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Other High Profile Cases and Persons of Interest => Oscar Pistorius and the killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. => Topic started by: Mr Moderator on September 11, 2014, 12:51:18 PM

Title: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Mr Moderator on September 11, 2014, 12:51:18 PM
Oscar Pistorius Found Not Guilty of Murder, but Could Face Lesser Charge

(http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/09/12/world/12pistorius-verdict-2/12pistorius-verdict-2-articleLarge.jpg)

Oscar Pistorius arriving at the courthouse in Pretoria, South Africa, on Thursday.
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters



By SARAH LYALL and ALAN COWELL
September 11, 2014

PRETORIA, South Africa — After months of hearings, the judge in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius said on Thursday that there were “not enough facts” for him to be found guilty of premeditated murder, the most serious charge facing the double amputee track star.

The judge, Thokozile Matilda Masipa, also found that, while Mr. Pistorius acted “unlawfully,” he could not be found guilty of a lesser form of murder in the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, 29, whom he shot and killed in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013.

Sitting in a wooden dock in a dark suit, white shirt and black tie on Thursday, Mr. Pistorius slumped forward and sobbed as the judge spoke.

But her ruling did not amount to an acquittal. Shortly before she adjourned the hearing for lunch, she said there was also the charge of culpable homicide to consider — the least serious offense, which offers the judge wide discretion in sentencing.

Premeditated murder, by contrast, carries a minimum 25-year term.

The judge’s findings were delivered in a cool and clinical appraisal of a case that has riveted South Africa, been broadcast around the globe and has been compared to the O.J. Simpson case in the United States. Her judgment seemed a huge setback for the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, who had called for Mr. Pistorius to be convicted of murder and whose pugnacious courtroom manner earned him the nickname the Pit Bull.

In his version of the shooting, Mr. Pistorius, 27, said he awoke from his bed and heard what sounded like a window opening in the bathroom, making him think that an intruder had entered his home.

Then, walking on the stumps of his legs in a darkened passageway, with a handgun thrust out before him, he opened fire on a locked toilet door. Only later, he testified, did he suspect that Ms. Steenkamp was inside. When he broke down the door with a cricket bat, he said, he discovered her bloodstained body.

“Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door,” Judge Masipa quoted Mr. Pistorius as saying, as she listed the various ways he described the shooting during the trial. At times, he said he shot “in the belief that the intruders were coming out” to attack him. At other moments, he said “he never intended to shoot anyone” and had not fired purposefully at the door, the judge said. Part of Mr. Pistorius’s evidence, she said, was “inconsistent with someone who shot without thinking.”

Ms. Steenkamp, Judge Masipa added, “was killed under very peculiar circumstances,” but “what is not conjecture is that the accused armed himself with a loaded firearm.”

Nonetheless, the judge ruled, the prosecution’s evidence to support a charge of premeditated murder was “purely circumstantial.”

“The state clearly has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder,” she said. “There are not enough facts.”

Much of the trial, in 41 days of testimony since it opened in March, has revolved around Mr. Pistorius’s state of mind and intentions when he opened fire. During cross-examination in April, Mr. Pistorius sobbed, wailed and retched as he recalled the events surrounding Ms. Steenkamp’s death.

While she accepted that Mr. Pistorius “would feel vulnerable” because of his disability,” the judge said, he had been “a very poor witness” and had been evasive and “lost his composure” under cross-examination.

Until the killing, Mr. Pistorius, who had challenged able-bodied runners only months earlier at the London Olympics in 2012, seemed to be reveling in a glittery career of sporting success and celebrity acclaim.

The athlete, Judge Masipa said, had denied the state’s accusation that he killed Ms. Steenkamp after an argument, and had denied that he acted with premeditation. She said it was “common cause” that, after the shooting, Mr. Pistorius broke down the locked toilet cubicle door, cried out for help and was in an emotional state.

Judge Masipa said the issues were limited to whether Mr. Pistorius “had the requisite intention” to commit murder and “whether there was any premeditation.”

“There were no eyewitnesses,” Judge Masipa said, and the only people at the scene when the shooting happened were Mr. Pistorius and Ms. Steenkamp.

As the trial unfolded, the defense and the prosecution offered Jekyll-and-Hyde depictions of Mr. Pistorius’s character.

