One gun shot. Two gun shots. Three gun shots. Four gun shots. That is how many shots it took to kill Reeva Steenkamp, Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius girlfriend. On February 14, 2013, Pistorius used his handgun and shot 4 bullets through his locked bathroom door and killed his girlfriend who was right behind the door (NYT article). Pistorius’ defense lawyer stated that Pistorius thought that someone had broken into his home and was hiding in the bathroom (NYT article). It did not occur to Pistorius, according to his lawyer, that Steenkamp may have been in the bathroom (NYT article).
In September 2014, Picstorius was found guilty of culpable homicide. Barry Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp’s father stated in an interview with an Australian channel SBS One that, “He could have gone to the balcony and shouted for help knowing that somebody was there. He could have pressed the alarm system [and] all this would have been prevented,” he said. “I feel that there’s still a missing link somewhere. I think there’s quite a bit more to the whole thing than has been produced so far.” (this week article)
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Judge Masipa delivered the court’s verdict, which was arrived by the judge and her two assessors, over two days, with the formal verdict delivered on September 12, 2014.
On September 11, 2014, Judge Masipa dismissed much of the state’s circumstantial evidence, while also describing Pistorius as a “very poor witness.: Judge Masipa said the state had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Pistorius was guilty of premeditated murder and also ruled out common murder, accepting that “he did not subjectively for see this as a possibility, that he would kill the person behind the door, let alone the deceased as he thought she was in the
bedroom.” On September 12, 2014, Judge Masipa found Pistorius not guilty of murder but guilty of the culpable homicide of Steenkamp and guilty of reckless endangerment with a firearm at a restaurant in a separate incident. He was found not guilty of the charges relating to a firearm through the sunroof of a car and illegal possession of ammunition. The court found that Pistorius was not insane at the time he committee the offence. However, the court will find that based on the report of the psychiatrist, Pistorius suffered from non-pathological criminal incapacity not automatism. Non-pathological criminal incapability means that Pistorius suffered a brief loss of self-control. Gottfredson and Hirschi explain people with low self-control as “impulsive, insensitive, physical, risk-taking, short sighted, and nonverbal, and they will tend therefore engage in criminal and analogous acts”(textbook) because they are less suitable to reflect the damaging penalties of their actions. Gottfredson and Hirschi suggest that these characteristics from a stable construct because they bunch together in the same people, are present at an early age, and persist over the life cycle. (Book) Rather than providing direct evidence that offenders differ from the rest of the population in self-control, Gottfredson and Hirschi infer that criminals are low in self-control from the nature of crime: It provides instant satisfaction but little long-term benefit, is exciting and risky, and requires no special motivation, preparation, skill, or specialization. This portrait of crime draws selectively from the research evidence, ignoring offenses such as massive business frauds and organized drug smuggling that contradict the theory. Pistorius was on the phone with his ex-girlfriend, Jenna Edkins, for nine minutes at 6 p.m. the night of the shooting. This is seen as a key piece of evidence that was left out of the trial. After the shooting, Pistorius deleted his call log and WhatsApp messages. The phone call conversation with Edkins before the shooting could have influenced Pistorius lost of self-control before shooting Steenkamp. Edkins refused to answer any questions about her involvement, making her look suspicious.
On June 19th of 1990, Robert Baltovich’s girlfriend Elizabeth Bain went missing. Elizabeth told her family that she was going to check the tennis schedules at her school, the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus. She never returned, but her car was eventually recovered. It was found with blood on the backseat, with forensic tests showing that it was Elizabeth’s. With no clear evidence, the “solving” of the case was completely based on eyewitness testimonies, which eventually had Robert arrested for the murder of his girlfriend.
While researching this case I stumbled upon many others and I became aware of how many people have suffered from the injustice of being found guilty. While reading parts of the book “Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death the Story of Steven Truscott” I learned that the police played a large role in why 14-year-old Truscott was found guilty of murder. The book showed that they forced witnesses to change their story to further “prove” Truscott’s guilt of the crime. This led to the conclusion that in this case (like many others) the police were solely and unjustly targeting one
This illustrates the refusal of the rights of victims and the inevitable denial of justice for society. The coronial inquest that was conducted in 2011, corrected some of the initial issues with the investigation. Before the inquest, vital DNA evidence was disposed of, as a result of human error, which meant that the likely suspect could not be identified. As a result of human error the inquest provided some form of justice for society but due to how late it was conducted the family did not receive justice
On Bloodsworth’s appeal he argued several points. First he argued that there was not sufficient evidence to tie Bloodsworth to the crime. The courts ruled that the ruling stand on the grounds that the witness evidence was enough for reasonable doubt that the c...
