After an almost two-hour reading by Magistrate Desmond Nair, Olympic athlete and walking punchline Oscar Pistorius was granted bail overnight in Pretoria, South Africa, over a week after the tragic, high-profile <3alentine’s Day shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, for which he is charged with premeditated murder.
Even after four days of reportedly riveting testimony, Nair expressed doubts over the claims detailed in Pistorius’s unusual handwritten affidavit, asking “Why would [Pistorius] venture further into danger” by pursuing his imagined intruder with a gun when, like in a cool choose-your-own-adventure style novel, there were so many other options available to him at the time; like not shooting his girlfriend, or skipping ahead to Chapter 6.
However, Nair conceded that “the accused has made a case to be released on bail” and stated his handwritten testimony actually helped his cause. Nair then proceeded to deliver a nearly two-hour ruling explicating on the botched handling of the case by Hilton Botha and the requirements of his release, which states he must submit bail of 1 million rand ($110,656.46 AUD), surrender his passport, firearms and alcohol, and ‘check in’ at Pretoria’s Brooklyn police on the daily.
Nair ruled that Pistorius, who is described as having stood in the dock alternately weeping and composed, is not a flight risk and does not pose further danger to society and thus could be released, prompting cries of “Yesssssssss!” from Pistorius’s family. He also anticipated further questions, including ‘Why didn’t Pistorius definitely locate Steenkamp if he feared the presence of an intruder? Why didn’t he determine who was in the bathroom before shooting four times?’ Also, ‘what the fuck?’
“These are improbabilities that need to be explored,” said Nair, when Pistorius returns to court after an extended break June 4th for a procedural preliminary hearing.
In the interim, Pistorius will be staying at his uncle Arnold’s house and his trainer is keen to get him back into training ASAP:
“The sooner he can start working the better,” said the keen bean trainer of Oscar Pistorius.
The trainer’s name is Ampie Louw.
You could not make this stuff up.
via AP
Photo via Getty Images