The prosecutor, Mr. Nel, described him as trigger-happy, mendacious, narcissistic and prone to rage. By contrast, the lead defense lawyer, Barry Roux, sought to present him as anxious, vulnerable and fearful of South Africa’s violent crime, laboring under the psychological burden of growing up since the age of 11 months with both legs amputated below the knee.

In part, the trial has been held up as evidence of a dramatic reversal of South Africa’s white-dominated apartheid-era legal system. In 1998, four years after South Africa’s first democratic election, Judge Masipa, who is 66 today, became only the second black female judge to be appointed to the High Court. Born in a poor township, she had been a social worker and newspaper journalist before studying law at the height of the apartheid era. Now, under South African judicial protocols, lawyers and witnesses are obliged to address her with the honorific “My Lady.”

But the trial has also highlighted the country’s continued racial preoccupations and its high levels of crime against women. In other cases, Ms. Masipa has handed down tough sentences in cases of rape and violence against women.

Judge Masipa dismissed two elements in the prosecution case relating to the state of Mr. Pistorius’s relationship with Ms. Steenkamp as revealed in text messages and to suggestions that she had eaten far later in the evening than the runner had maintained. “None of this evidence proves anything,” she said of the text messages which, the prosecution said, revealed that the runner’s relationship with Ms. Steenkamp was broken.

“Normal relationships are dynamic,” Ms. Masipa said. “Human beings are fickle.”

Mr. Pistorius also faces three counts relating to firearms offenses.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/world/africa/oscar-pistorius-south-africa-verdict.html?referrer=
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: John on September 11, 2014, 01:15:45 PM
Obviously the judge failed to ask herself the question as to why the toilet door was locked?
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on September 11, 2014, 01:46:30 PM
11th sep 2014 Verdict:-
sessions
1.
2.
3.
4.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on September 11, 2014, 02:15:55 PM
Verdict to be continued tomorrow 9.30 am.
I will be at the hospital tomorrow and would appreciate it if some kind person could post the videos, otherwise I will do them late when and if I get back. Thank you in advance.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: abs on September 11, 2014, 02:36:37 PM
I hate, I mean HATE, to say this, but I was right in my fears he would not be found guilty of first degree murder.
Can´t make my mind up about whether this is "celebrity justice", or that there is reasonable doubt, and this is in fact the right judgement (not that I doubt that it is 1st degree - just that the evidence is simply not there).
Will see what happens tomorrow.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Tim Invictus on September 11, 2014, 04:11:13 PM
That judge is a disgrace!  8()(((@#

That is a totally ridiculous verdict delivered by an idiot of a judge!

Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 11, 2014, 04:13:20 PM
Huge MOJ.

Should have been murder.

The pause between the first shot & following three, amongst other things, showed the intent.

Judge Masipa is a cupid stunt.

 
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Tim Invictus on September 11, 2014, 04:53:14 PM
I hate, I mean HATE, to say this, but I was right in my fears he would not be found guilty of first degree murder.
Can´t make my mind up about whether this is "celebrity justice", or that there is reasonable doubt, and this is in fact the right judgement (not that I doubt that it is 1st degree - just that the evidence is simply not there).
Will see what happens tomorrow.

You was right Abs!

I wonder if corruption was involved; Oscar's uncle knows President Zuma who is a crook himself! Oscar has met Zuma's children!

That judge seemed to be reading the judgement for the first time and she is the one who is supposed to have written it! Quite frankly this judge has seemed out of her depth throughout the trial. She speaks in a broken, almost pidgin English and seemed lost at times reading her 'own' statement! Personally I wonder if she got her position because she us female and black?

The evidence of this case has been ignored!
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: abs on September 11, 2014, 05:13:08 PM
You was right Abs!

I wonder if corruption was involved; Oscar's uncle knows President Zuma who is a crook himself! Oscar has met Zuma's children!

That judge seemed to be reading the judgement for the first time and she is the one who is supposed to have written it! Quite frankly this judge has seemed out of her depth throughout the trial. She speaks in a broken, almost pidgin English and seemed lost at times reading her 'own' statement! Personally I wonder if she got her position because she us female and black?

The evidence of this case has been ignored!

