Monday 6 October 2014

Oscar Pistorius verdict

There were 4 possible verdicts in the Oscar Pistorius trial (ignoring the minor gun charges and listing from most serious to least):
  • Premeditated Murder
This would mean that Pistorius knew Reeva was in the bathroom, and had thought about killing her before grabbing the gun and pulling the trigger
  • Murder
This would mean that Pistorius intended to kill whoever was behind the door but there was no 'malice aforethought'
  • Culpable Homicide
This would reflect negligence on the part of Pistorius rather than malice
  •  Not Guilty
The final verdict was the third of these, Culpable Homicide.

It has been reported that Reeva Steenkamp's family feel that this verdict does not represent justice. I would have a lot of sympathy with that opinion.

I suppose the judge has to work on the basis of "beyond a reasonable doubt". But if one were operating on the principle of "balance of probability" then the outcome might have been quite different. Here are two scenarios:
  • In the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013, Pistorius fired four shots into a locked bathroom believing that there was a burglar in the bathroom and believing (without checking) that his girlfriend was safely in bed
  • In the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013, Pistorius had a blazing row with his girlfriend who had locked herself in the bathroom, went and got his gun, and fired four shots through the bathroom door

I know which one sounds more credible to me. Killing a burglar who has locked himself in a room would be unusual. Killing a wife/girlfriend in a crime of passion would not be all that unusual.

I guess it is fair to say, however, that nobody but Pistorius will ever know whether it was murder or premeditated murder.

The judge will pronounce sentence on October 13th and it will be interesting to see how she handles that, and whether the family will be happy with her decision. The sentence for manslaughter and firearms could be up to 15 years in prison.