A stunned silence washed over a Pretoria, South African court room today as Judge Thokozile Masipa let it be known that she has not found Oscar Pistorius guilty of premeditated murder. In a long, detailed statement, the presiding judge informed those in attendance that she didn't believe that the prosecution presented a strong enough case to convince her that Oscar had intentionally fired four shots through a bathroom door intending to kill his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
As Yahoo! Sports points out, Masipa does believe that the former track star was "negligent" which means that he can still be found guilty of "culpable murder," a charge similar to involuntary manslaughter here in the U.S. If Masipa does find Pistorius guilty of that then he still could be facing a maximum of 15 years in prison. The judge believes that the blade runner 'acted too quickly and used excessive force' and that Reeva was killed because of it. She also informed the courtroom that Pistorius was a horrible witness when testifying and that he came across as 'evasive'. Still Masipa believed that the gray area in the case was too big to convict him of murder.
Both the Pistorius and Steenkamp families will have to wait until Friday for Masipa to hand down her final decision in the case. If Pistorius goes free then the prosecution can still appeal the verdict and there's a chance that the Olympian could still face a murder conviction. If you have been following this case over the last six months did you believe that Oscar Pistorius would be convicted of murder?
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