You see it all the time, celebs getting off with light sentences. May very well be some connections and money involved.
This is such a slap in the face of Reeva´s family. I am especially sad for her mother; she has carried herself with such dignity through all this (in stark contrast to the whining, crying, vomiting, snotting and spouting murderer!), but there is no mistaking the sadness in her. This is awful.  8(8-))
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: puglove on September 11, 2014, 05:17:04 PM
You see it all the time, celebs getting off with light sentences. May very well be some connections and money involved.
This is such a slap in the face of Reeva´s family. I am especially sad for her mother; she has carried herself with such dignity through all this (in stark contrast to the whining, crying, vomiting, snotting and spouting murderer!), but there is no mistaking sadness in her. This is awful.  8(8-))

It IS awful, it's an absolute bloody farce. He's been busy selling off his houses recently, maybe we can guess where the money has gone.     ?8)@)-)
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 11, 2014, 05:22:14 PM
If I was a member of the Steenkamp family, I reckon I'd be tempted to just load up with black tallons & get justice for Reeva the other way.

Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: abs on September 11, 2014, 05:29:17 PM
It IS awful, it's an absolute bloody farce. He's been busy selling off his houses recently, maybe we can guess where the money has gone.     ?8)@)-)

Wonder if he still has that young girlfriend, wonder if he has a smirk on his face right now, wonder if he THINKS ABOUT REEVA, and not just saving his own ass.  8()(((@#
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Angelo222 on September 11, 2014, 07:39:56 PM
That judge is a disgrace!  8()(((@#

That is a totally ridiculous verdict delivered by an idiot of a judge!

I take it you ain't impressed Tim??   I just don't believe the judge had evidence of intent to justify a murder verdict, let's just hope she does right by Reeva tomorrow.

The way proceedings were cut short today reeks of behind the scenes goings on.  Did the judge get a message when she was on the verge of a culpable homicide verdict?
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: abs on September 11, 2014, 07:57:30 PM
I take it you ain't impressed Tim??   I just don't believe the judge had evidence of intent to justify a murder verdict, let's just hope she does right by Reeva tomorrow.

The way proceedings were cut short today reeks of behind the scenes goings on.  Did the judge get a message when she was on the verge of a culpable homicide verdict?

That was very odd - and no explanation given. There was time enough.
I think that my most pessimistic prediction might come true: house arrest for not too long.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: ActualMat on September 11, 2014, 08:15:06 PM
A joke of a verdict but then again it isn't fully suprising. It's a corrupt system, I suspect a money trail.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on September 11, 2014, 08:18:58 PM
You see it all the time, celebs getting off with light sentences. May very well be some connections and money involved.
This is such a slap in the face of Reeva´s family. I am especially sad for her mother; she has carried herself with such dignity through all this (in stark contrast to the whining, crying, vomiting, snotting and spouting murderer!), but there is no mistaking the sadness in her. This is awful.  8(8-))

Where there's poo there's money and Vice versa. I feel really bad for her family to have heard that, but I really didn't expect him to be convicted of murder.....His sort never are!
  I couldn't understand what that Judge was saying and I'm not sure she did either, by the way she was hesitating.
 Maybe she cut it short, because it was not typed and explained in the paper as she had wanted
 or ..........an angry mob was gathering  ?8)@)-)
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Tim Invictus on September 11, 2014, 08:58:15 PM
I take it you ain't impressed Tim??   I just don't believe the judge had evidence of intent to justify a murder verdict, let's just hope she does right by Reeva tomorrow.

The way proceedings were cut short today reeks of behind the scenes goings on.  Did the judge get a message when she was on the verge of a culpable homicide verdict?

Do you know those Black Talon bullets are so lethal that even the shot that hit Reeva's arm might have killed her alone!

Angelo for you to believe the judge was correct you must believe Oscar's 'intruder/burglar' story! You and that judge are the only two people I know of who believe such palpable nonsense!
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on September 12, 2014, 12:19:11 AM
INSIDE THE HOUSE WHERE PISTORIUS KILLED REEVA


 
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Andrea on September 12, 2014, 09:32:59 AM
Just been reading the Sky News website, it says that blood splatter was found above OP's bed, is that true?
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 12, 2014, 09:37:20 AM
Just been reading the Sky News website, it says that blood splatter was found above OP's bed, is that true?

I don't remember that & I watched the whole trial.

There was blood on the duvet, but the duvet was on the floor.

