But there was a colossal opportunity missed and muffed when Roux didn't just go ballistic after Nelandvoid had to admit they didn't have any clue where the extension cord was. This wasn't just an insignificant item of evidence. Nel blistered Pistorius with questions about that extension cord and made it the epicenter to outright accusing him of lying. Nel insisted it was not possible for OP to have plugged the fan into the power strip because other devices were plugged in and no socket was left to plug anything into. Recall how he laughed and mocked him and acted like it was a gotcha moment when he showed the photo of the multi-plug strip --acting like a cat who just found a gallon of catnip? He strutted this Perry Mason moment as if he was Matlock cracking a case.

Ya cee Mr. Pistorius, I have just caught you and proven your story is a lie.

The extension cord is central to the entire scenario about the fans. How they could be moved, where they were found, that they were left running, and that he could get to the balcony to yell help because the fan was not his blocking his way to go through the balcony door. There is no question without the fans and the precise procedures Oscar detailed as he did them that night, his story cannot be true. It is essential that all parts of his testimony regarding the fans can be supported by the evidence. The extension cord is the link to everything which explains what he did, was possible. The prosecutor uses this very item to indict him as fabricating and inventing the explanation and intentionally committing perjury on the stand. But then the defense is helpless to rebut it because the extension cord all of a sudden has just mysteriously vanished while in the complete control of the police. Nel had to even ADMIT that they knew Roux had REQUESTED it for examination. This wasn't just a slight matter of no big deal.

This was deliberate withholding of material evidence. This is classic sandbagging of the defense by the prosecution and "hiding the ball."

Roux should have just railed about this with outrage to the judge and demanded that all references to the accusations and implications resulting from Nel referring to the extension cord be forbidden from use in closing argument. And that the entire cross examination record impeaching OP's truthfulness of placement of the fans accusations made by Nel, be expunged and stricken from the record. Masipa even gave Roux the hint to DO it! She said "I'm not happy about this." What does Roux need, a wrecking ball to hit him up side the head?

Appeals are constructed based on OBJECTIONS that are made, but not sustained. Otherwise the appeals court is going to consider the defense as being silent on the gravity of each issue then later raised in the appeal. They can't say in an appeals submission to the court, "we were incensed about not being able to show that the extension cord--used as it was--would have proved that our client was telling the truth. And the loss of this key piece of evidence by the prosecution which was used maliciously against our client in cross examination, indisputably affected our client's right to a fair trial." The court will say, well why didn't you make more of an issue about it? When it was admitted that it was lost by the prosecution, why didn't you ask the record be stricken? We find your raising of the issue here is not timely.

Judge Masipa may or may not have imposed that drastic of a ruling, but she had to do SOMETHING if the application was made or it would be unquestionable reversible error. In fact I believe she WOULD have severely penalized the prosecution with regard to that evidence.

Now the opportunity is gone, c'est la vie. I was just shaking my head in bewilderment at this titanic blunder.

What a different trial this would have been if Vincent Bugliosi was the guy who handled this case. Nel wouldn't have even shown up to court and Pistorius would be out negotiating new contracts with Nike by now.

Yes aavi... Roux looked GREAT (at times) doing cross of Nil's witnesses... but has dropped the ball repeatedly since (as you have pointed out). In hindsight the State witnesses were so weak, contrived and already contradicted each other.. maybe Roux looked better/smarter than he is? My 3-legged cat could have probably handled cross examination of Burger (and fries) and the other married couple.... Baba also... and the shonky bat-door Ricky Gervais lookalike. (Johannes Vermeulen)

ALMOST tempted to say Jose Baez would be a breath of fresh air for the defence

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

Joan Baez would have even been a breath of fresh air and probably more of a help to Oscar. I never saw a more passionless, listless, no-fire, no bluster, no cohesion, cluster fu-k of a defense being paid big bucks in a high profile case.

And with what they had to work with.

