I haven’t covered anything from the Oscar Pistorius trial since May, which is when Oscar’s legal team introduced medical evidence that Pistorius may have some kind of anxiety disorder and that’s why he shot Reeva Steenkamp. The prosecution and the defense agreed that Pistorius should go into a 30-day psychiatric observation. That observation was completed and today, Pistorius is back in court. So, what did the doctors learn about Pistorius during that 30-day observation? Pretty much what we knew already: Oscar Pistorius is not insane. He didn’t have any mitigating mental health issues when he killed his girlfriend.
A panel of mental health experts has concluded that Oscar Pistorius was not suffering from a mental illness when he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home last year, the chief prosecutor at the athlete’s murder trial said Monday. Pistorius’s trial resumed after a break of one month during which a psychologist and three psychiatrists also assessed whether the double-amputee runner was capable of understanding the wrongfulness of his act when he shot Steenkamp through a closed toilet door.
The panel’s reports were submitted to Judge Thokozile Masipa, and prosecutor Gerrie Nel referred to key parts of the conclusions, noting that the experts believed Pistorius was “capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act” when he killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model.
The evaluation came after a psychiatrist, Dr. Merryll Vorster, testified for the defense that Pistorius, who has said he feels vulnerable because of his disability and long-held worry about crime, had an anxiety disorder that could have contributed to the killing in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013. He testified that he opened fire after mistakenly thinking there was a dangerous intruder in the toilet.
Prosecutor Nel has alleged that Pistorius, 27, killed Steenkamp after a Valentine’s Day argument and has portrayed the Olympic athlete as a hothead with a love of guns and an inflated sense of entitlement. But he requested an independent inquiry into Pistorius’s state of mind based on concern the defense would argue Pistorius was not guilty because of mental illness.
Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder, he and could also face years in prison if convicted of murder without premeditation or negligent killing. He is free on bail.
That People article also has details about some of the other stuff that went down today in court, like testimony about just how mobile Pistorius is without his blades. He claims that he did not have his blades/prosthetic legs on when he shot Reeva, and one of the shrinks claims that because he was without his blades, he felt extra vulnerable. Is anyone buying this? Really? I wonder if Oscar’s 19-year-old girlfriend waited for him during his 30-day observation.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Ridiculous.
Murderer.
He killed that lovely girl and that was a dreadful thing to do. Recklessly stupid behaviour at the very least. but Murder means he absolutely intended to end her life and that has yet to be proved.
I think it will be. He intended to kill her.
The “he feels vulnerable/extra anxious without his blades” story feels so contrived, like something a defense lawyer would reach for when desperate. What a farce.
I agreed. I’m also curious about how mobile he is without them. I bet he’s better than he wants us to believe.
i actually believe that he does, esp considering the crime rate in S Africa
but i dont see it as an excuse or mitigating factor
I have personally worked with lots of athletes with disabilities but the one who blew me away the most was a kid who was a below knee double leg amp just like oscar. I had a running race at a fun day and this kid beat 90% of the field just on his stumps. I have always maintained Oscar (who is older and much fitter) wasn’t as hampered by not having his legs on as he likes to pretend.
I LOLd reading the headline haha
I feel like this is an angle they should have tried before the trial started. It just feels to me like they’re grasping at straws.
Sorry Oscar, your get out of jail card isn’t going to happen. He’s an a abuser, murder.
I have an anxiety disorder. I do not shoot people. I feel bad when I kill a spider.
In many way, this trial reminds me so much of the OJ Simpson trial. Piles of evidence, celebrity couple, rage and violence. And somewhere in the back of my mind is the thought that Pistorius will find a way to walk away from these charges as a free man.
Anxiety, my a**.
I’ve had anxiety since my teens…I’ve never acted out aggressively. Ever.
@Punky, unfortunately I have the feeling he may get off too. I hope justice is served but in the back of my mind, I’m thinking it won’t be.
I have anxiety disorder too from my early teens. A symptom is feeling like everyone knows, that you are showing signs in public, if anything it makes you want to hide from people, not turn violent.
@xxx – yes, exactly. I can’t speak for anyone else, but the triggering of the “fight or flight syndrome” makes me run and hide. I can’t imagine being in the thick of anxiety and having the presence of mind to load a weapon, fire repeatedly, etc..
PunkyMomma, the fact that you run and hide when you feel the flight or fight is probably more related to you being female. It’s what we are taught to do. Oscar, especially in a violent culture such as South Africa, would have likely been taught to fight, particularly if guns are a valid/legal resource. Not that I am defending him – I think he is guilty – I just think that you can’t understand being the opposite way because that is not how you are, but it doesn’t mean everyone is the same.
As for whether he is mobile without his legs, here’s my take: In order to become an athlete, his fake legs would have to become an extension of himself – to run comfortably he would need to feel comfortable with the fake legs, and in order for that to happen, he would first need to feel comfortable with his real legs. To get the best usage out of his legs, he would need to be perfectly in control and mobile with and without the fake legs.
