[Magdalen] Pistorius Trial.

[Sally Davies]

Good question...I don't think that it affects the murder charge as such.
Intent can be formed minutes or seconds before the act, just as long as
there's no doubt that the act was deliberate. If there were actual
pre-meditation of the 'cold blooded' sort that would be an aggravating
factor when it comes to sentencing.

I definitely don't think Pistorius *planned* this, but I do think that
intention was involved, in his confused defence he admitted as much (though
trying to have it both ways by claiming that the firing of the gun just
somehow happened).

There has to be a difference in culpability between, say, that poor little
girl who accidentally shot her instructor recently, and Oscar opening fire
into a tiny cubicle, knowing that *someone* was in there.

It's true that many South Africans head for Harvard to continue their
studies, and quite a few are living in East Coast communities. Glad they
are managing to make themselves understood!

Sally D

On Saturday, 13 September 2014, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

> Loads of South Africans hereabout, notably Margaret Marshall, former
> Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, whose decision
> in Goodridge is read at many weddings today.
>
> There seems to be a Harard/EDS-to-South Africa-and-back connection
> that renders the accent very familiar to us here.
>
> Does South African law acknowledge the difference between intent and
> pre-meditstion? People here do sometimes, judges here do ... usually.
>
> I have seen little of this on the news here, but was struck by how childish
> his behavior was. We'd have called it  "bratty remorse."
> -M
>
> On Saturday, September 13, 2014, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com
> <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > The problem is he was found not guilty of murder "dolus eventualis"; only
> > on culpable homicide. That carries no minimum sentence, though Judge
> Masipa
> > does have the option of a heavy-ish jail sentence.  He knew what bullets
> he
> > had in the gun and in previous cases self defence hasn't been accepted as
> > an excuse when using Black Talon ammo that literally explode when they
> hit
> > flesh, hence Reeva's terrible wounds. So why cut Oscar slack when he used
> > them knowing what they do i.e. "zombie stopping"??
> >
> > I disagree with her on the facts as well - firstly that "relationships
> are
> > unpredictable"- the work of Gottman and others says they are in fact
> highly
> > predictable, just as human behaviour can be predictable in general,
> though
> > not 100%. Also, that the accused's remorseful behaviour after the
> shooting
> > indicates that he did not intend to
> >
>