I cannot even fathom a case where TWO high ranking police officers file perjured sworn affidavits where one says they documented evidence when they were not even on the scene. And the other one says they were the first on the scene which is found incredible by the first officer who WAS the first on the scene--both with no explanation other then that it had to be conspired by both officers deliberately to railroad Oscar.

And then that guy who is supposed to the lead detective with 30 years of experience doesn't even notice damage to a door leading into a bloody crime scene, plus doesn't notice a window in a 5x5 toilet cubicle, which is where a victim was found riddled with bullets. And then he has to yell at a guy playing with a cocked gun with his bare hands. While another top officer is tromping around on the most key piece of evidence in the crime scene with his wingtips.

This BS job posing as a serious search for justice and retribution against a man who's not guilty is like a guy who is able to teach an elephant to hold a paint brush in its trunk and to dip it randomly in different containers of paint colors and the elephant just splotches it against the canvas. He takes that to an art dealer and and says "look here what I got you, a genuine Rembrandt."

Nel is the elephant.

Great segue aavi....

Pistorius Trial - Nellie the Elephant

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

I haven’t been awake for long and I’m pre-caffeine but I agree Aavi that it sure seems there was a lot of opportunity for Roux to object where he did not. The heads of argument sound like another difference in the SA judicial system and as if they are more of an active part of the trial where objections are raised, sustained or overruled.

For me the proof in the pudding will be the heads of arguments. I can’t imagine Uncle Arthur didn’t know what he was doing when he or Oscar hired Roux.

The extension cord and Nel’s whipping Oscar with it and then not being able to produce it, all the questionable police bungling, the reputations of some of the high ranking officers involved including the disgraced Botha, the contradictory earwitness testimony, the lack of security hearing a fight when they were right by Oscars house when others "heard screaming", will not be lost on Roux, the Judge or her associates. Heck none of it should be lost on a person of average IQ

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If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

I think something that has not been addressed (unless I missed it, which is a good possibility) is that Reeva and her mum were victims of an armed break in when Reeva was visiting June. Reeva and her mum sought refuge in her mum’s bedroom where they locked and barricaded the door. Reeva’s mum moved back into Reeva’s dad’s home after the incident she was so frightened by the whole experience. Reeva was also left terrified.


There is no reason to believe Reeva would not have done the same thing if she made the assumption that Oscar was warning her of an intruder and she did not realize he had mistaken her for an actual intruder. Her only immediately available refuge would have been the toilet, a terrorized mind is not the same as a rational mind, she could have made a noise with the magazine rack under many different scenarios which a panicked Oscar could have mistaken for an advancing intruder.

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

That Reeva and Mum incident is NEW to me Carm.
That is good backgound support.

I have imagined that she was sitting on toilet when the "commotion" started. Probably with door ajar since light was broken? She shut and locked the door as commotion developed (As heard by OP as he advanced up the hall). I further imagine that she was keeping VERY quiet hoping the intruder would not realise she was in the toilet... probably standing by the door listening. Details like that are not absolutely "knowable" but the fact that they are REASONABLE hypotheses that are CONSISTENT with known facts and testimony makes for a rational analysis. Circumstantial evidence to support OP's version. The sort of hypothesis that one SHOULD propose from a position of "Presumed Innocent". Look to see what FITS that presumption, rather than contrive a version that does not.

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

Here is an article about when Reeva was at her mum’s and the home was broken into. It does not have the piece about them barricading themselves in a bedroom but Reeva’s ex beau (the rugby guy) said that is what they did in an interview.



Reeva Steenkamp lived in fear of attack by intruders


http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/406 ... -intruders

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

Carmelita

If you have 15 minutes you want to waste lol, get yourself a tall glass of lemonade and go to discussion 1 of the board index here for the Oscar Pistorius Case, and then go to page 42. In a long post, I lampooned the absurdities and spelled out the assumptions you would have to make in order to believe Nel's LSD hallucinations that he was trying to pawn off as credible evidence. I wrote a lot in a sarcastic way to ridicule those who were Nelnuts and posted it here before we had known much of what has been presented now.

