Verdict : Oscar Pistorius NOT Guilty Of Murder !

[RV Pundit]

Pistorius rise : Count 1 for culpable homicide;5yrs; count 2; misuse of firearms; 3 yrs suspended for 5yrs on condition he doesn't flout;

Both will ran concurrently.

[Mintos]

so he will only be jailed 5 yrs?

[RV Pundit]

Yes. I think it's fair to all.

so he will only be jailed 5 yrs?

[Mintos]

Too lenient. And what about for the other charges? The one about firing guns bure bure in a car and at a stop light?

[kadame]

Yes. I think it's fair to all.

so he will only be jailed 5 yrs?

Agreed. He was convicted of manslaughter, not murder.

[RV Pundit]

3yrs suspended for 5yrs unless he engage in any sort of assault. Confusing because both sentences ran concurrently.

Too lenient. And what about for the other charges? The one about firing guns bure bure in a car and at a stop light?

[kadame]

The state is appealing against both the judgment and sentencing. Another round of media frenzy set in motion?

[Omollo]

The police screwed up the investigation and this case should wind up, with the prosecution being grateful for the manslaughter conviction. Police stole from the scene of the crime and that can be documented. So how can the scene be of any use to determining guilt? In most countries that act (of stealing valuables from the site by two different policemen) would have been enough to throw away any evidence from the scene of crime. Without that, there is no case.

[kadame]

The police screwed up the investigation and this case should wind up, with the prosecution being grateful for the manslaughter conviction. Police stole from the scene of the crime and that can be documented. So how can the scene be of any use to determining guilt? In most countries that act (of stealing valuables from the site by two different policemen) would have been enough to throw away any evidence from the scene of crime. Without that, there is no case.

Moreover, South African law does not permit the state to appeal on the findings of fact in the judgment, only the questions of law, and judge Masipa already found as a matter of fact that Oscar never had the mens rea for murder, so I don't see how they can get anything more than manslaughter even if the appeal succeeds.

[Omollo]

I hope the defense can equally appeal and question the application of law. I think the judge was too timid to let him go. South Africans should discipline their policemen and become more professional.

It is the same situation I see in Kenya. I still haven't understood why anybody ever gets convicted in Kenya with such ineptitude. Try ineptitude in a civilized country and you watch the accused walk! When LAPD started walking around the city with vials of blood from O.J. didn't walk free?

But so that police learn to conduct investigations professionally, the question of using evidence from a scene of crime so poorly secured that people stole whatever they wanted should come up.

Moreover, South African law does not permit the state to appeal on the findings of fact in the judgment, only the questions of law, and judge Masipa already found as a matter of fact that Oscar never had the mens rea for murder, so I don't see how they can get anything more than manslaughter even if the appeal succeeds.