The evidence presented to myself and the other juror’s proves that Tyrone Washburn is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the murder of his wife, Elena Washburn. On March 12, 1979 Elena Washburn was strangled in the living room of her family’s home. Her body was then dragged to the garage, leaving a trail of blood from the living room to the place it was found. Her husband, Tyrone Washburn, found her in the family’s garage on March 13, 1979 at 1:45 A.M. When officer Dale Chambers arrived at the scene he found her lying face down in a pool of blood. The solid evidence in this case proves only one person, Tyrone Washburn, is guilty of murder.
In July of 1994, a little girl named, Megan Kanka, was raped and strangled. They found her body near her home in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. The story of thing young girl has shocked the nation. The man responsible for this brutal act is named, Jesse Timmendequas. He had been convicted twice prior to this attack.
make there decision, but in the end there was no way that the jury was going to believe a
The Public Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders makes a persuasive argument for DeSalvo being innocent of the strangling murders. She cites a number of reasons why she and others still believed that DeSalvo was innocent. One of the strongest of these reasons is that there was "not one shred of physical
When the first responder got to the scene he adimatately meet the 911 caller, who lead him to a car in an apartment parking lot. The car doors were closed and all of the windows were fogged. The police officer used his flashlight to see inside of the car before opening the door. He found a young African American woman who had been shot several times. The officers quickly called for backup, investigators and medical personnel. While awaiting for their arrival he secured the crime scene with caution tape, creating an initial perimeter setup as discussed in lecture two. Once everyone arrived he left it to them to search the car while he talked to the 911 caller, witnesses and others who had information on who had been present in the car. The investigators were able to collect physical evidence of bullets and cartage casings that were found outside the vehicle and inside the vehicle on the floorboard of the driver’s side. The team determined the bullets came from a 40 caliber. Other types of physical evidence that were found on the scene were the bloody clothing on the victim, the victim’s cell phone and fibers in the car from the driver’s side. personnel at the scene crime took several photographs, powered test for finger prints and did a blood spatter analysis. Stewart’s autopsy revealed that she had been shot at close range in the left hand once and in the
He was shot four times, twice in the chest. Once in the arm, and once in the thigh.” As stated by MTV News Staff, September 13, 1996 Rapper Tupac Shakur Gunned Down, MTV news staff says, “The drive by shooting had taken place Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. The shooting occurred when the car stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. Tupac was hit with a 40- caliber glock several times. Shakur spent weeks I the hospital on respirator in critical condition. Six days later passing
On the evening of February 26, 2012 a 17-year old unarmed boy, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida. Trayvon was killed by a man named Andrew Zimmerman, who stated that self-defense justified the murder of this young boy. An individual who doesn’t know the background of this case would reasonably believe that Trayvon Martin may have attacked Zimmerman, in which he used self-defense. However, Zimmerman was the initial aggressor in this case, whereas he sought after Trayvon Martin for reasons of suspicion. At Zimmerman’s trial on July 13, 2013 the jury reached a verdict of “not guilty” of the murder of Trayvon Martin. So we ask, how does one become acquitted of a murder on self-defense,
After World War II when all the camps were liberated, trials were held against the Nazi’s who took part in this genocide. These trials were called the Nuremburg trials. The trials took place between October 20, 1945 and October 1, 1946 . Although Many Nazis felt they were taking orders their punishments through the Nuremburg trials were justified due to the massive loss of life in the concentration as well as the social consequences on families.
...t I do not think that the evidence presented is enough for a conviction to sentence any man or woman to death.
Oscar Pistorius; his life was one of great achievements as the South African sprint runner, competing in athletes for able-bodied and below-knee amputees. All that was tarnished because in the early hours of Valentine’s day; 14 February 2013 he shot dead his girlfriend ‘Reeva Steenkamp’ and now his undergoing a trial with possibilities that he will be sent to jail for 25 years with charges of premeditated murder. Steenkamp was a modeller and a law graduate with plans to make it big in the industry, on the 13th of February 2013 she tweeted countlessly excited about Valentine’s Day and the gifts he has for Oscar Pistorius also asking her fans what are their plans for the day.
During the trial, the defense, they held fast to Oscar’s claim. Pistorius stated that he believed that the person behind the door was an intruder and that he was terrified. He denied all accusations of purposely shooting Steenkamp (Burke). Thousands of messages between the couple were unveiled. These messages evinced their love for one another (“Oscar Pistorius”). The defense also brought up witnesses who testified that the couple were very loving. This information held a convincing argument that Pistorius had not premeditated Reeva’s death. Proving premeditation is not the only way to convict a murder, in fact, according to South African law, it is not needed at all (ABC News). A point came up in court that questioned if