Any body for a second glass of OJ? I don’t know how justice is dispensed in South Africa but this is chewing gum stuff. Judge Thokozile Masipa trots of for lunch after announcing Oscar Pistorius of premeditated murder and says she’ll be back later to discuss manslaughter charges. Oh come on, where does a case involving a death buy gunshot have a final verdict day divided into pre-lunch and post lunch sections. You just get on with it and end the agony.
But for most people the whole thing is a bit of a joke. It brings up the case to true judicial ridicule. Everyone had sort of guessed it was a bit of a circus and would probably end up in a farcical manner but a judge leaving the verdict to go for a meal is like never ever happened before. The counts of indictment are collective and have to be addressed from the most serious to the least in one go, not for the maximum benefit of the media exposure. This judge is having fun, getting more than her fifteen minutes of fame.
Attorney Brian Webber has already comforted Oscar twice by patting him on the back and high fives are being spotted in the highly relieved defense team.
One feels sorry for Reeva Steenkamp’s family who aren’t going to enjoy this lunch at all. And if that isn’t bad enough the Judge comes back (burp) after her lunchees and then she proceeds to give everyone a lengthy harangue but delays the verdict on culpable or negligent homicide and adjourns the court for the day.
What on earth made her do that? Yu have already cleared Oscar of two charges of murder with intent, destroyed the prosecution and then you go into this ‘to be continued…’ mode with hours left in the day.
There is no new evidence. No development. Both sides rest. Give the verdict…let him go or keep him in jail but you cannot just leave it for another day.
For those interested here is a quote that gives you an idea of what went down. “In being acquitted of the two harshest charges against him, Mr. Pistorius has possibly escaped a lengthy prison sentence. But culpable homicide, which is defined as the negligent killing of another person and is roughly comparable to involuntary manslaughter, can carry a wide range of sentences, at the discretion of the judge, from no jail time to more than 15 years incarceration.”
