Trial Discussion Thread #35 - 14.05.08 Day 28

[ColonelMustard]

The Social Worker:

Clearly Nel was flustered - many reasons why. One was that Pit Bull Nel seems to become Pit Bull puppy when the witness on the stand is female. Also, discussing testimony about emotions is not his forte. If I were a defense attorney going up against Nel, I'd make sure that all my expert witnesses were women!

Question:

When Roux introduced the social worker, he mentioned "acting lessons". I don't think that phrase had ever been introduced into trial testimony before that

Would it not have made sense for Nel to have asked her what evidence she had that he did NOT take acting lessons?

Glad he may bring her back.

An aside: I have serious questions about her professional ethics, which I will address in a second comment.

 

[steveml]

From your link:

When Mr Tahau took exception to the way Hamiora was speaking to his friends, Hamiora held up a bullet and put a cigarette against it saying he was going to shoot a hole through the wall.

Hamiora got a silver aluminium baseball bat from his car and began bashing Mr Tahau. Kingi joined in, punching Mr Tahau.

At this stage Hamiora stabbed Mr Tahau in the back at least five times while Kingi continued to punch him and hit him with the bat.

So the accused started off the killing by threatening to shoot his gun and had a bullet in his hand.

Yep, I read it. It was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek.

 

[Duchy]

NOOOOO! I can hear my fellow Brits on this thread crying out in anguish!

I did too :floorlaugh:

 

[TorisMom003]

Yep, I read it. It was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Gotcha.

 

[Interested Bystander]

I'm not so sure about that.

Link

I know I shouldn't but :floorlaugh:

 

[Gbtaketwo]

OP should have never said anything at all to Kim M. However he did, so any of the backlash because of it falls squarely on his shoulders. It appears that he lacks self control.

Why on earth should OP ask Kim "how can you sleep at night"? Kim is not the one that told police that OP was the killer. Kim is not the reason that OP was arrested, charged with murder and is currently on trial for murder along with the three gun/bullet charges. There is absolutely no reason, IMO, for OP to say anything to Kim concerning her conscience. OP should look inside himself and focus on his own conscience, however since he easily lies on the stand, one can say that he apparently has no conscience.

Like it or not this is a big deal because of OP himself. He had the option to keep his mouth shut. He decided not to. But of course, like OP himself, let's blame someone else for his wrong doing.

MOO

I agree.
I wonder if the Myers have contacted the prosecution with information regarding certain aspects of the evidence that they have heard ( several other people seem to have ) and OP has got to hear about it . Otherwise I can't see why he would suddenly feel the need to say anything to the Myers.Totally inappropriate .
If there has not been anything new then his behaviour is even more disturbing I can't believe OP has this sort of terrible attitude towards Reeva's very close friends , if he really loved and missed Reeva he would not behave like this IMO
I would not be at all surprised if we don't hear some new evidence about the state of their relationship.

 

[DebinGA]

Putting that ditzy social worker on today with the defense ending on Tuesday was bizarre. Articles I've read say she only met with OP on Feb. 15 when he was in jail. Where's the psych professional who Roux promised would explain OP's feeling of vulnerability? Where's the screaming test OP told Nel had been done of him screaming?

 

[jay-jay]

OP should have never said anything at all to Kim M. However he did, so any of the backlash because of it falls squarely on his shoulders. It appears that he lacks self control.

Why on earth should OP ask Kim "how can you sleep at night"? Kim is not the one that told police that OP was the killer. Kim is not the reason that OP was arrested, charged with murder and is currently on trial for murder along with the three gun/bullet charges. There is absolutely no reason, IMO, for OP to say anything to Kim concerning her conscience. OP should look inside himself and focus on his own conscience, however since he easily lies on the stand, one can say that he apparently has no conscience.

Like it or not this is a big deal because of OP himself. He had the option to keep his mouth shut. He decided not to. But of course, like OP himself, let's blame someone else for his wrong doing.

MOO

.. yep, and right at the beginning of all of this he had the option not to shoot Reeva, but he decided to go ahead anyway because he believes in his own little world that he is untouchable.

 

[Nausicaa]

[snip]

So the accused started off the killing by threatening to shoot his gun and had a bullet in his hand.

No, he didn't mention shooting a gun. He put his cigarette against a bullet. This is indeed a dangerous practice but only for the person stupid enough to do it.

If you don't believe me, try it.

 

[DebinGA]

Afaik, the reason he asked today is because its a defence witness he was seeking to recall.
.

RSBM for brevity

Oh, lease: let it be Roger "I would hope I'm a sound expert" Dixon.

 

[Feynman]

He didn't shoot her with a Glock. Guaranteed. It was a polished steel-barreled gun. Glocks are black. Can't recall the make, never heard it before, but not a Glock.

No one said he shot her with a Glock.

