LCD
The State vs Oscar Pistorius
Palace of Justice, Church Square, pretoria.JPG
The Palace of Justice in Pretoria
Court
Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria
Decided
12 September 2014
Transcript(s)
Judgment
Case history
Related action(s)
Multichoice (Proprietary) Limited and others v National Prosecuting Authority and another [2014] ZAGPPHC 37, High Courts – Gauteng, Pretoria (South Africa) (broadcasting of proceedings)
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting
Thokozile Masipa
The trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp and several gun-related charges (The State vs Oscar Pistorius)[1][2] in the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria opened on 3 March 2014. On 11–12 September 2014, Judge Thokozile Masipa delivered a verdict that Pistorius was not guilty of murder, but guilty of the culpable homicide of Steenkamp and reckless endangerment with a firearm at a restaurant.[3][4] On 21 October 2014, Pistorius received a prison sentence of a maximum of five years for culpable homicide and a concurrent three year suspended prison sentence for the separate reckless endangerment conviction.[5][6]
Pistorius is a leading South African runner, who won attention as an athlete with a disability competing at a high level, including at multiple Paralympic Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Steenkamp, a model, was his girlfriend. In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Steenkamp was shot and killed by Pistorius at his Pretoria home.[7][8][9] Pistorius acknowledged that he shot Steenkamp, but said that he mistook her for an intruder.[10] Pistorius was taken into police custody and was formally charged with murder in a Pretoria court on 15 February 2013.[11][12][13]
On 25 February 2014, Judge President Dunstan Mlambo ruled in the High Court in Pretoria that the entire trial could be broadcast live via audio and that parts of the trial could be broadcast live via television, namely the opening and closing arguments, the testimony of consenting state witnesses, the judgment, and the sentencing if applicable.[14][15]
Contents [hide]
1 Bail hearing
2 Trial 2.1 Progress of the trial
2.2 Verdict 2.2.1 Reactions
2.3 Sentencing
3 Notable media coverage 3.1 Print media
3.2 Radio, television, and film
3.3 Social media
4 References
5 External links
Bail hearing[edit]
Cape Times billboard following the arrest of Pistorius in February 2013
The bail hearing commenced on 19 February 2013 under Chief Magistrate of Pretoria Desmond Nair.[7][16] During the hearing, both prosecution and defence said that Pistorius had fired four shots through a locked toilet door, hitting Steenkamp, who was inside, three times.[17][18] Prosecutor Gerrie Nel claimed that Pistorius had put on his prosthetic legs, walked across his bedroom to the bathroom, and intentionally shot Steenkamp through the door.[17][19] Nel argued that the time required for this process was sufficient to establish the alleged murder as premeditated.[20] Pistorius said that he had thought Steenkamp was in the bed, and that the person in the toilet was an intruder.[17]
Chief investigating officer Hilton Botha said at the bail hearing that a witness had heard gunshots coming from Pistorius' home and then a female screaming followed by more gunshots; he initially said the witness was 600 metres (2,000 ft) away, but later said the distance was 300 metres (980 ft).[21] Botha also said the trajectory of the gunshots indicated that they had been fired downward and directly toward the toilet, seemingly conflicting with Pistorius' statement that he was not wearing his prosthetics at the time.[22] He acknowledged that procedural mistakes had been made during the crime scene investigation and that police had found no evidence inconsistent with the version of events presented by Pistorius, adding later that equally nothing contradicted the police version, either.[21][22] On 22 February 2013, Botha was removed from the case following revelations that he was facing attempted murder charges stemming from a 2009 incident. Botha was replaced by Vineshkumar Moonoo, described as "the most senior detective" in the South African Police Service.[23]
On the first day of the bail hearing, Magistrate Nair ruled that for the purposes of the bail hearing Pistorius was charged with a Schedule 6 criminal offence, which relates to serious crimes including premeditated murder and requires exceptional circumstances for release on bail.[24][25] On 22 February 2013, at the conclusion of the four-day bail hearing, Magistrate Nair said that the state had not convinced him that Pistorius posed a flight risk and fixed bail at R1 million (US$113,000).[26] On 4 June 2013 the court case was postponed to allow time for further investigation until a hearing at Pretoria Magistrate's Court on 19 August 2013,[27][28] when Pistorius was formally indicted on charges of murder and the illegal possession of ammunition. The indictment noted that even if Pistorius was mistaken in the identity of the person he shot, the intention was to kill.[29][30]
In late June 2013, Pistorius returned to training, reportedly looking much thinner and wearing a beard. His agent said that it was a very emotional experience for Pistorius and that returning had been a "bittersweet" moment for him.[31]
Trial[edit]
Dates for a trial to be held at the Gauteng Division of the High Court were initially set from 3 to 20 March 2014,[32] and later extended until 16 May 2014.[33] The court was set to adjourn after proceedings on 17 April 2014, returning on 5 May 2014, to accommodate scheduling conflicts of the prosecution.[34]
The murder trial commenced on 3 March 2014 in the High Court in Pretoria. Pistorius was also facing a charge of illegal possession of ammunition and two charges of firing a gun in a public space.[35][36][37][38] The trial was assigned to Judge Thokozile Masipa,[39] who appointed two assessors, Janette Henzen du Toit and Themba Mazibuko,[40] to help her evaluate the case and reach a verdict.[41] There was no jury, the jury system in South Africa being abolished during apartheid.[42]