The blood spattered on the duvet when he carried her out.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Andrea on September 12, 2014, 09:44:58 AM
Morning, Spammy. It says the evidence of the blood above the bed was introduced early on in the trial and never revisited. There were photos of the blood and of a bullet hole in the door frame.
heres the link

http://news.sky.com/story/1333974/pistorius-trial-exposed-legal-system
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 12, 2014, 09:48:31 AM
Morning, Spammy. It says the evidence of the blood above the bed was introduced early on in the trial and never revisited.

Colonel Ian Van Der Nest was the blood expert.

I'll see if I can find his testimony, but I certainly don't recall any photos of blood near the bed, only on the duvet & on the wall near the door.

Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: colombosstogey on September 12, 2014, 09:50:07 AM
guilty of culpable homicide and a few other things, now waiting for sentencing, I hope she does give him jail time.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 12, 2014, 09:53:41 AM
guilty of culpable homicide and a few other things, now waiting for sentencing, I hope she does give him jail time.

She'll go soft on him & give him house arrest &/or a huge fine, I reckon.

Hope I'm wrong.

Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Andrea on September 12, 2014, 09:54:33 AM
Spammy, did you look at the link i put up?
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Andrea on September 12, 2014, 09:58:28 AM
Will OP be sentenced today? Or will that decided another day?
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 12, 2014, 09:58:43 AM
Spammy, did you look at the link i put up?

Yes, I don't seem to remember that at all.....????

But then, I was smoking loads of weed while I watched the trial, so it could just be my memory..
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 12, 2014, 09:59:55 AM
Will OP be sentenced today? Or will that decided another day?

He won't get sentenced for severval weeks, 6 was the guess on Sky News.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Andrea on September 12, 2014, 10:01:01 AM
Yes, I don't seem to remember that at all.....????

But then, I was smoking loads of weed while I watched the trial, so it could just be my memory..

Solid or Bush?
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Andrea on September 12, 2014, 10:02:14 AM
I have a feeling he wont receive a custodial sentence.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 12, 2014, 10:03:12 AM
Solid or Bush?

George Hydro Bush all the way ?>)()<

Now you know why I'm completely insane.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 12, 2014, 10:05:00 AM
I have a feeling he wont receive a custodial sentence.

The Sky News legal expert in Pretoria said he could recieve a fine & no jail time.

Blood Money.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: abs on September 12, 2014, 12:28:43 PM
The Sky News legal expert in Pretoria said he could recieve a fine & no jail time.

Blood Money.

And I say bloody Hell if that happens!
Doesn´t Blood Money go to the victim´s family? I remember a case where an English girl was killed by a rich Japanese nutcase of a man. Her father accepted Blood Money, which in turn infuriated her mother - understandably.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Angelo222 on September 12, 2014, 02:26:50 PM
Anything less than 10 years in jail will not be justice for Reeva.  Most legal opinion are agreed that the learned judge failed to comprehend the evidence and made a mistake in clearing him of murder. To let him off with a fine or house arrest will be an insullt to Reeva's memory.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Angelo222 on September 12, 2014, 02:35:49 PM
A week set aside for hearing pre sentencing statements commencing Monday 13 October.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Tim Invictus on September 12, 2014, 03:30:12 PM
Anything less than 10 years in jail will not be justice for Reeva.  Most legal opinion are agreed that the learned judge failed to comprehend the evidence and made a mistake in clearing him of murder. To let him off with a fine or house arrest will be an insullt to Reeva's memory.

The only slight hope is that the worldwide outcry and especially in the South African press might put huge pressure on that useless pidgin English judge to give Pistorius a good stay in the big house! He could get anything up to 15 years plus 5 years for the firearms verdict!

Whatever he gets though, won't be enough!

Hopefully too the trial judge in the up coming Shrien Dewani case will want to show real S. african justice!
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on September 12, 2014, 04:33:26 PM
verdict ...Cont

Bail extended

Oscars family speak to media


Sentencing 13th october 2014
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: colombosstogey on September 13, 2014, 05:20:46 AM
She'll go soft on him & give him house arrest &/or a huge fine, I reckon.

Hope I'm wrong.

Hi spammy i said all along he would get away with it. There is no justice anymore for the bad guys.

You can throw a parent into jail for not making sure their children go to school, but a guy like this who blew his girlfriend to bits will probably get a fine. Sick of it all now to be honest.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: a.baker on September 13, 2014, 10:11:15 AM
Was interesting to read that OP had a housekeeper asleep downstairs that fateful night but she never testified!
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Wonderfulspam on September 13, 2014, 10:13:06 AM
Was interesting to read that OP had a housekeeper asleep downstairs that fateful night but she never testified!

