Oscar Pistorius cries in court as judge says he was 'negligent' in Reeva killing
The judge in Oscar Pistorius’ trial said today that he cannot be found guilty of murder but that he was negligent in the killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa’s comments raise the possibility that the double-amputee Olympian will be convicted of culpable homicide.
Ms Masipa said she felt Pistorius acted negligently when he fatally shot Ms Steenkamp.
The judge then stopped delivering her judgement and adjourned until tomorrow, when a formal verdict in the case that has riveted much of South Africa and the world is expected.
While the judge did not announce any formal verdicts, she indicated Pistorius would not be convicted on premeditated murder or a lesser murder charge, but that may he be vulnerable to being convicted of culpable homicide, or in other words a negligent killing.
That normally carries a five-year jail sentence in South Africa but it can be changed by a judge depending on the specific circumstances of the killing.
Ms Masipa said she felt Pistorius acted negligently when he fatally shot Ms Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine’s Day last year.
While the judge did not announce a verdict, she said the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Pistorius committed premeditated murder. She also ruled out a lesser murder charge.
“I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and with excessive force,” Ms Masipa said of Pistorius actions on the fatal night last year.
The world-famous athlete has acknowledged firing four shots through a toilet door in his home, hitting Ms Steenkamp in the head, arm and hip area and killing her.
He says he mistook her for an intruder. The prosecution alleges the athlete intentionally killed his girlfriend, a model and budding reality TV star, after a loud argument, which was heard by neighbours.
“Culpable homicide is a competent verdict,” the judge said.
Ms Masipa said there were “just not enough facts” to support the finding of premeditated murder in Ms Steenkamp’s fatal shooting.
As the judge spoke, Pistorius wept quietly, his shoulders shaking as he sat on a wooden bench. Ms Masipa earlier told Pistorius, 27, he could remain seated on the bench while she read her verdict out and until she asked him to stand for the judgement.
She described Pistorius as a “very poor witness” who had lost his composure on the stand and was at times “evasive”, but she emphasised that did not mean he was guilty of murder.
Earlier, the 66-year-old judge cast doubt on witness accounts of hearing a woman’s screams, a key part of the prosecution’s case.
Ms Masipa said “none of the witnesses had ever heard the accused cry or scream, let alone when he was anxious”, apparently acknowledging the possibility of the defence’s argument that Pistorius had been the person screaming in a high-pitched voice after discovering he had fatally shot Ms Steenkamp.
The judge also cited testimony of an acoustics expert called by the defence, saying it cast “serious doubt” on whether witnesses who were hundreds of metres away in their homes – as some state witnesses were – could have differentiated between the screams of a man or a woman.
At one point, Ms Masipa said: “I continue to explain why most witnesses got their facts wrong.”
She also said she was disregarding text messages between Ms Steenkamp and Pistorius that had been entered as evidence.
Prosecutors had submitted text messages that showed tension between them while the defence submitted messages that indicated mutual affection. That evidence, the judge said, does not prove anything.
“Normal relationships are dynamic and unpredictable most of the time, while human beings are fickle,” she said.
Pistorius faced 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for fatally shooting Ms Steenkamp.
He also faced years in jail if found guilty of murder without pre-planning, or of negligent killing.
Pistorius could also be acquitted if Ms Masipa believes he made a tragic error and acted reasonably.
Earlier, the judge began by outlining in detail the four charges against the Olympic runner: Murder, two counts of unlawfully firing a gun in a public place in unrelated incidents and one count of illegal possession of ammunition.
Before the session began, Pistorius hugged his brother Carl, who was seated in a wheelchair because of injuries suffered in a recent car crash.
The parents of Ms Steenkamp were also in the packed gallery. Other members of Pistorius’ family, including his father Henke, sat behind him.
If Pistorius is convicted on any charge, the case will likely be postponed until a later sentencing hearing.
