Great take on last night posted by Jeralyn Merritt at TalkLeft...
It has given me the will to press on watching this farce of a trial. At least I know that others see it as I do.
Oscar Pistorius's Cross-ExaminationBy Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Thu Apr 10, 2014 at 12:24:17 PM EST
The press seems to be fawning over prosecutor Gerrie Nel and his "bully-ish" cross-examination of Oscar Pistorius. I was not impressed. I was glad the Judge called him out over his inappropriate sarcasm and laughter and claims Oscar's emotional outbursts were manufactured.
“You possibly think this is entertainment. It is not,” she told Nel. “Please restrain yourself.”
I don't think he proved Pistorius is lying about his account. Nel is trying to get Pistorius to admit to Nel's interpretation of the facts, and when he won't, because he doesn't agree with Nel's interpretation, he blasts him as a liar and murderer and tells him to accept responsibility.
It's not the prosecutor's job to tell a defendant to accept responsibility for the crime for which he's on trial and denies committing. It's his job to ask questions and test his version of the facts.
Unless a defendant's story is so rehearsed it never changes, there are obviously going to be minor discrepancies. It's not surprising that Oscar's memory is better on what led up to the shooting than during the moments of trauma afterwards when he realized Reeva was dead.
[...]
I don't see a premeditated murder case here. As to the lesser offense of culpable murder, that's a tougher call. But it seems to me the prosecutor overcharged the case and the testimony of most of his witnesses (particularly the neighbors) were inconsistent with each other. The media's praise of him and his bombastic style is misplaced. He's just substituting theatrics for his lack of proof, and throwing everything he can think of against the wall, hoping something sticks.
The judge has not hesitated to rein in the prosecutor. His approach may sell with the public, but it remains to be seen whether it helps or hurts his case with the judge -- the only person whose opinion matters in the end.
...more at linkhttp://www.talkleft.com/story/2014/4/10 ... mination#6