Just found a link to that...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/oscar-pistorius/10809123/Oscar-Pistorius-trial-Malawian-housekeeper-was-at-Pistorius-home-on-night-of-shooting.html

He claims he slept through the whole incident.....

More like he gave him some Rand to keep his mouth shut.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: a.baker on September 13, 2014, 10:43:41 AM
Exactly what I thought!
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: John on September 20, 2014, 05:13:43 PM
The judge has just got to hand out a substantial custodial sentence, anything less will be a farce.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on September 20, 2014, 05:22:46 PM
The judge has just got to hand out a substantial custodial sentence, anything less will be a farce.

From what we've seen so far of the Judge's conclusions..............It's anyones guess what will happen, but he most definately should have a hefty punishment.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Brietta on October 06, 2014, 11:59:42 AM
Wonder what might have come out in testimony if this had been presented to the court … absolutely astounding the investigators missed it.

Oscar Pistorius made secret 9 minute phone call to ex-girlfriend shortly before he killed Reeva Steenkamp

    Oct 02, 2014 07:41
    By Andy Lines

The Olympian called Jenna Edkins, who was stored in his mobile under the name “Babyshoes”

Oscar Pistorius had a secret phone conversation with a former girlfriend shortly before he killed Reeva Steenkamp, it was claimed today.

Olympic sprinter Pistorius, 27, allegedly spent nine minutes on the line with his ex Jenna Edkins, 25, stored in his mobile under the name Babyshoes.

Details of the call were never put before the court during Pistorius’ six-month murder trial.

The evidence was uncovered by South African journalists and is featured in their new book.

Mobile data apparently showed that Pistorius was on the phone when he arrived home on the night he ended up shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva.

Further investigations have now allegedly revealed the number was used by Jenna – but was registered in her dad’s name.

It appeared police did not make this connection.

Jenna, who dated Pistorius for several years, was not questioned by authorities probing the shooting and she never gave them a statement.

The prosecution has declined to comment on how this information was missed.

The details are contained in Behind the Door – a book about the case by Barry Bateman and Mandy Wiener.

The phone which Pistorius is said to have used to make the call was removed from the crime scene for two weeks.

When it was handed to police, its history had been wiped.

Barry said: “Oscar’s entire call history and WhatsApp record was deleted, as well as several messages received after the shooting.”

He said police suspected Oscar’s brother Carl of wiping the data after Reeva, 29, was killed.

In response to the book, the Pistorius family said in a statement: “We are not aware of any deletions having been affected by Oscar or effected on his instructions that could be relevant to this trial.”

South African double-amputee Pistorius was convicted last month of culpable homicide for the shooting at his home in Pretoria in 2013, and will be sentenced on October 13. He was cleared of murder.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/oscar-pistorius-made-secret-9-4363332#ixzz3FMRjZg9k
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on October 08, 2014, 09:47:06 PM
Wonder what might have come out in testimony if this had been presented to the court … absolutely astounding the investigators missed it.

Oscar Pistorius made secret 9 minute phone call to ex-girlfriend shortly before he killed Reeva Steenkamp

    Oct 02, 2014 07:41
    By Andy Lines

The Olympian called Jenna Edkins, who was stored in his mobile under the name “Babyshoes”

Oscar Pistorius had a secret phone conversation with a former girlfriend shortly before he killed Reeva Steenkamp, it was claimed today.

Olympic sprinter Pistorius, 27, allegedly spent nine minutes on the line with his ex Jenna Edkins, 25, stored in his mobile under the name Babyshoes.

Details of the call were never put before the court during Pistorius’ six-month murder trial.

The evidence was uncovered by South African journalists and is featured in their new book.

Mobile data apparently showed that Pistorius was on the phone when he arrived home on the night he ended up shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva.

Further investigations have now allegedly revealed the number was used by Jenna – but was registered in her dad’s name.

It appeared police did not make this connection.

Jenna, who dated Pistorius for several years, was not questioned by authorities probing the shooting and she never gave them a statement.

The prosecution has declined to comment on how this information was missed.

The details are contained in Behind the Door – a book about the case by Barry Bateman and Mandy Wiener.

