Oscar Pistorius Found Not Guilty of Premeditated Murder

A judge in Pretoria, South Africa has cleared Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius of premeditated murder and the lesser included charge of murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend of three months.

However, the judge declared there to be "no doubt" that the double amputee (known in the media as the "Blade Runner" due to his blade-shaped prostheses) acted unlawfully, to say the least, when he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp in the bathroom of his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day in 2013. Pistorius's official story was that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder, and did not intend to kill her when he fired four shots into the bathroom.

"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,'' Judge Thokozile Masipa declared.

"That, however, is not the end of the matter," the judge added, expressing doubt that Pistorius is as innocent as he's made himself out to be. Masipa stated that there was "no reason nor explanation" as to why Pistorius didn't call the authorities if he genuinely thought an intruder was in the house, nor was there any good reason for him to instead reach for a loaded gun and fire blindly into the bathroom. Of course, one would think a person would be expected to reach for a weapon if they truly believed their home was under attack. But it might have made sense for someone with an intruder trapped in their bathroom to announce to the intruder that they were armed and that they had the intruder trapped. It just seems reckless to fire indiscriminately without first confirming the presence of an actual intruder. While fear can compromise one's reasoning skills, you could probably see how this all looks more than a little suspicious.

Further details on the ruling via NBC News:

Credit: NBC

Although Judge Masipa said there were "not enough facts" to prove premeditated murder, she heavily criticized Pistorius as a "very poor witness" who was evasive in his testimony during the trial.

The athlete "failed to listen carefully to questions put to him, giving the impression that he was more worried about the impact his answers might cause," the judge told the court. When contradictions were pointed out to him "he often blamed his legal team," she added.

Masipa also dismissed the defense's claims that the athlete suffered temporary "insanity" and did not know the difference between right and wrong the night he shot Steenkamp. Pistorius had been referred during the trial for psychiatric assessment to see if his mental state meant he lacked the criminal capacity for murder.

Earlier in the day's session, the judge cast doubt on "most" of the trial's witnesses, saying they "got their facts wrong" and suggesting that media coverage of the case might have tainted their memories. The court was "fortunate" it could rely on technological evidence, such as phone calls and messages, she said.

Masipa is reportedly taking the charge of "culpable homicide" under consideration. The charge, which is sort of like a manslaughter charge here in the United States, specifies the illegal killing of another person, irrespective of whether or not there was intent to kill. And it seems applicable here, as Masipa declared she was "not convinced that a reasonable person" with the same disability as Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was just 11 months old, would have fired four shots into the bathroom without understanding that the person he was shooting at could be killed.

"In the circumstances, it is clear that his conduct was negligent," Masipa said.

The judge's verdict will continue on Friday, but for now, the worst of the charges have passed for Pistorius.

Via: NBC News

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