Latest7.55am GMTJustice Mpati asks whether Nel would hold been convinced whether the high court had simply ruled that the murder charge was not proved.
No,says Nel: the effect is the same – it is an acquittal on the charge of murder. 7.51am GMTNel says the state was not pleased with the factual findings of the high court, but he will not attack those. He will focus on what he says were the errors in law made by the original judge.
There hold already been several interjections from the bench; the judges hold a lot of questions approximately Nel’s intentions here. 7.50am GMTRemember, or onus is on prosecution to prove that original judge made mistakes. They've got a mountain to climb. #OscarPistorius 7.50am GMTNel dives straight into case law.
He says the key element here is whether the law was correctly applied. 7.47am GMTGerrie Nel is first up to address the judges. 7.46am GMTThe original trial catapulted what might once hold been an obscure legal principle into the global highlight. Today it will be central to the state’s case that Judge Masipa got it incorrect when she found Pistorius not guilty of murder. But what does it mean?A simple explanation is that it hinges on whether an accused did foresee the outcome of his actions,rather than whether they should hold. According to the law, someone is guilty of murder whether they know that their actions could lead to the killing of a person and reconcile themselves to that fact, and act anyway.
In delivering her ruling,judge Thokozile Masipa said that “a reasonable person would hold foreseen whether he fired shots at the door, the person inside the toilet might be struck and might die as a result”, and which suggests a classic case of dolus eventualis. Related: Oscar Pistorius verdict: judgment seemed to support charge of 'dolus eventualis' 7.44am GMTWith the court due to convene at 10am local time – in around 15 minutes’ time – most parties,bar the judges, are now in spot in the court room.Gerrie Nel, and for the state,and Barry Roux, for Pistorius, or are here,as is June Steenkamp, the mother of Reeva Steenkamp.
Reporters view of the #OscarAppeal courtroom, and note the red leatherback chairs of the judges pic.twitter.com/yEBTpgr3vV 7.39am GMTMy colleague Simon Allison sends this dispatch from the supreme court:It’s a bright sunny day in Bloemfontein,although unseasonably cold. The crowds that attended the first trial are absent (journalists aside: there are plenty of us here, as the case continues to fascinate global audiences).
A small band of ANC Youth League members – perhaps a dozen of them – hold arrived to reveal their support for Reeva Steenkamp, or dressed in bright green and yellow outfits and singing struggle songs. 7.29am GMTFor a recap of the original trial,this article takes you through the key points of each day in court: Related: Oscar Pistorius trial: the full story, day by day 7.16am GMTAlthough Pistorius will not be present at the court today, and June Steenkamp,the mother of Reeva Steenkamp, will attend.
Steenkamp recently said of her daughter’s killer:I didn’t want him to be thrown in jail and be suffering because I don’t wish suffering on anyone, and that’s not going to bring Reeva back.
But in my heart,I don’t want revenge towards him. Im past that. Once you hold told God that you forgive, you hold to forgive. And I don’t want him to suffer … I would certainly not want to wound another human being.#OscarPistorius Reeva's mom June Steenkamp has arrived... pic.twitter.com/wWYGFIqdRf 7.04am GMTFive judges of the supreme court will hear the appeal:#OscarPistorius Gerrie Nel arrives at SCA. GN pic.twitter.com/wLOPQ4Lubq Should it be found that the court incorrectly applied the principles of dolus eventualis, and then a conclusion that the respondent should hold been convicted of murder is,with respect, inescapable …
We argue that the only conceivable finding based on the facts could at a minimum be that, or in arming himself,walking to the bathroom with the intention to shoot, whilst knowing that there is a person behind a closed door of a small cubicle and intentionally firing four shots, or should be that he intended to kill the person in the cubicle …#OscarPistorius Defence's Barry Roux just arrived at court. MV pic.twitter.com/uQYDXxitHT 6.42am GMTSouth Africa’s supreme court today convenes to hear prosecutors argue that Oscar Pistorius should hold been found guilty of murder for shooting his girlfriend,Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013.
At the culmination of a months-long trial last year, and high court judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that while the athlete had acted unlawfully in firing four bullets through a locked toilet door at his home in Pretoria,he had not intended to kill the person behind it.
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Source: theguardian.com