 

[Gbtaketwo]

Putting that ditzy social worker on today with the defense ending on Tuesday was bizarre. Articles I've read say she only met with OP on Feb. 15 when he was in jail. Where's the psych professional who Roux promised would explain OP's feeling of vulnerability? Where's the screaming test OP told Nel had been done of him screaming?

Maybe we may have to listen to another one ?
What really concerned me today was this lady didn't seem to question OP's motives for being so distraught over a girlfriend of 3 months that he had been separated for quite a bit due to work commitments .
She took his professions of love and loss at face value . I am quite sure he was genuinely distraught about shooting Reeva and that if he could turn the clock back he would but I also think he is possibly even more distraught at the thought of his potential punishment and the loss of his lifestyle.
You would have thought a social worker wouldn't be taken in quite so easily .
JMOO

 

[Cherwell]

I think it shocked a few people in court at first when 'pre-menopausal' was mentioned. Although it could be perfectly possible, there were a few shocked faces, almost as if it was being suggested that Reeva was about to begin the menopause. Reeva's mother appeared to make comment at the time. If I had to make a guess, I'd presume she was saying something to the effect of 'Reeva wasn't going through the change' or similar.

BIB That would be described as "peri-menopausal"

I'm wondering how many women she has asked pre op about their menstrual cycles. After all, if as she says, it can have that much affect on food digestion it would be a very important question so that the woman can be told to not eat anything more than the normally recommended 6 to 8 hours before a surgery.

I haven't had many ops, thank goodness, but being asked for the date of one's last period does seem to be pretty routine whenever anything vaguely medical happens.

 

[soozieqtips]

Putting that ditzy social worker on today with the defense ending on Tuesday was bizarre. Articles I've read say she only met with OP on Feb. 15 when he was in jail. Where's the psych professional who Roux promised would explain OP's feeling of vulnerability? Where's the screaming test OP told Nel had been done of him screaming?

BBM - They're in Never Never land along with the email he said he'd produce proving Sam Taylor's infidelity, and the 'evidence' that the head shot came first.

 

[Viper]

He could also call it a semi-automatic, which is how the manufacturer describes it. Also interested how he got the high-capacity clip. In the US, only cops can get the 17-clip.

I have not visited your blog, but can I assume that you are based in New York?

A 17 round clip comes standard with OPs Taurus, as it does with your Glock 17 and my Glock 17. It is not a high capacity clip and it is not restricted to ownership solely by the police, at least not in Texas and Louisiana and most every other state that I am aware of.

I recall reading about New York or NYC banning clips that held (IIRC) more than 10 rounds, but that blew up in their faces when they realized that the guns that the cops carried all had a higher than 10 round capacity. Guess they had to scramble to rewrite yet another of their stupid laws, like their ban on high captivity soda cups! LOL!!!

 

[steveml]

RSBM for brevity

Oh, lease: let it be Roger "I hope my evidence is sound" Dixon.

Roger's been sat in his car all this time waiting in case any expert witnesses fail to arrive. Roux's got him on speed-dial.

Jack of all trades is our 'Rog'.

 

[Nausicaa]

What is it with people and their guns MORE DAMAGE indeed play scrabble instead

More damage to soda cans because it's easier to see when you're shooting. That's all. And I bet those who disapprove are all townies and not very good at Scrabble either.:twocents:

 

[Cherwell]

I agree.
I wonder if the Myers have contacted the prosecution with information regarding certain aspects of the evidence that they have heard ( several other people seem to have ) and OP has got to hear about it . Otherwise I can't see why he would suddenly feel the need to say anything to the Myers.Totally inappropriate .
If there has not been anything new then his behaviour is even more disturbing I can't believe OP has this sort of terrible attitude towards Reeva's very close friends , if he really loved and missed Reeva he would not behave like this IMO
I would not be at all surprised if we don't hear some new evidence about the state of their relationship.

The impression I get is that he's angry. Very, very angry at being in the dire straits he's in.

It's Reeva's fault that he's in this shituation, of course, but he can't take it out on her, and he daren't take it out on her family. So it's the friends that get the backlash. Just the impression that I get.

 

[soozieqtips]

The impression I get is that he's angry. Very, very angry at being in the dire straits he's in.

It's Reeva's fault that he's in this shituation, of course, but he can't take it out on her, and he daren't take it out on her family. So it's the friends that get the backlash. Just the impression that I get.

Yep. He's quite the simmering pot of resentment. You'd think he'd try and contain himself in court, but he can't even do that. No humility, no dignity, no compassion, nothing. What you see is what you get by the looks of it.

 

[patCee]

A bit about Probation Officers in SA. The service seems to be young and developed over the past decade. Whilst offender responsibility is inherent there are restorative and diversion services, some by referral to private companies. The emphasis does seem to be on young offenders/juveniles though not exclusively.

http://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/who-are-probation-officers

I suspect the witness, EV may be inexperienced re adult, serious offenders and was out of her depth particularly re OP's highly emotional presentation.

I do wonder about the level of managerial supervision with regard to her putting herself forward to one side in such a subjective way.