I'M NO SOUTH AFRICAN SOLICITOR...

[RayThom]

... but I'm thinking ol' Oscar may not have a leg to stand on.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/world/afr ... index.html

Happy Valentine's Day, Reeva.

[Gob]

... but I'm thinking ol' Oscar may not have a leg to stand on.

Ouch!

[MajGenl.Meade]

From an email sent from South Africa to my friend Brian:

Sports news. Yesterday afternoon we were all shocked by the news of Oscar Pistorius shooting his girlfriend. Early statements suggested he thought she was a burglar, hence the four shots pumped into the poor woman.

Other early statements: he claimed they were having a race around the house and she false started. Twice.

Police spokesmen said that story won’t work; he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

He’s no longer the Blade Runner – that guy would have used a knife - he’s the Gun Runner now.

As to his motive, police are stumped.

But he does have a short temper.

And she knitted him these really narrow leg warmers.

It turns out his real name is Oscar Pistoffat-Her - one of those double-barrelled names anyway. Or was it Oscar Pistolius?

He says he was practising for the Special Winter Olympics Biathlon; just hasn’t gotten around to buying a rifle yet or the special ski attachments. Or the wool hat.

Thank yew.... thank yew very much

[oldr_n_wsr]

I guess gun control doesn't work there either.

[liberty]

In South Africa almost 50 people are murdered every day. There are also high levels of assault, rape, robbery and carjacking. According to United Nations research, the country has one of the highest firearm-related homicide rates in the world, second only to Colombia at the time of the study and four times higher than that of the United States.

With the kind of money this guy has why didn’t he get out of there as fast as he could; perhaps take his friends and family with him and start a colony in Australia. In my opinion it is just matter of time until the place turns into Zimbabwe.

[Crackpot]

Or Honduras even

[liberty]

Or Honduras even

Honduras would be fine if were able to transform it to the same level of progress as Puerto Rico. But considering our worsening financial situation I am not sure I want either Puerto Rico or Honduras. We have rich people fleeing the country and poor people pouring in, not a good thing for the people already here.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Race to the bottom?

[MajGenl.Meade]

The Guardian

Pistorius's father, Henke, said he had "zero doubt" that Steenkamp's death was a tragic accident. He told the Sunday Telegraph: "When you are a sportsman, you act even more on instinct. It's instinct – things happen and that's what you do."

He added: "When you wake up in the middle of the night – and crime is so endemic in South Africa – what do you do if somebody is in the house? Do you think it's one of your family? Of course you don't."

Which of us wouldn't? You hear a noise at night (someone gargling in the bathroom) and what's more natural than to act on instinct, pick up the .44 and put four shots through the door? It's tough to remember the wife, the kids, the girlfriend etc. who've been there all day.

I've decided to hide this article from my wife as she has difficulty sleeping sometimes. This would make her more nervous.

Meade

[Lord Jim]

This would make her more nervous.

Or perhaps give her ideas....

[RayThom]

Hey, if one has to sacrifice family and friends in defense of personal possessions within the confines of one's home, then so be it. A simple action involving a little bit of unfortunate collateral damage. Wrong place... wrong time. As I see it, it is a simple case of the "Castle Doctrine" in practice. WWJD? I'm guessing HE would do the same thing.

I wish Oscar much success in the 2016 Summer Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Providing, of course, he is not falsely incarcerated between now and then.

[Scooter]

The teary eyed performance in court was Oscar material, though. Wonder if he has been getting tips from Scott Peterson.

[Gob]

[Daisy]

There's an awful big rat and it stinks.

I called the whole "I thought it was an intruder" bullshit on day one.

But I suspect that his money and notoriety may mean we've found the new milleniums answer to OJ Simpson.

[Gob]

"I thought I heard a burglar, so I put on my artificial legs and fired a few shots through the bathroom door. It was only then I noticed that my fiancée wasn't in our bed."

I've heard he's getting a new artificial leg, one with bells on.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I say, does anyone else find it odd that a lot of the reporting is on the 'sports' pages and by 'sports' journalists (not only in the UK but very much here on SA TV newscasts). Unfortunately for Oscar, the law holds that 30 seconds is long enough for the schedule 6 premeditated murder charge - and his "story" amounts to a confession that he knew someone was in the toilet, he had time to call out to them, and then he still put four bullets through the door. A lot more than 30 seconds. Result?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/fe ... -steenkamp

(Prosecutor) Gerrie Nel told the court: "The applicant shot an unarmed and innocent woman. . . " He dismissed Pistorius's claim that he thought she was a burglar as "all part of the pre-planning". Even if the burglar theory had been true, he added, it "still constitutes premeditated murder" because Pistorius knowingly opened fire on a defenceless burglar.