The phone which Pistorius is said to have used to make the call was removed from the crime scene for two weeks.

When it was handed to police, its history had been wiped.

Barry said: “Oscar’s entire call history and WhatsApp record was deleted, as well as several messages received after the shooting.”

He said police suspected Oscar’s brother Carl of wiping the data after Reeva, 29, was killed.

In response to the book, the Pistorius family said in a statement: “We are not aware of any deletions having been affected by Oscar or effected on his instructions that could be relevant to this trial.”

South African double-amputee Pistorius was convicted last month of culpable homicide for the shooting at his home in Pretoria in 2013, and will be sentenced on October 13. He was cleared of murder.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/oscar-pistorius-made-secret-9-4363332#ixzz3FMRjZg9k

Thank you Brietta,
  Very interesting...........A shame it hadnt come out sooner, but I doubt it would make a difference, after all none of the other evidence did. I felt it should have, but..................
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Tim Invictus on October 08, 2014, 11:12:16 PM
There is going to be a huge outcry if OP doesn't get many years slammed up next week! Imho anything under 10 years will be a travesty of justice.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on October 08, 2014, 11:17:12 PM
There is going to be a huge outcry if OP doesn't get many years slammed up next week! Imho anything under 10 years will be a travesty of justice.
I agree Tim, that it should be a stretch, but I fear it will not.
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Tim Invictus on October 08, 2014, 11:41:12 PM
I agree Tim, that it should be a stretch, but I fear it will not.
r

I fear the same Anna .... fingers crossed that inept judge will have realised her verdict was not well received and decide to at least give that murderer a long stretch!
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on August 18, 2015, 03:07:19 PM





Aug 14, 2015

When he's freed next week, Pistorius will have served 304 days for shooting dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp


 






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Despite Oscar Pistorius's disability he grew up playing a wide range of able-bodied sports. Born in Johannesburg in 1986 with a congenital absence of the fibula, he had both legs amputated just below the knee when he was 11 months old. Rugby had been his sport of choice until 2003, when a serious injury intervened. He was introduced to athletics during his rehabilitation and achieved major successes in South Africa. Pistorius first achieved global fame during the 2004 Athens Paralympics, where he broke the world record for the 200 metres – beating single amputee competitors in the process – and claiming the moniker “the fastest man on no legs”.
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Page 1 of 3Oscar Pistorius to be released from prison 'wearing tag'



 





Former Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is to be released next week after spending ten months in jail for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a model.

According to the Daily Mail, Pistorius will be released next Friday under "corrective supervision" wearing an electronic tag. The paper also says that his family is not planning a big celebration to mark his freedom.


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Why wasn't Oscar Pistorius convicted of murder?


Reeva Steenkamp: the life and death of a rising star


Oscar Pistorius no longer on the run: an analyst's view

Pistorius, who shot Steenkamp dead through a closed bathroom door on Valentine's Day in 2013, has been recommended as a good candidate for corrective supervision, which is new in South Africa. The athlete said that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder.

One of the issues still to be resolved, says the Mail, is where Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was a baby, will wear his tag. They are usually placed around the ankle.

It is expected that Pistorius will have to carry out some sort of community service for two days of each month as part of the terms of his release. His lawyer says he has expressed an interest in working with children.

The 28-year-old received a five-year sentence for manslaughter and will have served 304 days, spending much of that time in the hospital wing of Kgosi Mampuru jail, Pretoria.

While many have expressed outrage that he has spent less than a year in jail, Kelly Phelps, a senior lecturer in criminal justice at the University of Cape Town, insists he has not been given a "get-out-of-jail-free" card. "Punishment is not terminated but instead meted out in the community rather than in prison," she says.

An offender sentenced to correctional supervision remains under the control of the Department of Correctional Services until the sentence expires. The conditions of his release are yet to be made public, but they typically include a daily period of house arrest, compulsory treatment programmes, abstinence from alcohol or drugs and community service. Offenders may also be given regular support sessions with social workers.

Pistorius is expected to be released to the "comfortable home" of his wealthy uncle, says the Mail.

He will not be able to compete as an athlete but is expected to do some sort of limited training. The Mail claims he may not be in good shape as he has been refusing prison food for fear of being poisoned and is instead eating tinned food from the prison shop.

