Pistorius judge rejects charge of premeditated murder
Athlete Oscar Pistorius has been cleared of the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said there was insufficient evidence to support the prosecution’s claim that the double-amputee intended to kill his model girlfriend at his home in the early hours of February 14, 2013.
The 27-year-old could still face jail for murder without pre-planning, or of negligent killing.
Pistorius could also be acquitted if Ms Masipa believes he made a tragic error.
He is also charged with three firearms counts.
The judge, delivering her verdict at the court in Pretoria, South Africa, said: “The state clearly has not provided beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of pre-meditated murder.
“There are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”
Pistorius has said he mistakenly shot Ms Steenkamp through the closed door of a toilet cubicle, thinking there was an intruder in his home and pleaded not guilty to murder.
The prosecution alleges the athlete intentionally killed her after a loud quarrel, which was heard by neighbours.
Judge Thokozile Masipa appeared to initially agree with parts of Pistorius’ account that it was a mistaken killing.
Ms Masipa told Pistorius he could remain seated on a wooden bench in the South African courtroom until she asked him to stand, and then proceeded to explain her assessment of the testimonies of some of the 37 witnesses who testified at the trial.
This verdict phase was expected to take hours and possible even two days to fully read out.
Casting doubt on witness accounts of hearing a woman’s screams, 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 that the defence argument that Pistorius had been screaming in a high-pitched voice.
“That in itself poses a challenge,” Ms Masipa said of the fact that neighbours had never previously heard Pistorius scream and had no “model” to compare with the screams they heard on the night of Ms Steenkamp’s death.
At one point, the judge said: “I continue to explain why most witnesses got their facts wrong.”
Ms Masipa also said she was disregarding telephone text messages between the couple that had been entered as evidence – prosecutors had submitted text messages that showed tension between them in an attempt to prove that Pistorius had a motive to kill his girlfriend 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.
