Trial Discussion Thread #20 - 14.04.08, Day 18

[alioop]

Zwiebel you are awesome for your updates. Thank you so much.

 

[04009margaret]

His psychologist that runs to comfort him when he breaks down, was the lady with short silver/blonde hair & glasses, that was sitting next to his sister. She broke down crying herself

 

[loohoo]

Thanks for that great post!

BIB: IIRC he said the lights were on in the bathroom. He needs his fairy tale to match up with the Stipp's evidence.

I wasn't able to listen to the testimony live, but I saw this tweet from journalist Alex Crawford re: the lights in the bathroom:

Alex Crawford ‏@AlexCrawfordSky 52m
#OscarPistorius Insists no light on in broom as he edged his way in. 'Wasnt sure if they were in toilet, on ladder outside or round corner'

Was this an incorrect interpretation?

 

[Patagonia]

Exactly , I noticed that too he hit door three times too much detail supposedly remembered under his claimed state of shock and panic.

Yes, and every such detail (that he remembers when it suits his story) looks exactly and perfectly tailored to match and explain the statements that go against him. Little too perfectly, imo.

 

[HauntsForHope]

Is there a recording of this afternoon's session up anywhere yet? I want to hear the beginning bit I missed.

https://www.youtube.com/user/sabcdigitalnews

 

[Mango33]

Looks like even Roux has been made a bit emotional by today too.

Karyn Maughan ‏@karynmaughan 2m
Roux tells ballistic expert Mangena:"if the state incorrectly prosecuted an innocent young men, then you have ruined him forever" @eNCAnews

 

[Gbtaketwo]

He is going to end up keeping Shrien Dewani company at this rate .
I said yesterday that he might never end up being cross examined
If he does come back on the stand he really needs to get a grip because he has made things worse for himself and I am not surprised he is sobbing . The thought of 25 years in jail is enough to make anyone sob and wail
JMOO

 

[Bazinga]

The cross examination is going to take a long long time. Hopefully he will be too busy thinking quickly to break down every 5 mins.

How long could his time on the stand go on for? At this point there will be a lot to cry about in his testimony so tomorrow will they adjourn a few minutes in if he starts crying and sobbing?
It must be awful for him to recall this event but he should try to contain his crying and behaviour out of respect for the judge, and the court and especially for Reeva's parents, family and friends. I feel for Reeva's parents, this must be torture for them and must feel like it will never end.

 

[HauntsForHope]

Ha, someone said yesterday that he would have a break down and call for an adjournment to avoid cross examination. Good call!

 

[Viper]

I wasn't able to listen to the testimony live, but I saw this tweet from journalist Alex Crawford re: the lights in the bathroom:

Alex Crawford ‏@AlexCrawfordSky 52m
#OscarPistorius Insists no light on in broom as he edged his way in. 'Wasnt sure if they were in toilet, on ladder outside or round corner'

Was this an incorrect interpretation?

Hmm, I will have to listen again, but I really thought that he either said the light was on or he could not remember whether the light was on. Apologies if I heard that wrongly.

 

[BritsKate]

Well you can keep on doing that, and just doing a tit for tat thing with me but I think you will find that all of the DA/DV agencies would agree with what I said. Of course you might find the odd case where the abuser is not sorry for what they've done, but the majority of them are and it's a classic indicator of an abuser and their manipulative ways.

IME, many abusers are often sorry they got caught, not remorseful of the murder itself. Often they feel justified - especially if the victim was either leaving or in the way of a potential love interest. Not tit for tatting - I follow a lot of IPHs. (There but for the grace of god go I sorta thing.) I've also volunteered for many years in DV advocacy groups both sides of the pond.

(Sarcasm alert ahead) -> It's a moot point anyway because Oscar shows absolutely no warning signs of being potentially abusive. Not a one.

 

[Mango33]

People like that on the internet are best just ignored .. I've been on internet forums, etc, for over 10 years now, long enough to know that there are masses of nutters out there in cyberspace and you don't even give them the time of day. I'm actually quite surprised by this forum (this section of it, anyway), and that everyone seems genuine and normal .. it's a first for me!

Agreed! I expect the Twitter nutter knows none of the people in this case but just enjoys the notoriety of being a troll. Ignore.

