Let Him Stew, Let Him Stew, Let Him Stew
Alex Crawford @AlexCrawfordSky Apr 11
#OscarPistorius Nel wants to adjourn until
Monday. Wants OP to stew all over the weekend worrying about facing him again.
Or maybe he just wanted to allow the very tired looking Oscar Pistorius,
and his equally tired looking family, as reported by Alex Crawford, the chance
to rest up this weekend!
Seriously. During cross examination, Gerrie Nel required to refer to the bail application. He addressed the Judge and said something like - it's always at times like this that what you are looking for is not available. As it was not available he then had to continue but go down a different route in his questioning until such times as he could refer to said bail application. He made it clear this is what he would do.
His need to view the bail application resulted from an intervention in proceedings by Barry Roux, a point raised by him.
Gerrie Nel continued his cross examination. A short time later is when he asked the Judge to adjourn.
From the above tweet some might get the impression that the reason contained therein was the reason behind Nel requesting the adjournment. He may have seen the need to refer to the bail application which was not immediately available to him, as killing two birds with one stone, and seized the opportunity to 'let Pistorius stew' (hats off to him if he did, though how much stewing a guy like Pistorius would do, I'm not sure) but that is all part of the 'legal game.'
Court proceedings have been adjourned time, and time again due to the antics and theatrics of Pistorius - that is how the Defence have, and are playing the game.
When Barry Roux/Pistorius did this, and they have done so, many times throughout this case, requested the proceedings be adjourned, it prolonged the agony for the Steenkamp family, dragging out the case in this way.
Why then would anyone be concerned about Pistorius having a couple of hours longer to wait before cross examination re-commences?
And let us get it straight, we are only talking a couple of hours. The Court adjourned after 1pm Friday afternoon. There have been few days when it has continued much past 2pm.
It is the weekend, the Court would not be sitting at the weekend. So putting this in perspective, we are talking 2 hours tops that 'poor Pistorius' would have to stew. Not long enough if you ask me!
The only way we can say that he has been left to stew BY Gerrie Nel over the weekend is, if we are absolutely certain that Gerrie Nel, had intended, before the issue of the bail application was raised, to close his cross examination on Friday afternoon, then didn't!
I know Alex Crawford has shown what seems to me at least, the greatest
sympathy for Pistorius, and that the Defence have blamed everyone from police,
witnesses to Miss Steenkamp for all manner of things, but blaming Gerrie Nel
for the 'weekend' for Saturday and Sunday falling between Friday and Monday? Come on!
Perhaps Pistorius should think of it as a gift...a few more
hours at home than he might otherwise have if the case had jogged along quicker
with him perhaps closer to a jail cell!
And maybe Pistorius/Defence team welcomed the adjournment? Pistorius was on ropes just waiting for the knockout blow to be thrown, maybe he felt he had been saved by the bell!
Martin Hood a South African Legal Expert was asked about Nel requesting
this adjournment. I tend to prefer his more fair and balanced statement in this
regard.
Martin Hood SA Legal Expert 11th April 2014
I assume tactical here.
Keeping Pistorius on brink he wants to keep him unnerved until Monday.
I think also he wants the opportunity to go through bail application, he
intimated he needed to refer to it but he didn’t have it immediately available so I think he wants to go back and make reference to certain elements
that are set out in the bail application.
I think there is a very important sub text here though which Nel is
going to bring up on Monday, and that is, on taking Oscar through certain
elements of what happened on that day, he’s actually leading up to proving the
intent to commit murder. He indicated that he went into a confrontation
instead of moving out of a confrontation And, as I’ve indicated
it’s one of those unwritten rules when you are a firearm owner, that taking
someone else’s life with a firearm is an absolute last resort. And now
Nel has got him to concede - 'Yes – I was standing up for myself, I
was going into that confrontation' and that is going towards
proving intention.
l-azzeri-lies-in-the-sun.com
12th April 2014