Wapsi Square Forum

The Week wrote:Prosecutors laying out their case against Pistorius on the second day of his bail hearing in Pretoria said they have a female witness who heard the shouting "between 2am and 3am", Sky News reports.

But under cross-examination the police officer leading the investigation said the witness's house is 600 metres from Pistorius's home, a revelation that caused gasps from the sprinter's relatives in the court room.

The Guardian wrote:The prosecution of Oscar Pistorius has taken a dramatic turn after it emerged the detective leading the case is facing seven charges of attempted murder.

A spokesperson for the South African police service confirmed on Thursday morning that Hilton Botha and two other officers were accused of firing at a taxi carrying seven passengers during an allegedly drunken incident in 2011.

The Associated Press wrote:Carl Pistorius faces a charge of unlawful, negligent killing for a 2008 road death, ”in which a woman motorcyclist sadly lost her life,” Kenneth Oldwage, the Pistorius family lawyer said on Sunday.

The accident happened in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg.The charge of ”culpable homicide” was dropped and then reinstated and will be challenged in court, the lawyer told The Associated Press.

CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA | Associated Press wrote:Last week, the judge who granted bail to Oscar Pistorius was in the international spotlight, presiding over dramatic hearings in a courtroom as the Olympic athlete sat in the dock charged with murdering his girlfriend. This week, the judge is in private mourning.

Desmond Nair, chief magistrate of the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, confirmed Tuesday that he is related to a woman suspected of killing her two children and committing suicide on the weekend.

Typeminer wrote:The court system must be a little different in SA.

Like, here in the US, you have to assemble a jury with no prior knowledge of the case, right? So, then you bring in an accused murderer with no legs, and tell them he's an olympic track star?

They'd think somebody hired Tommy Flanagan to defend OJ.

And wait till we get to the police chase.

Julie wrote:

Typeminer wrote:The court system must be a little different in SA.

Like, here in the US, you have to assemble a jury with no prior knowledge of the case, right? So, then you bring in an accused murderer with no legs, and tell them he's an olympic track star?

They'd think somebody hired Tommy Flanagan to defend OJ.

And wait till we get to the police chase.

If I remember correctly from what I saw on the news, there isn't a jury of peers who will try this case. It's going to be reviewed by three magistrates or something like that...