I am going to treat this trial as if I was almost a jury member - bearing in mind they will have evidence that I sitting here won't have, so I'll purely go on what I see and hear of the coverage, but I won't be anything other than objective, as I was once when doing jury duty, I waited until the very last day before deciding in my mind whether the person concerned was guilty or innocent - so that's what I'll do for this man.

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Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well~Peter Ustinov

Look forward to YOUR verdict after deliberations, Wroughead.

I am in that sort of position myself, though I don't think I have your willpower.

I am disappointed in the opening and closing statements by the State lately. Maybe it's only opening and closings by Angela Corey and her team I am down on? I would like a GENUINE outline of what each side intends to show... and not an opening salvo in a transparent appeal to let emotion sway me... which is NOT what Juries are supposed to do. An outline up front, even biased to your point of view, does give a frame to hang facts on.. as they are presented... and then after it is good to bring your argument together in the light of those facts. That is NOT what we got in the GZ or the Dunn case. I hope I am pleasantly surprised with this case in SA.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I do agree with you about those opening and closing statements, the only thing I'll say about them is that the way they put forward and deal with cases at trial in SA are so different from what we are used to. I am not convinced either about their legal system.

I'm thinking back to a case a few years ago [2005] and yes the evidence was fabricated and ruined the lives of many, including a man of murdering his fiance whilst they were at University near Capetown, Fred Van der Vyver. His trial resulted in a 'Not Guilty' verdict, but that was only the start of his problems.

I had some communication with his father in 2009 and hopefully things in his life are a lot better now, but it took a long time.

There's more on this case here.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/ ... xLWK_l_vsM

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Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well~Peter Ustinov

Thanks... I looked at the link.

Police not investigating properly and homing in on somebody rather than even look for alternatives does seem a common thing... across countries. There are instances in NZ as well. Who do you turn to? The Investigation and judicial system is rubbish.. world wide

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The university he and his girlfriend attended is in Stollenbosh outside Capetown, very up market area. Louis his father was very wealthy, but he's lost a lot of money.

It would take you forever to read the case as it's laid out since 2005, around the time I joined another forum which is mainly but not exclusively for professionals involved in evidence collection, fingerprint etc.

I'll give you the link, but you'll see from the number of pages it extends to, how long this family suffered.
Evidence Fabrication in South Africa
http://clpex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f= ... uth+africa

p.s. despite a flu shot, I've got flu, so going back to bed as I ache all over, sneezing all the time and generally feeling awful, my throat is awful sore.

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Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well~Peter Ustinov

Sorry about the Flu....

....my advice is usually... "get a flu shot like what I do"... but you headed that off

To be fair... I never really got the flu BEFORE I started getting the shot each year... but I do get the shot now and never get the flu

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Feel better wroughead...I just got back to about 85% after a week of it.

When does this trial start? Watching a documentary about it now - this is a tough one.

_________________

“You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don't you let 'em get your goat. Try fightin' with your head for a change.
-Atticus Finch”

It starts Monday.... I guess 9:00AM JOHANNESBURG Time.

Which I am picking is 2:00AM US EST

I'll find some links to watch streaming on Day 1.... post about it here.. or maybe start a separate thread.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Thanks for the links, Wroughead. I remember just a little about that case but thank goodness for excellent forensic work with that print. So many chances for mistakes, fabrications, and contaminations. And as said above about the justice system across countries seems so true. It's the people not the system in many cases and so sickening to hear of all the corruption which has affected so many lives in a sad way. So sorry for the Van der Vyver family.

This trial will be a hard one I believe. Not good to shoot through a closed door but if you're afraid someone is hiding in there. . .

Don't know when I last had flu, but this is hitting me hard, been in bed all day or in and out of hit, doesn't seem to be doing me any good though.

Anyway, back to the subject on hand. There is massive local interest within South Africa on this trial. Every second of it will be covered on radio, but only a few parts will be streamed live.

I know over here UK time, Sky News is covering it non stop from 6am, that won't be when the trial actually starts though, as that would mean 8am Jo'burg time. The trial will start at 9am J'burg time.

It will be interesting to see how it's covered here due to it being on radio.