Anyway, initially I thought that Oscar would go free, but something has changed now. I think he will go to prison for a very long time.
@Punky-thank you!! I am so sick of these hi-jackings of disorders (that had never come up before) just to serve getting this murdering , sociopath ba$tard off these charges. And spot on of this being similar in some ways to OJ. I hope he goes away forever.
He should feel anxious, he shot his girlfriend and will most likely end up in jail.
I would be curious to hear an outline of his movements leading up to shooting- Im interested in his mobility at the instant of firing the shots.
I would feel extra vulnerable being locked up in a bathroom, nowhere to escape, while the gun-toting boyfriend is outside, not having looked for me, begins shooting through the door even though I have screamed.
If she had two phones in there with her, I think she ran in there while they were fighting, intending to call for help. The bullet trajectory supposedly shows a downward angle (indicating he was wearing his blades). A neighbor claims the screaming began before the shooting. I don’t think he misunderstood anything. If he was screaming for her to run and hide, etc. – she would have been yelling back – WTF?
The defense has disputed a lot of what the media has reported, so I don’t know at this point what is or isn’t true. I definitely feel he’s guilty. Everyone has an opinion, and my favorite is the attorney who got George Zimmerman off for murder, saying Pistorius’ self-defense claim is without merit.
One South African made a case that it might have been possible for him to get off. Just going off what he said – he claims there is still huge amounts of tension in the country, and fellow white South Africans lay the blame of the violent culture on the black community. He speculated that Pistorius would have had a chance with that defense accept – the judge is black and she’s the sole vote. It certainly would be interesting to hear him blame the black culture when a white man kills a white woman.
I don’t know how he justified telling the security people that everything was fine, meanwhile Reeva’s dying. Just don’t get it. The very thought that the boogie man breaks in to kill you, but cowers in the toilet. is ridiculous.
I’m South African and there be a high crime rate in the country but 90% of the ppl u speak to here black, white, Indian or chinese will tell u that they think he is guilty. The biggest problem with this case was the botch up the police did when they entered the scene of the crime and after. I do believe he shopuld be found guilty.
I’m not a doctor or anything , but the guy has rage issues and is a dangerous narcissist. End of story.
THIS
Co-sign.
I love how the collective reaction to his claims of anxiety has been a big point and laugh. Everyone’s seeing through his BS and get to see what a pathetic little shit this serial abuser is…which is something they absolutely hate. Makes me happy thinking he’s in his own personal hell.
If only Reeva had gotten so much consideration before her fate was decided
Agreed. Where’s her justice? Oscar sure as hell didn’t have any mercy or compassion for her.
At the very least this puts an end to one of his excuses. I am sure there will be more excuses that follow, but it does feel a bit satisfying to have some kind of reality check here.
He felt “vulnerable” because of his disability? Try being a woman.
As a woman I find that comment extremely offensive.
why? Im a woman and I agree. Women ARE vulnerable in our society, and especially in South Africa. Do you know about the rape stats in that place?
Something tells me that the lack of legs is part of Oscar’s mindset but not in the way they are attempting to describe here. I think Oscar is a bully and like most bullies he used what he perecieved as lack of power due to his disability to lord over Reeva and terrorize her. He lacks something so he takes it out on women who are seen as more vulneravle than he is. If this man gets away with it, the SA government will be slapping all of their country’s women who have been subjected to relationship violence. But I do have hope he will be found guilty if they are not letting him get away with an insanity defense.
I hate this POS. He deserves life. But
He will probably get 25 yrs. No less than that.
Well then he is f*cked. His defense team probably needed the extra time to try to put the train wreck of a defense back on course.
He just, I hate to say it, “kills me” (but he does) with the vomiting & crying. I just hate it when people kill up a bunch of people or anybody then either turns the gun on themselves or pleads insane. WTF??? What happened to blaze n’ glory? U are a bad pistol carrying MF, right? Face justice or a firing squad of policemen. Cowards. Ugh.
Anyway . . . Who n the hell hears a sound in their home AND NOT check for the whereabouts of their significant other FIRST or their children BEFORE shooting?!? IF u most shot (which I’m side-eyeing), u don’t call into a locked bathroom door: “Baby, is that u? If u don’t answer, give your soul to God cause your ass is mine.” U don’t first try to ascertain who is in there to AVOID sh*t like this?
I hope when the prosecution is through with him that he truly wont have a prosthetic leg to stand on.
Sorry about that but the senseless / in the heat of anger sh*t needs to stop.
This guy is just so horrible. I don’t really know much about the legal system in South Africa, but every time I see his smug trial faces, I pray it doesn’t end up another OJ situation.
And the Oscar goes to…
Sane, and evil. Very, very evil.