Prosecutors failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Oscar Pistorius was guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. However, the olympian is guilty of culpable homicide.
South African judge Thokozile Masipa rendered her decision on the seven-month-long case on September 11, saying that the evidence was not enough to convict the Paralympic athlete of murder. The practice in South Africa is to let a lone judge decide on the matter and provide a detailed explanation as to how she reached such a verdict. A jury is not used to rule on criminal matters like these. A formal verdict is passed by the judge.
Despite not being found guilty of murder, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide, as noted by The Guardian. Judge Masipa rendered her final verdict on September 12, Friday.
In a report by The Wall Street Journal, Judge Masipa said during the September 11 verdict reading, "The accused cannot be found guilty of murder. There just aren't enough facts to support such a finding." She added, "I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force. It is clear that his conduct was negligent."
The judge cited that one vital part of the case was unreliable. Neighbors previously testified that they heard screams when the incident happened on February 14, 2013. However, the screams were not proven convincingly to be from Steenkamp. The defense contended that these were actually from Pistorius after he realized that he shot his girlfriend.
According to Yahoo!, the judge also explained an objective timeline of telephone calls made after the incident that the defense compiled to show the inconsistency of witness testimonies regarding the sequence of the heard screams and gunshots. Some of the calls involved Pistorius.
"She noted that Pistorius was reported to be in genuine distress in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and that he could not have been 'play-acting,'" the site said.
The judge said that Oscar's conduct was clearly negligent and added that there could have been other less dangerous ways for him to avoid the threat perceived at the time such as calling for security via telephone or screaming to the neighbors for help. He instead used his gun and shot into his bathroom where he thought the intruder was staying.
"A reasonable person, with a similar disability, would have foreseen that the person behind the door would be killed, and the accused failed to take action to avoid this," Masipa said, notes The Guardian. Sentencing will resume on October 13.
Do you think Pistorius was only guilty of negligent killing? Let us know in the comments below.
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