_________________
Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well~Peter Ustinov

Oscar’s vulnerability is relevant to case, says expert
Jeanne van der Merwes, 2 March 2014 6:00



Can a court see Oscar Pistorius – a double amputee – as “the reasonable man” in the situation that caused Reeva Steenkamp’s death?

Experts tell City Press that his disability has to be taken into consideration when judging whether or not he is liable for Steenkamp’s death, especially now that the state has conceded he was not wearing his prosthetics on the night of her death.

“His vulnerability is relevant to both the murder charge and the alternative of culpable homicide,” said Professor Jonathan Burchell from the University of Cape Town, one of the country’s leading criminal law experts.

“If someone is particularly vulnerable because he is on his stumps, that will affect what he foresees, and whether he foresees that he’s acting unlawfully. It would make him more jittery, so that his responses might be affected by his vulnerability,” he said.

...more at link

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Oscar Pistorius murder trial: 24 hours to go
Govan Whittles

JOHANNESBURG – With just over 24 hours to go until Oscar Pistorius stands trial for murder his family has closed ranks with the media, saying they will be supporting him during this time.

Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria-East home on Valentine’s Day last year.

Oscar Pistorius and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the Feather Awards, held on 4 November 2012. Picture: AFP

While he claims the shooting was a case of mistaken identity, the state argues it was murder.

On Saturday Pistorius’s family released what they claim is their last statement until the case is concluded.

Pistorius’s uncle Arnold says they won’t be commenting on any media reports linked to his nephew’s personal life.

He describes the looming court appearance as a very serious trial and says the merits of the case must be left to the courts.

....more at link
http://ewn.co.za/2014/03/02/Oscar-Pisto ... ours-to-go

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Oscar: What makes him tick?
Sunday 2 March 2014 - 7:26am
Annika Larsen

PRETORIA - Oscar Pistorius is set to go on trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Monday morning.

Both the prosecution and the defence have lined up dozens of expert witnesses to take the stand.

Experts in ballistics, blood splatters and technology will be called in to testify for the prosecution and defense.

DNA, gun powder residue and blood are the silent scientific witnesses that usually determine who did what.

In this case, we know that Pistorius fired four shots at the bathroom door of his Pretoria home on February 14th, 2013, so those forensic experts are not likely to take centre stage.

What the court will have to determine is why Pistorius did it.

The prosecution will try to convince the court that Pistorius is a reckless man who has a macabre fascination with weapons, while the defence will tell the story of an anxious man, traumatised by crime - a man who never forgets that he has no legs.

"There is of course this body image and self esteem. That will play a big role in the overall psychological profile," said forensic psychiatrist Tuviah Zabow.

This trial is going to be about revealing the real Oscar.

...more at link
http://www.enca.com/south-africa/oscar- ... les-medals

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Oscar shooting video emerges
Friday 28 February 2014 - 9:52pm

JOHANNESBURG - Newly released video shows Oscar Pistorius, who faces a murder trial next week, firing weapons at a gun range before the double-amputee athlete fatally shot his girlfriend last year.

Sky News on Friday broadcast footage of Pistorius firing a shotgun and using a pistol to shoot a watermelon, which bursts on impact. Delighted screams and laughter from unidentified people are heard in the background.

Sky News also broadcast audio of a man it says "sounds very much" like Pistorius who comments on the shattered watermelon.

"It's a lot softer than brain but... it's like a zombie stopper," the man said.

The video of Pistorius shows him wearing sunglasses and gun range headphones. Francois Hougaard, a South African international rugby player, is also seen shooting alongside Pistorius in the video. Sky News did not say exactly when the video was taken, or where.

...more at link
http://www.enca.com/south-africa/oscar- ... o-surfaces

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

CCTV footage shows Oscar, Reeva 'in love'
Saturday 1 March 2014 - 11:57am

JOHANNESBURG - Oscar Pistorius is seen kissing and flirting with his model girlfriend just days before he shot her dead, in security footage broadcast on Saturday ahead of his murder trial.

Pistorius and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp behaved like any loving couple as they picked out groceries at the upmarket Woolworths store in Pretoria ten days before her Valentine's Day death, according to CCTV images broadcast by Sky News.

