Trial Discussion Thread #20 - 14.04.08, Day 18

[Gryffindor]

I'm absolutely crushed for him and Reeva. I find the thought of each morning's trial horrific, so good only knows how he feels.

I too think it's destroyed him. He's a mess :-(

What's that phrase?
"Truth is stranger than fiction".

T'is indeed applicable here IMO :-(

 

[minor4th]

Nel thinks differently.

Maybe ...

 

[jilly]

He was so over the top it was hard to watch. And I'd like him to explain how come she was 'slumped over' but still alive in his first account... but 'not breathing' in his second account. Sat with her for 'I don't know how long' but didn't bother to get her medical help even though (in his first account) she was still alive? I tell you, you couldn't make this stuff up. Just wait till Nel gets hold of him and watch the howling commence.

That's just it. Anyone else, after discovering they'd shot the love of their life would have been hysterical and screaming for help.

 

[minor4th]

Just watched OP's grief laden, tearful testimony at the Trial. What are we being presented with?

IMO we are being presented with his POST EVENT grief for what he has done. Some may be for himself as he is called to account for what he had done. However, IMO the court needs to separate PRE EVENT feeling and intent from POST EVENT feelings of regret.

He was immediately expressing extreme sorrow and regret. This is not something that has just now been ginned up for trial.

 

[MsY]

I feel bad for him. He is clearly suffering.

That doesn't diminish the sorrow I feel for Reeva ...these are not mutually exclusive.

Same here.

I remember watching the tribute, parts where she was doing the Tropika Island competition especially, the things she was saying and was filled with a lot of sadness that she was taken too soon. And because I rub shoulders with some of those who have done photoshoots with her it really makes it very real.

Her parents interview on Carte Blanche was just the worst thing to watch.

 

[jay-jay]

Is there anywhere on the net that publishes the complete transcript of the witness/accused's testimonies, does anyone know? I found them for the Mark Duggan inquest, and it was really interesting to be able to read the full and complete testimonies .. because, seriously, you've only got to miss one little bit and things can take on a completely different perspective (and it was only by reading those transcripts I was able to see how some of the stuff published in the papers was actually incorrect .. things which people now seem to take as fact, but which actually are not, according to the testimonies).

I was really struggling with the live streaming today, and either missed huge chunks because of it, or missed words/sentences because of buffering .. v.annoying it was .. it was difficult enough to listen to as it was, with that whiney voice going on and on ..!

 

[luvmygarden]

Because it didn't happen

And shooting out of the sun roof. OP didn't mention the outcome of that charge either. So maybe it didn't happen either. I think many would like OP to be innocent. But he leaves too many questions. Sad His answers just are rebuttal of everyone's testamony. But OP was there this is his on going story of the night Reeva was killed.
What would we expect his story to be. It is Rebuttal. Bullet points to freedom. I can truly see he is sorry that night happened who wouldn't be.

 

[Niner]

But OP says he grabbed Reeva's jeans to cover a LED light on the stereo.

Possibly opened window, went to toilet without shutting door tight. Oscar starts shouting, Reeva shuts door tight??

And still holding Reeva's jeans - Oscar throws them out the window! JMO...

snipped for space

Breaks down. Adjourned. He is wailing.

He sounded like a man to me. Quite a deep tone.

Thanks on that - I too was wondering "what" he sounded like!

And :gthanks: zwiebel for the transcribing!! :wave:

back to :lurk: and reading...

 

[Insp.Dots]

Well, if she was 'slumped over, but still alive' as he said last year, why didn't he get medical help instead of wasting time sitting with her for 'I don't know how long' while her life ebbed away? But changing his words to 'She wasn't breathing' indicates he thinks she's already dead, so can sit with her for as long as he likes because there's nothing he (or anyone) can do to save her. I think his change of phrasing is significant, but I could be wrong.

1. "She's still alive"

2. "She wasn't breathing"

One sounds a lot more positive than the other.

Believe me, when you discover someone in such a condition, even if to the rest of the world there is no hope, you tell yourself it's not happening, your instincts take over and you say and do anything to make it 'not true'.

I don't think most people have any rational control over themselves, you can be the calmness most collect person in everyday life.....but when faced with such horror you fall apart.

One minute ok,...the next not! Human nature.:twocents:

 

[soozieqtips]

I thought today OP was whispering to RS... to get down on the floor... to call police ... and only then did he approach the passage. He didn't say he'd mentioned the word "intruder" to her too, but surely he did. What he didn't do was notice she hadn't made any response to his commands before bravely venturing forth to face the intruders.

Yep. He was whispering to Reeva to 'get down on the floor and to call police' but didn't notice she hadn't whispered back 'Okay'... and how close was he that he could whisper to her but still not realise she wasn't in bed?? Seriously!

 

[Gryffindor]

As he totally didn't expect it to be Reeva from the word go, I wouldn't expect him to be reeling and screaming in horror and panic.