 

[jay-jay]

His psychologist that runs to comfort him when he breaks down, was the lady with short silver/blonde hair & glasses, that was sitting next to his sister. She broke down crying herself

Oh, is that who she is .. I was wondering .. thanks for that.

 

[zwiebel]

So OP said that he wasn't shouting when he first approached the bathroom? I could have sworn he'd said in his affidavit he was yelling and screaming as he approached the bathroom.

He also said 'there was no light in the bathroom'. I wonder if that means it was broken or simply wasn't on?

https://mobile.twitter.com/barrybateman

 

[04009margaret]

He said he kept on screaming, he heard a noise from inside the toilet that he perceived was someone coming out of the toilet to attack him, and before he knew it, he fired 4 shots at the door. His ears were ringing, he couldn't hear anything.

And at that exact moment Reeva's mum glared at hin & crossed her arms. Speaks volumes

 

[G.bng]

I think OP truly regrets his actions that night.

Yes he probably does and I am sure he regrets killing Reeva, but it seems to me that in the main his regret is more to do with the possibility of his being found guilty and having to do a few years in jail.

From how I see it he has no excuse for shooting blind through a door even if to shoot at an intruder without actually seeing one, let alone without having seen a gun and worse still he is now saying he doesn't even know why he shot the gun at all. And he has no excuse not to ensure that the only other person in his house was safely away before blasting off his gun.

And if instead OP had accepted his blame and pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and thrown himself at the mercy of the judge to be lenient (there is no minimum sentence so it could be zero). If he had accepted fully his blame in the two shooting incidents instead of denying them making out friends as liars. If he had apologised to Reeva's family at the beginning, gone to see them, tried to comfort them, help them, and if so inclined pray with them, instead of him being the one with all the family protecting and comforting him. If he had thrown himself into charity work for kids and gun awareness etc. and not even considered as he did at the time returning to competition (I think he only dropped the idea because there was quite a lot of criticism) then I could see clearly he was really repentant not just crying for the possible adverse consequences to him. But he has done none of this and that to me makes me think he is not only a coward when standing up to his actions but that he suffers from a serious lack of moral fibre.

 

[Gbtaketwo]

Ha, someone said yesterday that he would have a break down and call for an adjournment to avoid cross examination. Good call!

I did indeed !!

 

[Deleted member 102539]

Thanks
This is confusing then . He was upstairs between 6.10 to 7.00 .
Reeva was downstairs cooking ? I thought the time of the *advertiser censored* was 6.30 .
Maybe. I have misunderstood some timings here ?
Did he say where the iPad was at that point ?

The iPad was lying on the bed, OP went downstairs to have a meal, with love cooked by Reeva - and during this time the burglar/s viewed *advertiser censored* upstairs.

 

[04009margaret]

Wow, Sky are reporting that the talk in the courtroom after today's events, is that people don't believe OP is fit enough to continue through to the end of this case. Serious questions are being asked about his physical capability to continue.

 

[Gbtaketwo]

Yes he probably does and I am sure he regrets killing Reeva, but it seems to me that in the main his regret is more to do with the possibility of his being found guilty and having to do a few years in jail.

From how I see it he has no excuse for shooting blind through a door even if to shoot at an intruder without actually seeing one, let alone without having seen a gun and worse still he is now saying he doesn't even know why he shot the gun at all. And he has no excuse not to ensure that the only other person in his house was safely away before blasting off his gun.

And if instead OP had accepted his blame and pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and thrown himself at the mercy of the judge to be lenient (there is no minimum sentence so it could be zero). If he had accepted fully his blame in the two shooting incidents instead of denying them making out friends as liars. If he had apologised to Reeva's family at the beginning, gone to see them, tried to comfort them, help them, and if so inclined pray with them, instead of him being the one with all the family protecting and comforting him. If he had thrown himself into charity work for kids and gun awareness etc. and not even considered as he did at the time returning to competition (I think he only dropped the idea because there was quite a lot of criticism) then I could see clearly he was really repentant not just crying for the dead Reeva and not just the possible adverse consequences to him. But he has done none of this and that to me makes me think he is not only a coward when standing up to his actions but that he suffers from a serious lack of moral fibre.

I think the reason why he didn't do all those things above is because he thought he could walk away from everything reputation in tact ,rebuild his career and more importantly his sponsorship deals .
He hasn't even admitted to *advertiser censored* reading . Seriously the judge is not going to buy this .