<p>I thought the two neighbors who testified they heard a female scream and then 4 shots were very credible.</p>
<p>Actually, the second witness said she heard them arguing for over an hour and then the 4 shots, although she couldn’t be sure they were gunshots. </p>
<p>I’d like to know why Steenkamp was in the bathroom at 3:00AM fully dressed in the middle of the night with her cellphone. The Pistorius defense that he mistook her for an intruder just doesn’t make any sense.</p>
<p>
Maybe she wanted to make a quick getaway and get a leg up on him.</p>
<p>She was definitely fleeing from him.</p>
<p>I think he could end up in jail. Not that I know anything about that. </p>
<p>Did you see her mother on TV? Very credible, stating she just wanted to know the truth, and nothing would bring hr DD back. sad. </p>
<p>Nobody caught my (bad) pun in post # 3?? :(( </p>
<p>Oh, gosh! razorsharp, your profile picture change made me chuckle! </p>
<p>I really want to see this develop. I need to read up on this trial. </p>
<p>He has no legs…he put on his prosthesis and then went to the bathroom with his gun…all the while not checking that his girlfriend was not in his bed???</p>
<p>jym, you’re going to have the disability rights groups on your case if you’re not careful. :)</p>
<p>@justforthis, I don’t think he put his legs on. His testimony was that they were off, and from what I read, forensics bears this out from the angle of the bullets. </p>
<p>Someone on another thread commented that we can’t possibly know the level of fear and violence experienced by South Africans every day. Their society is much different than ours. So I can imagine he was more prone to shooting before asking questions. That line of defense makes sense to me.</p>
<p>What doesn’t make sense is that she was clothed. I’m not sure how fully dressed she was, but I imagine her attire was not what she would wear to bed. Which implies she was leaving, and makes him more suspicious in my eyes.</p>
<p>This South African author wrote this piece about the trial.</p>
<p>“For the rest of the world it might well be the Icarus-like fall of a crippled Olympian god, but for those of us who live here it taps into an old and painful vein in which race and sex and power and violence converge. Perhaps this is the real fascination of the story for South Africans. These three bodies — one dead, one imagined and one on trial —will play different roles.”</p>
<p><a href=“Heart of Oscar’s defence: Imagined threat of a black stranger”>Heart of Oscar’s defence: Imagined threat of a black stranger;
<p>“NBC reports that prosecutors think victim Reeva Steenkamp’s clothes will help them score a conviction. She was wearing a black top and white shorts when Pistorius shot her through the bathroom door in the middle of the night. That is, she wasn’t wearing pajamas or sleepwear, and prosecutors say that contradicts Pistorius’ claim that they had been sleeping when she got up to use the bathroom. He says he mistook her for an intruder, but prosecutors say she was trying to escape a violent argument.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, the bathroom door was locked. </p>
<p>I think it is interesting that the trial is by judge not a jury. </p>
<p>I think it is interesting that the court allowed testimony from his prior girlfriend who said he always had a gun with him and at one point shot a gun into the air through the open roof of his vehicle. Such testimony would not likely have been admissible in most american court. </p>
<p>I don’t think it is surprising that he has a weapon at all times. South African is extremely violent and dangerous. As much as I hate guns, I think even I would carry a gun at all times if I lived in South Africa.</p>
<p>I thought the most damaging part of the former girlfriend’s testimony was when she discussed his in inability to control his anger. She witnessed him losing his anger at her friends and relatives. He obviously was someone who was somewhat volatile. I thought her testimony was very effective for the prosecution.</p>
<p>I just don’t understand for the life of me how you can not notice that your GF isn’t next to you when you wake up. It is literally the first thing that registers for me (whether or not I am alone in my bed). </p>
<p>I completely understand that South Africa is much more violent and someone might shoot much more quickly than here (though, if you’ve been following Florida…) but it just doesn’t explain, to me, how you don’t notice whether or not someone is next to you! </p>
<p>^^ I agree. If you hear a noise in the middle of the night, you check for and wake up your partner…so they are aware there is an intruder in the house…</p>
<p>Supposedly he’d gotten up to do something to a window and didn’t realize she’d gotten out of bed. When he heard noises from the bathroom, he thought she was still in bed.</p>
<p>Which does not explain the locked door and the fact that she was dressed. </p>
<p>I would not want to be the judge in this one. It’s tough to call. I know that when I wake up out of a dead sleep I’m not always thinking clearly. Last year my neighbor woke up to find his house on fire and the other neighbor and I had to drag him kicking and screaming out of the house because he would not leave without his dog. Hours later, when she learned about the fire, he was reminded by his girlfriend that the dog was actually at her house, perfectly safe.</p>
<p>Oh no, this one is not tough to call! There’s plenty that are, but this one is clear as clear can be! <em>Guilty</em></p>