Stupid Analogy



Some lawyers enjoy inflated reputations and charge exorbitant fees, but that doesn't mean these high flying legal eagles don't say crass and stupid things from time to time.

Here's a perfect example from Barry Roux in which he argues that his famous client, Oscar Pistorius, lost control because of a 'slow burn' of anxiety that made him act like an abused woman who finally attacks her abusive husband.

Now that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time, I have to say, and not just because it's an insult to victims of abuse and domestic violence everywhere.  

Oscar Pistorius is the only witness to what happened that night because his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, is dead but his defence is ridiculous, in my view, because he had no good reason to the fire four shots from a powerful handgun which killed Reeva Steenkamp unless he was certain that his life was at risk.

Which it wasn't and as a gun enthusiast Oscar Pistorius knew that four 'zombie stopper' bullets would kill anyone on the other side of his bathroom door he had know right or reason to discharge his weapon. 

So, in my view, the former athlete has to be guilty of murder even if you believe his story that the whole business was just a terrible mistake.  

Judge in Oscar Pistorius murder trial to deliver verdict on 11 September


Defence lawyer says 'slow burn' of anxiety made paralympian act like abused woman who finally attacks her husband

AFP in Pretoria - The Guardian

Oscar Pistorius leaving the high court in Pretoria after hearing the date for the verdict. 


Photograph: Mujahid Safodien/AFP/Getty Images

The judge in the five-month murder trial of South African Paralympic and Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius said on Friday she would deliver her verdict on 11 September.

Double-amputee Pistorius, 27, once a national icon, is accused of murdering Reeva Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, at his home in Pretoria on Valentine's Day last year.

He faces 25 years in jail if convicted, but has pleaded not guilty, saying he shot Steenkamp in a tragic accident, mistaking her for an intruder.

After two days in which defence and prosecution counsels delivered their closing arguments, Thokozile Masipa said: "We shall be back here on the 11th of September at 9:30 for the judgment."

During a trial that has heard testimony from nearly 40 witnesses, the athlete – celebrated for his journey from disabled child to Olympic athlete – often cut a wretched figure.

Amid gruesome evidence about Steenkamp's gunshot wounds to the head, hip and hand Pistorius vomited in the dock and later frequently broke down in tears.

Proceedings ended on Friday with defence lawyer Barry Roux insisting the "cold facts" did not prove his client's guilt and that the state's case was "circumstantial".

Roux sought to show there was enough doubt about the prosecution to make a murder conviction impossible. He said the evidence suggested the paralympian should never have faced a murder trial, but rather the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

The defence has sought to explain Pistorius's actions as those of a "highly-vulnerable individual" obsessed with safety – a result of a difficult childhood and his disability – in a country with a high crime rate.

The trial was delayed for a month as Pistorius underwent psychiatric evaluation. An ensuing report said he was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, but not any mental illness that could prevent him being held criminally responsible for his actions.

Roux said on Friday that the "slow burn" caused by Pistorius's anxiety is comparable to that of an abused woman who finally attacks her husband.. The judge asked: "How does it apply to the accused in this case?".

Roux replied: "That constant reminder, I do not have legs, I cannot run away, I am not the same, that's with him, he can't pretend, he can't pretend that it's fine."

On Thursday Pistorius, was branded a "deceitful" witness by prosecutor Gerrie Nel in his final arguments. He said Pistorius's efforts to concoct an alibi had led to a "snowball effect" of lies requiring more lies to back them up.

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