|
I thought Nel's prosecutorial style was far more like an interrogation whit the goal of ending with a false confession. Constantly telling Oscar that Oscar's version could not possibly be true, telling him over and again that he killed Reeva. The theatrics of showing Reeva with her head wound. Calling him a liar. Making a production about a small nuance of a word or change of phrase that Oscar used. Frankly it made Nel look like an angry misguided bully. Just look at the foolishness of Nel demanding that Oscar heard Reeva scream that went round and round for a while until Nel was broken by Oscars silence, (another watershed moment for for Nel I think). Nel was at a loss when his bullying did not get Oscar to lie in whimpering acceptance of Nel's truth, Oscar continued to say the same thing as he said from day one , that Oscar did not hear Reeva screaming. This could not penetrate Nel's skull that Oscar was telling the truth and no amount of badgering by Nel would force Oscar to lie. That Nel could not bully Oscar shook Nel so hard that he simply threw his hands up and ended his verbal assault.
If someone is guilty and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are guilty and you can prove it beyond a show of a doubt with forensics, evidence, and so on by all means clobber them over the head with the facts they are a dirty monster and you have the ammunition to prove that they are a dirty monster.
Nel could not clobber Oscar over the head with his guilt because Oscar is a flawed man but not a dirty monster but Nel could not let go of his notion that Oscar was a dirty monster. It is good to be a pit bull and have your jaws clamped around the throat of an irrefutable monster, it is not so good to be a pit bull and have your jaws clamped around the throat of a man who you have made a monster in your own mind, out of laziness of research, preconceived notions, personal animus, prejudicial looking at the evidence or simple human error. I think Nel erred very early in his reading of the incident on that fateful morning and he in put bull style never let go of his prey so that he might get a different perspective. It was IMO a very large error on Nel's part.
I know most people don't think Oscar was an impressive witness, including Judge Masipa, in my opinion, given his delicate state of his mind, his remorse and guilt for having killed Reeva and his extremely visceral response to Nel demanding that Oscar look at Reeva's picture showed the NEl did not know how to question Oscar. Something Oscar said when he was being cross-examined was that he didn't need to look at the picture of Reeva, he was there he saw it he smelled it, when he said he smelled it I knew exactly what he was talking about, blood smells, it smells like iron, and it is strong and it unmistakably the smell of death, literally the body ridding itself of life, if Oscar had murdered Reeva that smell who make him angry because it would be evidence of his guilt, it would be something he would consciously try to put out of his mind, it was one of the the first things to blurt out of is mouth that was eating away at his memory, it specifically haunted him. It is a smell that you will never forget and it was obvious that the memory of that smell did not remind Oscar of his guilt as in PM it didn't anger him, it destroyed him as it has permeated his body and is always there. it was a reminder to his mistake and to the fact that in his fear he took the life of Reeva. I believe Oscar's remorse in genuine. I do believe he is a suicide risk.
_________________
If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji
|
Login
FAQ
Do not go gentle into that good night.
not a curious bone in their body just simple assurance that they feel it so it must be true 
