Many experts in the legal fraternity are surprised by Judge Thokozile Masipa’s judgment in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial so far.
Masipa found that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius had intentionally murdered his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
However, she found that Pistorius had acted negligently when he shot and killed the 29-year-old model at his home on Valentine’s Day last year.
Lawyer, Llewellyn Curlewis says based on those findings he believes Pistorius did have a murder case to answer to.
“There are grey areas in our law as far as that’s concerned and the test for intention especially for dolus eventualis is a very subjective test in comparison to an objective test which we need to establish negligence. It is to a large extent to the discretion of the presiding judge to determine the state of mind of the accused. In essence that’s what she must answer in order to secure a conviction,” adds Curlewis.
The SABC will be covering day two of the judgment across all its platforms later this morning.
SAfm will cross live to the North Gauteng High Court and the SABC’s news channel will keep you informed right through as well.
For digital coverage of the judgment, you can visit www.sabc.co.za/news.
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