The South African judge in the Oscar Pistorius
trial has cleared the athlete of charges of
premeditated murder and second-degree
murder.
“The state clearly has not proved beyond
reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of
premeditated murder,” Thokozile Masipa said.
He can still be found guilty of culpable
homicide or acquitted.
Earlier, the judge also said Mr Pistorius made a
‘”conscious decision to shoot”.
She said some witnesses in the murder trial
failed to separate their own evidence from
details contained in press coverage.
Judge Masipa found there was “some doubt” a
woman screamed on the night of the shooting.
The Olympic and Paralympic athlete is accused
of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on
Valentine’s Day last year.
He said he shot her after mistaking her for an
intruder at his home near Pretoria.
The prosecution alleged that he intentionally
murdered her after a row.
Judge Masipa will determine Mr Pistorius’s fate
alone as South Africa does not have trial by
jury.
The 27-year-old double-amputee also faces
firearms charges.
The case has heard from scores of witnesses
and captivated a global audience with dramatic
and heartbreaking scenes.
In one night, Mr Pistorius was transformed
from a global sporting icon to murder suspect.
A little more than six months before the
shooting, he made history at London 2012 by
becoming the first amputee sprinter to
compete in the Olympic Games.
Then in the early hours of 14 February 2013,
the athlete, who had his lower legs amputated
as a baby, fired his 9mm pistol through a
closed toilet door at his home.
Ms Steenkamp, 29, suffered fatal injuries after
she was hit in the head, arm and hip.
It was a tragic end to a budding romance that
saw the pair labelled the ‘Posh and Becks’ of
South Africa after they started dating three
months earlier.
Interest in the subsequent case was intense,
and a ruling that parts of the trial could be
broadcast live on television added to the
scrutiny.
It opened in March and involved physical as
well as oral evidence, with one forensic analyst
demonstrating in court how Mr Pistorius may
have hit the toilet door with a cricket bat.
In June, after the trial was halted for a month,
experts concluded that Mr Pistorius was not
suffering from mental illness at the time of the
shooting.
His reactions as the case against him was set
out ranged from crying during evidence about
texts they exchanged, and vomiting at a
description of her injuries, to calmly taking
notes and talking to his lawyers.
Mr Pistorius was on the stand for five days of
intense cross-examination from chief
prosecutor Gerrie Nel.



source: http://www.today.ng/news/south-african-judge-clears-oscar-pistorius-of-murder-charges/

i no trust dat guy one bit

u hear noise, u no check if na ur gf u just pull trigger

anyways wetin concern me

smh