Pistorius Polarisation

[princerupe74]

i can't recall another case where, from the outset, people for and against the accused have publicly claimed such opposing accounts of what happened. It seems that every few hours someone from one side or the other comes out with an explanation to try and sway opinion as to whether Pistorius did or didn't kill his girlfriend. The media will lap up anything about the case because it is sensational, it features a high-profile celebrity, and most importantly to them it features a beautiful young girl - the greatest obsession of the media today. Both the coverage and the counter claims are so totally distasteful considering the girl is dead. Her hideous demise and its effects on her loved ones appears completely overlooked as the media milks the case for all its worth and Pistorius' friends and foes focus on clearing or blackening his name before a court can decide. Your thoughts?

[joggerjayne]

Did someone mention toast?

:0p

[Mick-Talbot]

Rather than ... don't accept the version fed to the Press by the Police, and keep and open mind until we have heard from both sides?



This sort of open mind ?



The Police naturally want to persuade the world that Oscar must be guilty, before the defence have a chance to challenge any of the facts. That way, when the defence start to explain what happened, the prosecution can poo poo it and say Ha ha, everybody "knows" what really happened!

[NoMercy]

We know he killed his girlfriend, but we do not know what his actual intent was when he fired the shots.

If he'd wanted to kill her, he would have just shot her in the head.

If he'd wanted to injure her, he would have shot her in the arms.

Pistorious shot his girlfriend in the head AND upper arms, which does suggest to me that he fired shots at the bathroom door without realising she was stood right behind it. Also, more shots were heard ten minutes or so after the first round. Did he shoot the bathroom door open to find his girlfriend apparently dead and make a desperate bid to save her?

[Mick-Talbot]

which does suggest to me that he fired shots at the bathroom door without realising she was stood right behind it.



It suggests to me that he didn't care if she was stood right behind it.

[joggerjayne]

Well, yes, MT ... that sort of open mind.

Where the prosecution have to base their case on facts presented in evidence, rather than poo pooing the defence.

The trouble is, the prosecution can plant their own version in your mind in advance of the trial. Then, in response to the defence case, the prosecution just say ... Everybody KNOWS what REALLY happened.

And then, we all lose sight of the fact that the prosecution case has not been supported by any actual evidence, because we are carried along on a tidal wave of "already knowing what really happened".

So yes ... precisely that sort of open mind.

[joggerjayne]

There is speculation galore in this case, but there are only three real "facts"

1. Oscar's girlfriend was shot and, tragically, killed.

2. Neither the Prosecution nor the Defence has yet adduced any actual evidence.

3. Oscar is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

[glasman]

Wonder who was Oscar's sporting hero when he was growing up - OJ?

[Mick-Talbot]

That's not an open mind at all, you may as well say the police are fitting him up.


The jury will hear all the facts and make up their mind on those facts. Not what they have heard on the news.




Anyway I think Oscar will see sense and plead guilty. He is after all, a hero.

[anotheoldgit]

NoMercy

/// We know he killed his girlfriend, but we do not know what his actual intent was when he fired the shots. ///

Well that's it then, a guilty verdict by a one woman jury, after a thorough investigation by a one woman detective agency, all we seem to be short of now is a one woman psychologist. :0)

[NoMercy]

I don't think Pistorious wanted his girlfriend dead.

[NoMercy]

Perhaps you are in need of a psychologist, AOG.

I haven't condemned him as guilty, quite the opposite.

[sara3]

Keeping a gun in the house would suggest he wants to be able to protect himself and his loved ones from imminent danger.

If I thought someone had broken into my house the first thing I would do is make sure my loved ones were safe, and warn them of the situation. I wouldn't want one of my kids getting involved with a dangerous situation.

I just think you don't go firing guns without knowing where your own people are, unless someone is an immediate threat.

[anotheoldgit]

NoMercy

/// I haven't condemned him as guilty, quite the opposite. ///

Er?????????? Seems pretty damning evidence that you did, judging by your very words.

/// We know he killed his girlfriend, but we do not know what his actual intent was when he fired the shots. ///

/// Pistorious shot his girlfriend in the head AND upper arms, which does suggest to me that he fired shots at the bathroom door ///

Seems a little late for you to set yourself up as a one woman defence person now.

[Mick-Talbot]

I was going to put him right, Nom but he reports me for doing that.


The statement was correct and I think he will go down the manslaughter route.
But to me if you deliberately fire a gun in the general direction of a human being and kill them......then you are a killer and are guilty of murder. The fact that you were a tad miffed at the time is no defense (imo of course)

[NoMercy]

I said he killed his girlfriend, I didn't say he murdered his girlfriend.

Stop being a knob.

[DTCwordfan]

AOG - you are rapidly in risk of having an implosion and disappearing up your own rectum over this.

NoM has not passed any verdict on whether OP is guilty or not guilty of murder. What she has implied is that he is guilty of manslaughter, there is no doubt to that, the question being whether it was an accident and to what degree.

Your subsequent statements about one woman juries, detective agencies and psychologists border on being extremely rude and personal (and if I was NoM, I would consider the merits of a report). At the very least you should apologise to NoM for those insulting comments. But you won't will you, any semblance of "politesse" appears to be lost on you. Go on surprise us all for once and actually win some points from the readers for.

[joggerjayne]

My interpretation of what NM said was almost the opposite of your interpretation, AOG.

[DTCwordfan]

ignore the last "for"

[sp1814]

There's something that we don't currently know which will have a bearing on our opinion...

Did he live with his girlfriend?

If he didn't, then it's plausible that he really think it was a burglar in the bathroom.

If they lived together and slept in the same bed, then it would be strange for him to wake up, notice that the other side of the bed was empty, get up, attach his prosthetics, go to the bathroom and shoot four times through the door at 'a burglar'.

That sequence of events (if they lived together)...makes...no...sense...

[LazyGun]

No argument about the kind of coverage. As you rightly point out, this is the kind of stuff that journalists and editors salivate and dream about; Celebrity Athlete, beautiful and famous young female, dead, and no witnesses. Add to that Pistorius's stature not just as an athlete, but "the Bladerunner" - A living example of the triumph of human determination and ingenuity over adversity, and this case just about has it all.

The treatment, by the media of the girl, Reena Steenkamp, in all of this is pretty distasteful. The Sun offered us examples from photoshoots, bikini clad and suggestive, whlist there is a grieving family and she is, sadly, a corpse. South African TV aired a pre-recorded episode of a reality TV show in which she had participated. No dignity in death for her, it seems. Hard not to think of the surrounding media circus as a circling kettle of vultures, impatiently awaiting their chance to feed.

And the speculation - I suppose it is sort of human nature. But, fact is, unless you were there ( and I am sure the police would love to know if you were), none of us has the faintest idea of what happened beyond the obvious - namely that several shots were fired, and Reena Steenkamp was fatally injured. Everything else is baseless speculation.

As for the level of polarisation - I would have said that the public, especially in the USA, were possibly more polarised during the OJ Simpson car chase and subsequent trial, largely divided along racial grounds - or at least, that is my recollection.