PISTORIUS APPEAL CASE

Judge in appeal case rules Oscar Pistorius guilty of murder, not culpable homicide, and he is to be taken back to court and re-sentenced accordingly.   LL

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/dec/03/oscar-pistorius-appeal-court-guilty-murder-reeva-steenkamp-live

I'm in two minds on this one, LL. I have no great love for Pistorius, but this kind of thing flies in the face of accepted law, and smacks of vengeance, not justice. The prosecution had their chance to prove murder, and failed.

bb1 wrote:I'm in two minds on this one, LL. I have no great love for Pistorius, but this kind of thing flies in the face of accepted law, and smacks of vengeance, not justice. The prosecution had their chance to prove murder, and failed.

It is a well-known and proven fact that many lawyers, whether prosecutors or defenders, take upmarket cases that will bring fortune and celebrity. The media attention on this case was, and still is, huge so whoever 'wins' gets the kudos that goes with a major trial. What do I think? I am afraid that this new decision is suspect, but that's IMO, of course. LL

I simply don't like criminal cases that turn into media circuses, LL, they always seem to be more about headlines than justice.

Do I like Pistorius? No. Do I think he deliberately killed his girlfriend? No.

bb1 wrote:I simply don't like criminal cases that turn into media circuses, LL, they always seem to be more about headlines than justice.

Do I like Pistorius? No. Do I think he deliberately killed his girlfriend? No.

I don't think he did either. A man with no lower legs, a noise in the toilet, panic sets in and he reacts instinctively. Problem is, what was his state of mind when in court with all those cameras etc? It is claimed his story of what happened that night varied quite a lot, I find no surprise in that at all. LL

http://mg.co.za/article/2015-12-08-oscar-pistorius-granted-bail

Electrically monitored but not banged up - yet. LL

It's such a circus, I doubt if anything resembling actual 'justice' will be done, LL. And I really do not like prosecutors that need two attempts to prove their case.

bb1 wrote:It's such a circus, I doubt if anything resembling actual 'justice' will be done, LL. And I really do not like prosecutors that need two attempts to prove their case.

Nor do I bonny. If you lose, you lose, if you win, you win. Simples. LL

There's nothing I can really say about that, LL. Nothing's going to bring Reeva back, Pistorius is broken, and there's been a nasty element of gloating and vengeance about the second trial.

It's not as bad as it could be, I suppose. And the gloaters doubtless enjoyed seeing Pistorius hobble across the courtroom on his stumps. I found it repellent, personally.