State can just appeal directly to the SCA. But, if she does get to rule on it, shirly she must justify her reasons as to why if she refuses leave to appeal and she couldn't possibly claim that no other judge might see fit to deviate from her sentence. Hopefully we are at a stage where all the balls are not in her court.
She performed true to form. I had flashes of optimism, but I knew deep down that this is what it would be. Anyone else the same as me?
He doesn't want to say anything yet, in case he's called to help in any Appeal of the sentencing today , - like he did in the last AppealI'm thinking Grant simply doesn't want to comment during this 2 week, period.
She performed true to form. I had flashes of optimism, but I knew deep down that this is what it would be. Anyone else the same as me?
She performed true to form. I had flashes of optimism, but I knew deep down that this is what it would be. Anyone else the same as me?
I feel bad for Nel,
it's strange isn't you just feel you want to will it all to be right for Nel and his team and the good guys, they're representing the Steenkamps and are Reeva's voice.
Nel if he took the Appeal case , if the NPA Appeal, don't need Masipa's approval, they can go direct to the Supreme Court and make an application.
That's the good news
The bad news is that the result today was 2 years off what the Prosecution said they'd Appeal , so they'll have to see if what she did today really was error enough .
Re BIB. I think this whole 'we'll appeal less than 8 years' comment has been misconstrued. At the time it was supposedly said, there was discussion on it here and someone posted that the woman who said it claimed she had been taken out of context. I can't remember who posted that or how far back it was but it was definitely said that it was a misunderstanding. If that's the case, then Masipa having given 9 years less than the minimum and just one year more than she gave for CH would seem ample grounds to appeal. So I live in hope!
What was the most ridiculous defense witness/evidence for you all? This should be funny! Example:
Nel: What instruments did you use to make your scientific analysis?
Roux clown expert witness: My ears.
I would never want to challenge you, but just to clarify he's gotten just under a 7 year sentence overall because Masipa didn't give him credit for time served. It was just under a year, right?
So in SA, you can basically murder someone, get house arrest and then profit for your crime?
Well you have challenged me Viper because I don't know! But I think you may be right. She said nothing about time served as you say, just six years. Oh, wait a minute .... I just recalled there was this on David Dadic's tweet feed today. Someone asked:
Do you know if the 6 is an additional 6 or 5 with one served? My sense from what I heard is the former.
and DD replied:
starts afresh. Served time was mitigating against 15. So already got the credit as it were.
Hope that helps.
https://twitter.com/DavidDadic/with_replies
She performed true to form. I had flashes of optimism, but I knew deep down that this is what it would be. Anyone else the same as me?
Well you have challenged me Viper because I don't know! But I think you may be right. She said nothing about time served as you say, just six years. Oh, wait a minute .... I just recalled there was this on David Dadic's tweet feed today. Someone asked:
Do you know if the 6 is an additional 6 or 5 with one served? My sense from what I heard is the former.
and DD replied:
starts afresh. Served time was mitigating against 15. So already got the credit as it were.
Hope that helps.
https://twitter.com/DavidDadic/with_replies
I have always been prepared for something like this but I wasn't expecting correctional service to be allowable.
Still. She was unable to change the murder DE conviction. That sticks.