One of the things I point out is exactly what you said about Reeva hiding with her mother. You would have to have the brain of a frog not to know that her hiding again if she thought there was an intruder, would be the first thing that would come to her mind. Reeva must be up above laughing at the idiots who think she wouldn't have done that.

You may get a kick out of some of the other things that I just got carried away with

Aavi..

Nothing at p42... do you mean p43... start of the epic aavi Trilogy (in 10 parts)?
viewtopic.php?f=105&t=785&start=840#p74325

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

Roger that. And that's exactly the way I see it too.

Reeva would have thought that Oscar was retreating toward the bathroom himself. She would have no idea where he encountered the people he was yelling at. All she would know is that his yelling was coming closer and closer to the bathroom, thinking that that is where he was coming to get away from them. She would be terrified and since she was already in the toilet, there would be no way in hell that she would think it was a good idea to come out and go toward the very danger that Oscar appeared to be retreating from. She would have no good choices and at least Oscar appeared to be coming toward her.

But what is monumentally important

When Oscar reaches the hallway and then edges into the bathroom (as a police officer would if they were "clearing" a room) he STOPS yelling and doesn't say anything. He is trying to evaluate what he's about to be confronted with and his eyes are going back and forth between the window and the toilet door. But he's silent now.

If it wasn't for this, Reeva would be alive now and with Oscar in their new house.

But Reeva would be paralyzed with fear and since she's not hearing anything, she doesn't know if Oscar was overcome by somebody or if he's near her or what. She can't call out because that would be a dead giveaway if an intruder was in the house. Her mind is racing knowing she is helpless too in this small box if she's discovered. So the heart pounding silence is what causes Reeva to move around in that small space. Doing that, she accidentally bumps the magazine rack with her foot. Who knows, maybe she even WAS crouching down behind the toilet bowl when Oscar started yelling "get the eff out of my house" and she was just starting to stand up after the yelling stopped. Or she was just moving toward the door and bumped the rack.

But Oscar now simultaneously has the absolute confirmation that somebody is in that toilet and it's not a visitor he wants to have coffee with. His adrenaline is racing at warp speed already knowing his handicapped vulnerability. His weapon is all he has to count on.

Fateful seconds later, Reeva is putting downward pressure on that latch, in her intent to now exit carefully and very cautiously to see if it was safe to peek out or decide if it was better to stay where she was.

This creates the click that Oscar knows his door makes when it is being opened. His amygdala goes into instant stat mode defcon 1 -- turning off all conscious thought or mind control ..... and

doof..doof doof..doof

And here we are.

Admin note

"doof..doof doof..doof" (Roux Afrikaans) roughly translates to "bang..bang bang..bang" (Schoolboy English)

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

Um hmpph

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/ ... 8NwJGOpSlV

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/ ... 8Nz32OpSlX

Thanks, aavi

I had the prosecution witness link in "witness reference thread", so just added the defence link as well.

viewtopic.php?f=105&t=1237&p=78738#p78738

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

I think I may have even convinced myself what the pause is in the bangs at 3:17. I haven't heard anybody give an opinion on why that occurred but I think I have the reason.

Oscar said his first swing hit the side of the door which is the raised reinforced thick panel and solid as hell. Anybody who has ever played baseball and hit the ball on the very end of the bat knows what that "sting" and reverberation is like. It's almost enough to make you drop the bat.

I'll bet anything that is what Oscar felt and what caused that pause. Then he readjusted his aim and broke through the recessed panel where it would crack along the grain of the wood. And that was the three other blows in quick succession.


Of course if you believe in Sasquatch, it's because he's following the sound of her falling and he had to wait until she landed on the magazine rack to make sure he would hit her in the head

Take it to the bank Nel, I just popped your last balloon.