The pair were browsing the food section just before 10:30pm on February 4 last year. Blissfully unaware of the security cameras, the pair chatted and laughed, relaxed and at ease with each other. At some point the athlete leaned over and kissed Steenkamp.

...more at link
http://www.enca.com/south-africa/cctv-f ... reeva-love

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Something I missed.... no jury (no jury selection then) and a female Judge deciding.

Oscar Pistorius trial: No jury for athlete, just a female judge and 24-hour news
Tom Peck, Saturday 01 March 2014

The media circus outside the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria is fully formed. Satellite trucks, gazebos under which many of the world’s leading broadcast organisations have established temporary studios, and an entire set, on which construction was only finished yesterday, for the 24-hour channel that will start rolling today in South Africa, dedicated exclusively to the trial of Oscar Pistorius.
[....]
The attention that the case has attracted has drawn the criticism that Pistorius is facing “trial by media”. He is, in fact, facing trial by Judge Thokozile Masipa. But it is not overly sensationalist to say that it is the South African justice system that will face trial by media.

Judge Masipa, only the second black woman to sit on the Transvaal High Court when she was called in 1998, understands this better than anyone. Under apartheid she worked as a crime reporter and did not pass her bar exams until the age of 43. She has a strong history of tough sentences for crimes against women. On handing down life sentences to two rapists she argued that the crime was on the rise to such an extent that it was undermining the fabric of society.

Judge Masipa will be assisted by two “assessors”, legal experts who can come from varying backgrounds, often solicitors. There will be no jurors. Trial by jury was abolished in South Africa under apartheid in 1969.

...more at link
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 62705.html

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I have high hopes.... provided the judge is fair

God knows Jury selection is a bit of a game.... has more effect on the outcome than it should... and Jurors tend to get things wrong!!

It should lessen the amount of irrelevant stuff that both side put out to prey on Juror's sentiments?

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Pistorius trial: The pieces of the puzzle
Wildabouttrial 03/02/2014

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A toilet door, a gun, an iPhone — and some prosthetic legs. A stray bullet and the difference between a man and a woman screaming. All are pieces of the Oscar Pistorius puzzle that will likely be scrutinized at the Olympian’s murder trial starting Monday.

A glance at some of the possible evidence:

...more at link
http://www.wildabouttrial.com/one_off/p ... he-puzzle/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Oscar Pistorius murder trial will be 'forensic battleground'
With no eyewitnesses other than Pistorius himself to the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, experts say the case will be decided by forensic evidence and its interpretation by each side
By Aislinn Laing, Pretoria
5:42PM GMT 02 Mar 2014

Oscar Pistorius will go on trial today for the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in what is being billed as a high-stakes "forensics battleground" between experts on both sides.

Large sections of the paralympic athlete's sensational prosecution at Pretoria's high court will be broadcast live and analysed minutely on 24-hour news channels after a judge gave unprecedented access to media, saying he wanted to prove to anyone who doubted it that those with money and "celebrities" could not escape justice.

Pistorius' wealth has bought him one thing however: a crack team of forensic, ballistic and legal experts who will fight to keep him from going to prison on the grounds that what happened in the early hours of St Valentine's Day last year was, in his words, a "devastating accident".

Among them are a pathologist who investigated the grizzly and suspicious death of a rival of President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and an American forensic animation firm called the Evidence Room which has been described by one commentator as "Pixar meets murder trial" for its ability to put together compelling video re-enactments of the key events.

With no eyewitnesses to what happened, said Professor Stephen Tuson, a criminal law expert at Wits University, there would be a "forensic battleground" between each side's experts.

...more at link
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... round.html

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Gerrie Nel vs Oscar Pistorius showdown
2014-03-02 21:08

Johannesburg - It could all hinge on the toilet door.

Oscar Pistorius goes on trial for murder on Monday, but some experts not involved in the case say the double-amputee runner could still be vulnerable to a homicide conviction even if he is acquitted of murdering his girlfriend.

That's because, they say, he violated the most basic tenets of gun-handling by shooting into a closed door without knowing - at least, by his account - who was behind it.

...more at link
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/ ... n-20140302

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light