...to feel terrible for Reeva Steenkamp's parents as once again her murderer Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to far less than the mandatory minimum?

[Proginoskes]

I've just watched the sentencing live. He was sentenced by the same judge who erred in the first case and caused it to be sent back for review. Supposedly the mandatory minimum for murder, the crime for which he was convicted, is fifteen years, however Judge Thokozile Masipa gave him...six. Six years for pumping four high-powered rounds through a bathroom door at a person whose identity he claimed not to know, a person who he knew had nowhere to hide from those rounds. To top it all off as Reeva Steenkamp's poor parents sat there they had to hear their daughter repeatedly referred to as "the deceased" without even the courtesy and dignity of her name.

I do hope there's a procedure for judicial recall in SA and this judge gets to go through it. So much blatant favouritism through both trials and sentencing phases, it makes me ill.

[gonetoseeamanaboutadog]

Oh green, if only you knew how much of a shit I don't give about the sporting element.

Anyway, I think the judge made a sensible decision on this occasion in light of the utter failure of a convincing argument from the prosecution, who completely failed to prove what they set out to prove. It's tragic but that's a different conversation.

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

I think you're right Aye - other things on my mind at the moment.

[gonetoseeamanaboutadog]

Since Pistorius was quite clearly capable, disabled or not, of quietly making his exit from the flat if he believed a burglar was locked in the bathroom (and his girlfriend had mysteriously vanished in a puff of smoke), his decision to advance towards the place he claims he believed the burglar was hiding in, and shoot round after round through the door, has nothing to do with his disability, and everything to do with him being a murderous bastard.

He believed his girlfriend was hiding on the floor as he had instructed. He did not have the option of 'running' anywhere, nor did he have the option of defending himself or Reeva in anyway other than using a gun. I suppose he could have walked past the bathroom but I understand why he chose not to leave the room in which his girlfriend was (as he supposed) hiding. My own DH would have done the same thing, I think.

[gonetoseeamanaboutadog]

Reported hoose and aye. I would never and will never support rape - not that this thread has anything to do with rape [hmmm]

[Roussette]

If your post of 20.37 is correct gone... then why has he been found guilty of murder? Not manslaughter. Murder.

[AyeAmarok]

Report all you like. You consistently tie yourself in knots trying to explain away rape.

Now you want to excuse murder too.

At least have the courage to stand by your offensive opinions.

[Roussette]

And how do you know what he believed Gone? You don't. He came up with a damn good fairy story, I'll give you that

[Roussette]

FWIW I believe they argued and he lost his temper. There you go...

[Scuttle22]

Me too Rossetti.

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

Me three Rousette & Scuttle.

A far more simple & obvious explanation over the convoluted load of old nonsense he came out with. His story makes no sense - why did the judge ignore the stomach contents evidence, the police ballistics expert, the ex-girlfriend's testimony - why was more not made of the damage to the bedroom door? oh there's lots more.

[HooseRice]

Me four

He shot his defenceless, cowering fiancée as she tried in vain to call for help.

Evil, sick bastard

[HooseRice]

Girlfriend I mean

[Roussette]

Yes. Why did his manservant/housekeeper whatever he was called, not testify. He will have heard everything he was on the premises. Screams were heard 200M away, he was downstairs but says he heard nothing. He even opened the door to the Police.

What you supposedly didn't hear can be just as incriminating as what you did.

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

I feel for Nel, he must have been grinding his teeth for months/years. He had an excellent case.

[ApricotSorbet99]

Gone

No evidence fell away under close scrutiny. Roux constructed an exceptionally dishonest timeline which contradicted even Pistorius' version.

I couldn't care less about the cricket bat or whether he was on his legs. These are incidental.

The fact remains that four people heard a woman screaming for her life in the seconds before a woman was shot to death. What....that was Pistorius managing to sound exactly the way his victim would sound if she hadn't been struck dumb for some unexplained reason?

But wait...it gets better. He managed not only to sound like his victim but also himself AT THE SAME TIME! Because all four of those people clearly heard male AND female voices simultaneously?

And if his story was so plausible, why did he present mutiple versions of it?

Don't be so naive.

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

I thought Michelle Burger's evidence was compelling. She was completely independent, she came forward because what she heard was totally different to OP's story. She went through hell at the hands of Roux in the witness box - I really feel for her. She must feel so angry that her evidence was just dismissed out of hand like that.

[amarmai]

If there is an appeal and another trial OP may get what he really wants , a sentence to a psychiatric institution Not a prison. And there were plenty of Oscar supporters in the original mn thread for the first trial , but they are keeping quiet this time .

[BeyondCymru]

Was anything made of her bruising? Or was there no way to prove it wasn't caused by the bullet injuries?

[BeyondCymru]

I've just reread the initial in the news threads. There were a lot more supporters than I remembered :(

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

I don't think it came up in court at all, Beyond. It was reported after the court case by a couple of 'independent pathologists' who wrote a book about it.

I think the police collection of the evidence on the night left a bit to be desired by all accounts.

[LuluJakey1]

Horrible little self-obsessed liar who thinks everything is about him, enjoys his displays of self-pity and has an ego the size of an elephant.
Should have got 15 years at least.

[amarmai]

The fix was in , but best of 3 like Brexit . In order of preference, OP wd like
His uncle's mansion
A psychiatric institution
A prison

[Roussette]

SA Press says OP isn't appealing.

Let's hope he is tainted forever and ends up like OJ Simpson. A broken man who forever cannot rebuild his life because of what he has done, and what everyone knows he really has done. Then his true character will come out and maybe he will end up back in there (like OJ)

A travesty of justice for Reeva.