Oscar Pistorius cleared of murder
Judge Thokozile Masipa finds Oscar Pistorius not guilty of murdering his girlfriend after a six-month trial, but appears to be leaning towards a verdict of culpable homicide, or manslaughter.
Oscar Pistorius broke down in tears in court, after the judge cleared him of premeditated murder and the 25-year sentence that it carries.
Judge Masipa also said there was not enough evidence to prove that Pistorius was guilty of the lesser charge of murder, and that he did not anticipate that he could kill anyone that night.
Regarding the charge of culpable homicide, similar to the charge of manslaughter in the UK, she said that Pistorius had “failed to take any steps to avoid death”, that he acted “hastily” and used “excessive force”. In conclusion she said that he was “negligent” – the test for being guilty of this charge – but she then adjourned court for the day, without specifically saying that he was guilty of culpable homicide – much to the disappointment of the courtroom, who could be heard groaning. This charge carries a 15-year sentence, but there is no minimum term.
Despite hinting at the verdicts, they will not be formally delivered until Friday, when court resumes at 8.30am GMT.
Earlier on Thursday, Judge Masipa said that she was “not persuaded” that a reasonable person with Pistorius’s disabilities would have fired a gun in that situation. She said there were a number of peculiarities surrounding the incident, and said it would have been quicker for Pistorius to run for help, if he believed a burglar had broken in, than fetch his gun.
She added: “Many people in this country have experienced the effects of crime… many have been victims of violent crime, but they have not resorted to sleeping with firearms under their pillows.”
Regarding the charge of premeditated murder, the judge said: “The state has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder. There are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”
His shoulders shaking, the paralympic star bowed his head and sobbed as he listened to the judge. She added: “Clearly he did not subjectively foresee this as a possibility that he would kill the person behind the door, let alone the deceased as he thought she was in the bedroom.”
Before getting to the charges themselves, Judge Masipa described Pistorius as a “very poor” witness, and said he had contradicted himself while giving evidence, but she said that this did not mean he was necessarily guilty.
Oscar Pistorius murder trial - latest updates
Here is how she addressed some of the other key points of the case earlier in the day:
Judge knocks the prosecution
The prosection have tried to argue that Oscar Pistorius should be found guilty of premediated murder. But at the start of her summing up, the judge cast doubt on a few key pieces of evidence and testimony.
On Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius’s relationship, the judge said that Whatsapp messages showing conflict between the couple did not prove anything out of the ordinary. Normal relationships are “dynamic and unpredictable most of the time,” she said.
Regarding the food matter found in Steenkamp’s stomach, the prosecution said that this cast doubt on Pistorius’s assertion that the couple had dinner much earlier in the evening. But the judge said gastric emptying was “not an exact science”, and that it would be unwise for the court to read too much into it.
The judge also said that some of the witnesses had failed to separate their personal recollection of the incident, and what they had heard, or seen in the media. As well as casting doubt on witness testimony, it leaves the defence open to appealing the verdict.
She said that Dr and Mrs Stipp were wrong, and had actually heard a cricket bat hitting the door – not gunshots. Two of the witnesses said that they heard screams, Michelle Burger and her husband Charl Johnson, but Judge Masipa said they were “unreliable”.
In fact, she said that she would base her own timeline of events on phone records, which were reliable.
… and the defence
Oscar Pistorius has always argued that he shot Reeva Steenkamp on 14 February, 2013, by mistake, and had always denied the prosecution’s charge of premeditated murder.
But Judge Masipa questioned Pistorius’s assertion that he fired without thinking, and rejected the defence argument of temporary insanity. She said that he was conscious when he fired the shots, and that she was satisfied that he could “distinguish between right and wrong”.
She also said that the situation Pistorius described on the night of the incident was “peculiar”, and questioned why the accused did not call out to see if Steenkamp was in the toilet, and why he fired four shot before running back to the bedroom.
On the defence argument that he armed himself because he felt vulnerable, and that he was in danger, the judge said that this was not a “reasonable” response, even for someone disabled who may feel less mobile.
And when it came to how Pistorius fared on the witness stand, the judge did not hold back. She said he was a “poor witness”, that he contradicted himself under cross-examination and evasive. She also said that this was in contrast to how he presented himself while being questioned by his own lawyer, Barry Roux.
Listening to the proceedings in court was Carl Pistorius, brother of the accused athlete, who attended in a wheelchair. He is recovering from serious injuries sustained in a head-on car crash on 1 August.