Everyone reacts differently.

I'd expect him to be in extreme shock and abject horror. Frozen, numb, paralyzed . . .

 

[MsY]

Also going to hit the sack Good night peeps. Till tomorrow 930am

 

[jay-jay]

I agree, thanks so much Lisa! X

Just saw the hip wound for the first time and I don't know why I'm so surprised that it's just a small hole (sorry to be graphic). Considering the nature of the injury, I had another very gruesome picture in my mind.

It's the exit wounds that tend to look more gory, not so much the entry wound .. not that I've ever seen one, but that's what I understand it to be.

 

[Waddles]

Totally agree with all this .. I mentioned further upthread that it sounds more like a relationship between a couple who have been married for years, not a couple in the first throws of a relationship and where you can't wait to get into bed/spend half your time in bed with each other. It's all very peculiar .. the reason being that, as you say, large chunks have been missed out!

I realise it sounds odd and it's unfamiliar to me too but then every couple is different, a close friend of mine in her mid-30s has been with someone for just 4 months and is already 3 months pregnant and they have never spent a single night away from each other since the day they met and their evenings are very much routine, cooking eating going on computer. They're not even physical together that often, and it's all normal to them. Every couple is different.

 

[Melly53]

We definitely disagree on this. I've watched so many sociopaths and narcissists on the stand and without exception they reveal themselves so obviously to anyone watching them - although they believe they're putting on a good and convincing performance. Did not get that vibe AT ALL from OP.

I think this is a man in genuine pain. I think he knows he did wrong by shooting through the door when he did. I think he's very sorry he killed Reeva, and I would even venture a guess that he is prepared to spend some time in jail for it.

Having been married to an abusive narcissist, believe me they have no problem shedding tears if it helps to convince someone to forgive them or for any other purpose as long as it served his purpose. My ex had to attend a domestic violence/anger management counseling, and he had both of the physiologists completely fooled. I met them after he was arrested for violating his probation, with an additional domestic violence charge against him, and they were practically speachless because I was nothing like what he had described to them. They both showed up in court to testify against him if necessary. They were accustomed to being around narcissists all they time but he was good enough to have completely fooled both of them. It does happen.

His tears and sobbing are so over the top that I find them to absolutely be part of his "I'm innocent" act. The only person he is sorry for is himself! It would not surprise me in the least if he didn't use the cricket bat to try and break the door in before he shot. It was an act of anger, not fear!

 

[Lyra500]

Yep. He was whispering to Reeva to 'get down on the floor and to call police' but didn't notice she hadn't whispered back 'Okay'... and how close was he that he could whisper to her but still not realise she wasn't in bed?? Seriously!

The more I hear of today's testimony and consider how it differs from his earlier versions and how each embellishment completely coincidentally explains away a questionable detail in his earlier statements, the more this song keeps playing in my head:

You're Lying by. Linx

 

[Irisha]

Do you truly, honestly believe that OP life is going to carry on as normal when all this is over, regardless of the outcome?? He is going to be ostracized for the rest of his days. I highly doubt he will ever compete again, nevermind find anyone willing to sponsor him. Life as he knew it is well and truly over.

He will still have something Reeva will never have again...... life, his family.:twocents:

 

[soozieqtips]

Maybe ...

Nel said: "There is no evidence to support Pistorius' burglar claim".

So I'd say that was a tad more than 'maybe'...

Perhaps it would be prudent to wait till Nel's actually questioned OP before deciding that he has no case.
He knows more about it than you or I do, after all.

 

[Gryffindor]

And still holding Reeva's jeans - Oscar throws them out the window! JMO...

snipped for space




Thanks on that - I too was wondering "what" he sounded like!

And :gthanks: zwiebel for the transcribing!! :wave:

back to :lurk: and reading...

Hi. My portion you've pasted isn't about the jeans or Oscar's actions. My post was about Reeva's actions, having headed to the toilet.

 

[sorrell skye]

I feel bad for him. He is clearly suffering.

That doesn't diminish the sorrow I feel for Reeva ...these are not mutually exclusive.

The way OP was sobbing sounded like genuine grief to me. In my own life, when I've experienced the loss of a loved one, my voice sounded very similar and deeper than it typically sounds when I've cried at other times that didn't involve such a life-altering loss. The only times in my life when I've cried like that have been after my father passed away, after my mother passed away, and after a close friend's death.

I recognized the pain in OP's voice when he broke down. It's a pain that comes from one's core.

I think he regrets his actions.

I don't need to think of OP as an unfeeling monster in order to also believe that he deserves to be punished for killing Reeva.

I don't feel sorry for him, even though I believe his pain is genuine.

OP is 100% responsible for shooting Reeva. OP is 100% responsible for the sorrow he has caused Reeva's parents. Despite his own suffering, Reeva deserves justice.