Section 35 of the South African Bill of Rights provides that "Every accused person has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right... to be tried in a language that the accused person understands or, if that is not practicable, to have the proceedings interpreted in that language".[43] At the start of the trial, Judge Masipa told the court that the proceedings would be held in English with the assistance of interpreters, and confirmed that Pistorius spoke English.[44] Difficulties related to court interpreters have led to court delays, mistranslations and witnesses opting to testify in English rather than their first language.[45][46][47]
The opening statement of prosecutor Gerrie Nel noted that the murder case against Pistorius was based largely on circumstantial evidence, as there were no eyewitnesses to the incident.[45] Contrary to statements made in the bail hearing, the prosecution's case in the trial was that Pistorius was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the time of the shooting,[48][49][50] or when he broke the toilet door down afterwards.[51] Prosecution expert witness Christian Mangena, a police ballistics analyst, testified "the shooter was most likely not wearing prosthetic legs".[52][53][54] Prosecution expert witness Johannes Vermeulen, a police forensic analyst, testified Pistorius was not wearing his prosthetic legs when he broke the toilet door down with a cricket bat after the shooting.[55] Pistorius pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him, including murder and three gun-related charges.[56][57]
In his opening statement read out by Pistorius family lawyer Kenny Oldwage,[2] Pistorius said he believed Steenkamp was in bed when he shot at what he thought was an intruder behind the toilet door, and that he had spoken to her in bed shortly beforehand.[58] He admitted to killing Steenkamp, but denied the charge of murder.[10][59]
The lead defence advocate in the case was Barry Roux.[2][60] In South African criminal law, murder is defined as the intentional unlawful killing of another human being. The defence of Pistorius was that, in shooting at what he believed to be an intruder, he mistakenly believed he was acting in self-defence, and as self-defence excludes the unlawfulness requirement of criminal liability, an act in valid self-defence is lawful. Technically his defence amounted to a claim that he did not intend to act unlawfully. If he could raise a reasonable doubt in his favour that he was mistaken, as he claimed, he is entitled, under South African law, to an acquittal on the charge of murder. The court then considered whether this mistake was reasonable – one that a reasonable person, in his circumstances, may have made. If the court concluded that this was an unreasonable mistake, it would convict him of Culpable homicide (all other requirements assumed). Culpable homicide in South African criminal law is defined as the negligent unlawful killing of another human being – roughly the equivalent of the English and US manslaughter.[59]
Progress of the trial[edit]
On the first and second day of the trial, a witness testified to hearing sounds of arguing that lasted about an hour. Five witnesses testified to what were described as a woman's screams and gunshots on the night Steenkamp died.[61][62][63][64][65][66] On the morning of day three, the defence resumed the cross examination of witnesses claiming to have heard a woman's screams and gunshots. The defence sought to establish that this was in fact Pistorius screaming for help and that the "explosive sounds" heard was the door to the toilet being battered down. In the afternoon the prosecution continued with testimony relating to an incident when a shot was fired in a restaurant the year previously.[67][68][69][70]
On the fourth day, Pistorius' neighbour, Johan Stipp, a radiologist, testified that he found Pistorius praying over Steenkamp's body when he went over to help after being woken by what he described as the sound of gunshots and a woman screaming. Stipp testified that the first thing he remembered Pistorius saying when he saw him was "I shot her. I thought she was a burglar. I shot her." Stipp also testified that the light was on in the bathroom and he saw a figure moving as a woman screamed.[71][72][73][74]
On day five the court heard testimony from a former girlfriend of Pistorius and from a security guard at the estate where Pistorius lived, on duty the night of the events. The court adjourned until the following Monday 10 March 2014.[75][76][77][78] The trial entered its sixth day on 10 March. Pistorius vomited multiple times in court as the state pathologist delivered graphic testimony about the nature of Steenkamp's injuries.[79][80][81][82]
On 24 March, the court heard testimony about messages sent on iPhones between Pistorius and Steenkamp using WhatsApp. Ninety percent of them were described as loving and normal, but there were several from Steenkamp accusing Pistorius of jealousy and possessiveness. In one of them, sent less than three weeks before her killing, Steenkamp told Pistorius "I'm scared of you sometimes, of how you snap at me", and described his behaviour as "nasty".[83][84] The state rested their case on Tuesday 25 March, having called 20 witnesses from an original list of 107.[85]
On 28 March, the trial was postponed until 7 April as one of the assessors fell ill.[40][86] On 7 April, Pistorius began testifying in his own defence at the trial.[87][88] The cross examination of Pistorius lasted for five days, and ended on 15 April.[89][90][91][92][93][94] Re-examination by defence lasted less than ten minutes, in the course of which defence asked Pistorius to read from a Valentine card which Steenkamp had given the athlete. Steenkamp had written: "I think today is a good day to tell you that, I love you". Pistorius previously testified that he opened the card on Steenkamp's birthday in August 2013.[94][95]
Following further defence testimony the trial was adjourned until 5 May 2014.[96][97]
On 5 May, Johan Stander, manager of the estate where Pistorius lived, testified that Pistorius called at 3.18 am saying “Please, please come to my house. I shot Reeva, I thought she was an intruder. Please, please come quick.” He went with his daughter and found Pistorius coming down the stairs with Steenkamp in his arms. “He was broken, he was screaming, he was crying, he was praying, I saw the truth that morning”, he said.[98][99]
On 6 May, a married couple who lived next to Pistorius' house testified that they both heard a man c
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