But Pistorius's release may be short-lived: the state launched an appeal in November against Pistorius's acquittal on murder charges and legal experts believe it could well succeed.

If he is found guilty of murder by appeal judges he will serve at least 15 years in jail.

 

Pistorius to be freed: what happens next?

Will Pistorius carry out community service?

Ahead of sentencing last year, Pistorius's defence lawyers argued that he should serve a community-based sentence, such as 16 hours of domestic cleaning a month. Annette Vergeer, a probation officer who acted as a witness in Pistorius's sentencing hearing, suggested he could even work with disabled children. She went into detail about a Gateway programme that helps children in other countries such as Mozambique. However, offenders are typically banned from leaving their ministerial district let alone the country.

One of Pistorius's lawyers told The Sunday Times in May that his client is still interested in working with children when he is released from prison. Rohan Kruger, who works on the defence team with lead counsel Barry Roux, told the newspaper: "Oscar is keen to become involved in assisting children in whatever opportunity will present."

Will Pistorius return to athletics?

According to South Africa's Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, correctional supervision aims to provide a means of rehabilitation within the community and allows – even encourages – the offender to be employed. The International Paralympic Committee has said Pistorius, known as the Blade Runner, could resume his career once he has served his sentence and the South African Olympic Committee has confirmed that it has no regulations barring athletes with a criminal record. Last year, his agent Peet van Zyl told The Guardian that they would "sit down and take stock" after the sentencing hearing.

Where will Pistorius live?

The Daily Telegraph's Aislinn Laing, who reported on much of the murder trial, suggests Pistorius is likely to live under "virtual house arrest" at his uncle's home in the Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria. "He may also be told to continue to have mental health checks after a psychiatric evaluation before he was sentenced found him to be suffering from serious depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and a suicide risk," says Laing.

However, she points out that his relative freedom could be "short-lived" if prosecutors are able to persuade the Supreme Court of Appeal in November that his verdict should be upgraded to murder, a conviction that carries a minimum of 15 years in prison.

Oscar Pistorius: is ten months in jail enough for taking a life?

9 June

Oscar Pistorius's anticipated early release from prison has been described as a "slap in the face" for the grieving parents of Reeva Steenkamp.

The athlete, who was sentenced to five years in jail in October last year, is likely to be freed on 21 August after serving just ten months for shooting his girlfriend through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day in 2013. He is expected to be released and placed under house arrest following a recommendation from South Africa's correctional services department, reports the BBC.

In a letter to the parole board, Reeva's parents said they had forgiven Pistorius but insisted that "incarceration of ten months for taking a life is simply not enough". They added that his release would not send out the "proper message" nor "serve as the deterrent it should".

Commentators from across the world have expressed a similar view. Writing in the Herald Sun, Wendy Tuohy, says the "obscenely" early release "cannot be called justice". Describing it as a "slap in the face" for Reeva's grieving parents, she adds: "You wonder if fame and connections count for more than a woman's life."

In The Guardian, Joan Smith claims the early release "speaks volumes" about attitudes towards male violence in South Africa. "In a country where gender inequality is entrenched, this is how easy it is for a well-known man to usurp the role of victim," she writes.

But South Africa's Daily Maverick newspaper says that "procedurally, there is nothing untoward about Pistorius spending only ten months of this sentence behind bars". This course of events was "virtually guaranteed" from the moment Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced the athlete to five years in jail for culpable homicide, says the newspaper.

The country's Criminal Procedure Act and the Correctional Services Act allows for an offender to serve "only one sixth of his/her sentence in custody" when the sentence does not exceed five years.

Diane Bass, a criminal defence attorney in Los Angeles, told CBS News: "I don't think this is anything to do with his celebrity status. It has to do with the fact that the parole boards says that he has been behaving well and unless anything changes they are the ones recommending that he be released after ten months."

Nevertheless, Pistorius could find himself back behind bars for a minimum of 15 years if prosecutors win their appeal to escalate his conviction from culpable homicide to murder. They are expected to have their case heard in South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in November. The state has until 17 August to submit court papers outlining its argument. Then Pistorius's defence team has until 17 September to submit a response.

Last September, Masipa ruled that the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius foresaw that he might kill somebody when he fired four shots into his toilet door. Therefore, Pistorius was cleared of murder and convicted on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

However, the prosecution team – led by Gerrie Nel – claimed Masipa had "erred" on the conviction and described the sentence as "shockingly light".