The athlete woke up in the early hours of 14 February, he added, and went onto the balcony to bring a fan in (what was the fan's name?) and close the sliding doors, blinds and curtains (as one does). "I heard a noise and realised that someone was in the bathroom. I felt a sense of terror rushing over me (not just terror but a sense of terror). There are no burglar bars across the bathroom window and I knew that contractors who worked at my house had left the ladders outside. Although I did not have my prosthetic legs on I have mobility on my stumps.

"I believed that someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on. (but not too scared to grab a gun, walk into the dark bathroom and shout loudly) I grabbed my 9mm pistol from underneath my bed. On my way to the bathroom I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house (and of course she didn't shout "it's just me having a pee") and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed." (ignoring all this screaming)

He went on: "I noticed that the bathroom window was open. I realised that the intruder/s was/were in the toilet because the toilet door was closed and I did not see anyone in the bathroom. I heard movement inside the toilet. The toilet is inside the bathroom and has a separate door. (all this noticing and realising and hearing in the pitch dark... or was the bathroom light actually on? And yet the adjacent bedroom was 'pitch dark' despite that?)

"It filled me with horror and fear of an intruder or intruders being inside the toilet (students going for a world record?). . I thought he or they must have entered through the unprotected window (searching for a place to take a dump and in the pitch dark bedroom not even bumping into anything - such as an Oscar). As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, (armed only with a 9mm handgun and with the supposed burglar taking a dump behind a closed and locked toilet door) I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself.

"I believed that when the intruder/s came out of the toilet we would be in grave danger (not as much as whoever was in the toilet). I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps (plenty enough to grab fans, close doors, pull down blinds, grab a gun, amble across to the bathroom and do a lot thinking)

"I fired shots at the toilet door ("at"???? take down those criminal doors!) and shouted to Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding. (No shit!)

"When I reached the bed, I realised Reeva was not in the bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet. I returned to the bathroom calling her name. I tried to open the toilet door but it was locked. I rushed back into the bedroom and opened the sliding door exiting onto the balcony and screamed for help."

Pistorius put on his prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom and tried to kick the toilet door open, he said (got a big bounce there I bet). He went back to the bedroom to grab his cricket bat (this explains the bloodstained cricket bat) and smash open the toilet door. One or more panels broke off and he found the key so he was able to open it. Reeva was slumped over but alive. I battled to get her out of the toilet and pulled her into the bathroom."

Pistorius said he called an administrator of his estate and asked him to phone an ambulance and also called a private hospital. He carried Steenkamp, 29, downstairs so she could be taken to hospital. "Downstairs, I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms. . . I am absolutely mortified (not as much as Reeva though) by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva. With the benefit of hindsight I believe that Reeva went to the toilet when I went out on the balcony to bring the fan in (man's a genius)

[Crackpot]

I think he meant an electric fan meade

[MajGenl.Meade]

Ya think so? Noooo!?!?

But seriously, why did she lock the toilet door when having a whizz? I've never had a wife/girlfriend who felt the need to lock the door if I was the only person in the house; nor have I locked it under the same circumstances. If there's guests and kids around, of course one locks the door. The only reason to lock the door is to stop someone from coming in. How about this:

Huge fight/argument; she runs in the toilet and locks the door; he furiously shoots four rounds through the door; uh oh, she's locked in and it doesn't look good; beat door with cricket bat etc.

His story sure involves a lot of stumping around:

out to the balcony, back to the bedroom, (girlfriend sneaks out of bed without a word - "why are you out on the balcony dragging a fan around Oscar?"); grope under the bed for a gun (surprised he found a gun under the bed when he couldn't find his girlfriend in the bed);

creep to the bathroom in terror while shouting loudly; shoot girlfriend (accidentally); back to the bedroom (still too scared to turn a light on); back to the bathroom (it must be her in there!); back to the bedroom, back to the balcony (help!), back to bedroom (put on legs), back to the bathroom (fail to kick door down), back to the bedroom (fetch cricket bat), back to the bathroom (toilet door surrenders after being shot four times and beaten with a bat). Drag non-burglar out of toilet into bathroom, then bedroom, then downstairs.

[oldr_n_wsr]

So you're saying it wasn't accidental?

[Daisy]

I think that may be it oldr