Trial Discussion Thread #19 - 14.04.07, Day 17

[steveml]

This is awful... I actually feel bad for him right now.

Now don't get all crazy on me... I know this is just part of the Defense tactic and I don't give it weight... I just absolutely hate hearing anybody sound so freaking sad...

I'll shake it off and get objective now.

Yep Lisa, it certainly helps his defense to get the apology and background stuff out first, it does also have the advantage for us that it helps him to relax more before proper questioning.
That way he'll be able to enunciate better without the Judge interrupting all the time.

...back to being objective

opcorn:

 

[jay-jay]

this has nothing to do with the case .. what the heck are they doing ? yeah I know it's to garner sympathy for him but just how much of this are they going to go on about .. get on with the case

I think it's actually making it look worse on them/him .. it's embarrasing and so obvious what they are attempting to do.

 

[zwiebel]

O: We weren't informed she (mom) was sick. When we were, she was already in a coma...she'd get better one day and we'd go back to school. One day though they said we had to rush to Jo'burg. She died about 10 minutes after we got to the hospital.

 

[wb180]

Yep Lisa, it certainly helps his defense to get the apology and background stuff out first, it does also have the advantage for us that it helps him to relax more before proper questioning.
That way he'll be able to enunciate better without the Judge interrupting all the time.

...back to being objective

opcorn:

Every witness should do a life story if that helps them relax!

 

[djameson]

all of this is irrelevant but the judge isn't saying anything so she's listening I guess ..

also, for those of you judging op on how he grieves .. no one can really judge anyone on how they grieve imo .. we all grieve in our own ways .. some people become recluses .. some go the opposite direction and go out and meet people right away or get involved with someone right away because they don't want to be alone .. can't really judge that

 

[katydid23]

Roux: and what did you do on the weekends during boarding school?....


SERIOUSLY????? Does it matter what he did on his weekends 20 yrs ago?

 

[james83]

Once again its all oscar oscar oscar, shame reeva isnt alive to tell her life story.

 

[zwiebel]

O: School hols we went to family or friends after. Sometimes with Dad. He'd moved away. Maybe saw him once or twice a year. We had very close family and friends looking after us though.

 

[G.bng]

The interesting thing is, in the US, testimony of this nature i.e. Order of bullets to body, position of body would normally be handled by the medical examiner, and not really the ballistics expert, and they are supposed to use forensics and ballistics reports to help them out. That's why I found it interesting that Mangena was testifying as to order of bullets to the body as opposed to the pathologist. The training of these professionals must be different.

I disagree that the position of a body would normally be determined by a medical examiner. Apart from it being something of a joint effort anyway, it is not the case here in the UK nor in the US as per the following quote by the American Bar Association paper called "Ballistics":

“Ballistics” experts are more than toolmark specialists. They are generally experts in many aspects of firearms and testify about topics ranging from whether a specific object is, legally, a firearm, to intricate reconstructions of crime scene evidence.

(Link to paper): http://apps.americanbar.org/abastore/products/books/abstracts/5450051chap1_abs.pdf

 

[Interested Bystander]

This is awful... I actually feel bad for him right now.

Now don't get all crazy on me... I know this is just part of the Defense tactic and I don't give it weight... I just absolutely hate hearing anybody sound so freaking sad...

I'll shake it off and get objective now.

I do agree. I have always thought Reeva's killing has taken a huge toll on his mental state. Shame he didn't think more clearly at the time of the event. He undoubtedly is a broken man. However, I think a lot of the histrionics now is "about where he is at the moment", ie facing a murder charge.

 

[HauntsForHope]

I never really heard him speak before and this whiny droning doesn't sound natural, so i looked up a video of his normal tone in an interview...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aGSHKaiWb4

 

[zwiebel]

Back on to racing now again. OP's voice once again changes. Gets louder, clearer, happier. Talking about his 'diligence' and 'work effort'.

 

[Val1]

Is Roux trying to change careers? He sounds likes he interviewing OP for some sports magazine...

 

[sorrell skye]

The complete irrelevance of this bit of testimony is apparent every time the camera pans to My Lady. I noticed she hasn't been taking very many notes, but is only looking at OP.

 

[kaos]

Back on to racing now again. OP's voice once again changes. Gets louder, clearer, happier. Talking about his 'diligence' and 'work effort'.

I thought his voice was changing too whenever he talks about athletics but guess he's obviously used to that with press interviews anyway.

 

[zwiebel]

On to legs now. The blades.

And Roux wants to take us through his career 'when you really started to excell'.

For heaven's sake. Not typing this. It's all there on OP's website anyway.

 

[lisasalinger]

How awesome was that point that Nel made when he asked Botha if it would be more likely that Reeva would have screamed if she was in a heightened state of fear... and then got hit with a bullet... Botha agreed...

Nel states it is both the State's and the Defense's position that she was in a heightened state of fear prior to the shots and the defense lawyers had a look on their face like what the heck are you talking about...

And then Nel masterfully reminded Botha that according to Oscar, he had yelled out to Reeva to call the police, there was an intruder and he was yelling at that intruder to get out. She was indeed in a state of fear, hence screaming.

I loved it!

 

[jay-jay]

This really is over-doing it now .. it's ridiculously irrelevant (most of it).

 

[zwiebel]

O: I missed the olympic game quals..

R: Why?

O: dispute between feds that manage our sport...they came back and said I had an advantage. Two days of testing but none on prosth leg itself. I spent many months at uni in Houston...they found I didn't have an advantage.

 

[katydid23]

" I won multiple golds there...and then I missed Olympic trials because of the international dispute,,,blah blah blah"


I really do not think any of this is at all relevant to this tragic incident.