Description :



As arguably South Africa's most famous sportsman, interest in Pistorius' private affairs heightened. In November 2012, Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp began dating. Reeva was a leading South African model and had been working as a paralegal. Their relationship was described as "healthy and fabulous" by her publicist and they were inevitably termed "South Africa's Posh and Becks". 
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Oscar Pistorius 'likely to be freed as early as 21 August'

8 June

Oscar Pistorius is likely to be freed on 21 August after serving just ten months for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, according to reports.

Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide last September after shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day in 2013.

He was sentenced to five years in October last year, but is expected to be released on house arrest as early as 21 August following a recommendation from South Africa's correctional services department, reports the BBC.

One of his family members, who did not want to be named, said: "Oscar will be released on parole by the end of August."

Prosecutors, who have launched an appeal to escalate the conviction from culpable homicide to the more serious charge of murder, are expected to have their case heard in South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in November.

The state has until 17 August to submit court papers outlining its argument. Then Pistorius's defence team has until 17 September to submit a response.

Last September, Masipa ruled that the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius foresaw that he might kill somebody when he fired four shots into his toilet door. Therefore, Pistorius was cleared of murder and convicted on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

However, the prosecution team – led by Gerrie Nel – claimed Masipa had "erred" on the conviction and described the sentence as "shockingly light".


http://www.theweek.co.uk/oscar-pistorius/53387/oscar-pistorius-what-will-he-do-when-he-gets-out-of-jail




Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on August 18, 2015, 03:18:34 PM
Prosecutors in South Africa have filed papers calling for Oscar Pistorius to be convicted of murder, days before he is due to be released on probation.

Pistorius has spent 10 months in jail for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, after his conviction for manslaughter last year.

The Olympic athlete insists he mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder.

State prosecutors want his conviction to be reviewed and converted to murder, with a minimum sentence of 15 years.

Pistorius was jailed for five years in 2014 for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp, a charge equivalent to manslaughter.



◾Africa Live news updates

Under South African law, Pistorius is eligible for release under "correctional supervision", having served a sixth of his sentence.

After being freed, he would serve the rest of his term under house arrest.

During sentencing, Judge Thokozile Masipa said the state had failed to prove Pistorius' intent to kill when he fired.

His defence team now has a month to file its response.

Ms Steenkamp's parents have said that the time he has served is "not enough for taking a life".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33962989
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: Anna on September 21, 2015, 04:37:38 PM
Oscar Pistorius House Arrest Hearing Delayed

The Paralympian is waiting to find out if he can be freed early from prison and serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
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15:44, UK, Saturday 19 September 2015

Pistorius says he thought an intruder was in the house when he shotOscar Pistorius will have to wait to find out whether he will serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
A second hearing to decide whether the former Paralympic athlete should be released early from prison has been postponed for about two weeks.
South Africa's Department of Correctional Services said its parole review board met on Friday to consider a number of cases but did not complete them.
Pistorius' case was among those that must still be reviewed.

Reeva Steenkamp was shot to death on St Valentine's Day 2013
It gave no specific date for another meeting.
The 28-year-old was convicted of culpable homicide in the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
He was sentenced to five years in prison last October. Under South African law, he was eligible for release after serving one-sixth of his sentence in jail - in his case 10 months.
Pistorius was originally approved for release and house arrest last month – but the justice minister intervened, saying procedure had not been followed, and referred the case to the parole review board.
Ms Steenkamp, a model and reality TV star, died when Pistorius fired four shots though the bathroom door at his Pretoria home on St Valentine's Day 2013.
Pistorius said at his trial he believed there was an intruder and that Ms Steenkamp was in the bedroom at the time.
However, the former athlete
 said he cannot afford a new trial
over the case, saying it would be too long and complex.
Prosecutors are appealing the verdict, in which Pistorius was acquitted of murder and convicted of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
The appeal is due to be heard in November.
http://news.sky.com/story/1555574/oscar-pistorius-house-arrest-hearing-delayed
Title: Re: Oscar Pistorius found 'Not Guilty' of Murder!
Post by: mercury on October 16, 2015, 10:33:16 PM
Served a year, and out next week, any house arrest restrictions should be a doddle compared

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/oscar-pistorius-to-be-released-from-prison-on-parole-152927674.html