In the country's first televised case, South African athlete, Oscar
Pistorius was acquitted of pre-meditated murder. The athlete, fondly referred
to as the “Blade Runnner” had been facing trial over the shooting of his
girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.
While reading the verdict on Thursday, Justice Thokozile Mazipa
read that the state believed that there was an argument that led to the
shooting. She went on that a lot of evidence has been led and it would serve no
purpose to rehash it all. She said “shortly after the shots were fired, accused
called for help, he broke down the door with a cricket bat, he was emotional.”
She went on to thank all the witnesses for their testimonies.
With the discovery that only four shots were fired that
morning, it was taken that othe
r sounds heard must have been from the bat
striking the door. The judge therefore conceded that some witnesses might have
misinterpreted the sounds they heard on the morning of the shooting.
Judge Masipa therefore held that the evidences given by the
first key state witnesses, Burger and Johnson were unreliable. In the judge’s
opinion, they were “genuinely mistaken.”
While stating that Oscar Pistorius might have been the only
one who screamed, Judge Masipa said “most witnesses got their facts wrong.”
The judge also looked at the many questions that arose,
including “why did the accused not ascertain from the deceased if she had heard
anything when he heard the window open?” as well as “why the accused arm
himself with a firearm if he truly did not have the intention to shoot or kill
as he claimed in his testimony.”
In count one, which borders on premeditated murder, the
judge ruled that the athlete was not guilty.
While ruling on culpable homicide however, Justice Mazipa
held that the accused acted too hastily.
The ruling is to continue on Friday.
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