I am part way through the first link, wonderful, concise and rational, impartial, very neat portrayal of the facts rather than an emotional biased rant, so I am much obliged.

Aavi, I read your "ten parter" very good job of tying things together. The more I read and the more I learn about this case the more I see how the minions have been lead by a nose ring set firmly through their own biases, kept firmly in place by ignorance, incurious narrow minds, blindly following the media orchestrated "Oscar is a cold blooded killer" creed. There are so many holes in the States case it should be dubbed the "Colander Prosecution."

Also Oscar tweeted a few posts. Simple stuff one might expect him to be thinking.

I read some of the Twitter responses and I am simply amazed at the ignorance and hatred espoused by those who purport to want justice. It is almost like a Salem Witch Trial with torches and pitchforks, in fact some have even called Oscar a devil. Ignorance is not bliss, it is the comfort of fools, an excuse to hate and join a mob of haters. How very sad and pathetic when a bit of open minded research could lead most rational people to the land of reality. Again the Asch Experiment comes to mind about conformity being more important to people than being right.


I wonder if Nel had any twinges of guilt as he tried to put words in other peoples mouths or if he truly believes that he gets to make up reality while disregarding evidence, it is as if Nel considers himself omnipotent. That is one psych eval that would be fascinating to read. What was Nel's best rebuttal to Oscar, it wasn't evidence, it was to call Oscar a liar, but Nel presented no viable, evidence based alternative to Oscars version.

Good Gravy.

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

Hi Carmelita,

I agree. I particularly avoid Twitter comments with regard to the trial, as it worries me too much to imagine that some of these people may actually be called for jury service at some stage in their lives.

A few of my relatives haven't seen any of the trial but still have quite a strong opinion regarding OP's guilt. When I ask how they formed their opinions it's always specifically based on media headlines e.g. 'Black Talon', 'blood curdling' screams etc. They have little or no knowledge of any trial information that shows defence in a positive light, and are quite gobsmacked when I explain some of the findings that haven't been widely reported in the media.

Hi Steve,

I just started reading twitter due to the Oscar case and holy days what a mess the world of Twitter is

I am amazed at the rolling ball of ignorance that is out there. I have the had the same experience as you, someone asked me what I thought about Oscar and I said that I don't think he had any intention of harming Reeva, they were stunned, then we talked for a while I mentioned the problems with the scream witnesses and that Oscar had never been violent with any of his previous girlfriends ect. They were stunned.

Anyhow what an interesting commentary on follow the pack this case has turned out to be.

As to Twitter just Yikes!

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

Oh and a jury made up of the folks who have damned Oscar from very early on in this case is a very scary thought. The same people that I am sure whole heartedly agreed with the State that Oscar must have been on his prostheses when he fired the gun, and he was thereby lying, which made him a malicious, vicious murderer.

That was until the State conceded, well yes, forensic evidence does show that Oscar was on his stumps when he fired the gun, but he is still a murderer who intended to slaughter Reeva in cold blood to which the minions cry "Yeah! that's it."

_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

Oscar Pistorius breaks silence on Twitter, posts inspirational messages including a quote from Holocaust survivor
The South African sprinter — who is waiting to hear if he will be found guilty of murdering his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after a five-month trial — tweeted messages that seem to show him doing some soul searching.
BY Joe Kemp
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, July 14, 2014, 8:37 AM

Oscar Pistorius broke his silence with a series of bizarre tweets that seem to show the double-amputee is doing some soul searching.

The South African sprinter — who is waiting to hear if he will be found guilty of murdering his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after a five-month trial — apparently posted the inspirational messages to his account Sunday.

It was the first time the 27-year-old posted anything on social media since Feb. 14 — the one-year anniversary of Steenkamp’s death.

The tweets began with Pistorius posting a collage of pictures of him with children that were clustered around a meaningful quote.

...more at link
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/o ... -1.1865767

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