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 A verdict on the less serious charge of culpable homicide is still
to come.
Although judge Thokozile Masipa described the 27-year-old as a "very
poor" and "evasive" witness, she said this did not mean the track
star was necessarily guilty in a case she said was based entirely on
circumstantial evidence.
"The state has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused
is guilty of premeditated murder," Masipa told the Pretoria High
Court. "There are just not enough facts to support such a finding."
She then proceeded to absolve Pistorius, who said he shot model and
law graduate Reeva Steenkamp in the mistaken belief she was an
intruder hiding in a toilet cubicle, of the lesser murder charge of
dolus eventualis.
"Clearly he did not subjectively foresee 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," she told the packed
courtroom.
As she delivered her decision, Pistorius, who would have faced at
least 25 years behind bars for premeditated murder, sat sobbing in
the dock, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Although he has been cleared of the two murder charges, he could
still be convicted of culpable homicide for the negligent or
reckless killing of Steenkamp, who was hit by four 9mm rounds
Pistorius fired through the toilet door at his luxury Pretoria home.
Culpable homicide still carries up to 15 years in jail.
Alternatively the double-amputee could be acquitted, allowing him to
leave the court and potentially resume his career as one of the
biggest names in world athletics.
As the 66-year-old Masipa began her methodical review of the 41-day
trial and the charges - which also include three unrelated firearms
offences - a pained and forlorn Pistorius bowed his head in the
dock.
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Masipa, only the second black woman to rise to the bench in South
Africa, has remained impassive throughout the often dramatic and
gruesome court proceedings, seemingly impervious to the global
interest in a case that has drawn comparisons to the 1995 murder
trial of American football star OJ Simpson.
In one early blow to Pistorius, Masipa said defense allegations of
police contamination of the crime scene "paled into insignificance".
However, as she drew up a detailed timeline of the shooting of model
Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year, she questioned the
reliability of state witnesses, including that of a neighbor who
testified to hearing screams of a woman.
She also rejected a mass of instant messaging evidence presented by
both prosecution and defense to suggest, respectively, that the
couple's relationship was on the rocks or loving and strong.
"Normal relationships are dynamic and unpredictable most of the
time, while human beings are fickle," she said. "None of the
evidence of a loving relationship, or a relationship turned sour,
can assist this court."
(Additional reporting by Nomatter Ndebele and Peroshni Govender;
Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Joe Brock and Will Waterman)
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