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‘BLADE RUNNER’ OSCAR Pistorius, facing trial for having shot dead his girlfriend, hopes to secure bail today as prosecutors struggled to regain lost ground after the replacement of the lead officer in the investigation.
South Africa’s police commissioner Riah Phiyega announced that lead officer Hilton Botha was being replaced after local media revealed he faced seven attempted murder charges for having opened fire on a minibus in 2009.
Charges against Botha, initially brought in 2009 and later withdrawn, had now been reinstated, said police spokesman Neville Malila. They themselves had only been informed on Wednesday, he added.
The development further embarrassed the prosecution, which has seen its evidence repeatedly picked apart during the bail hearing for Pistorius over the Valentine’s Day killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29.
Prosecutors do not accept the sprinter’s explanation that he accidentally shot dead the model after mistaking her for a burglar. They have charged him with “premeditated murder” because of relationship problems.
But as the bail hearings enter a fourth day today, some lawyers following the case say the state has failed to present a strong enough case to keep Pistorius behind bars.
Botha’s removal from the case comes a day after Pistorius’ defence team went after him in the witness box.
Summing up his case yesterday, defence lawyer Barry Roux told the court: “The poor quality of the evidence of investigating officer Botha further exposed … the disastrous shortcomings in the state’s case.”
Roux had earlier cast doubt on key prosecution witness evidence suggesting the couple, who had been dating since late last year, had had an argument before the shooting.
Prosecutors have also backtracked on allegations that police had found testosterone and needles in a dresser in Pistorius’s bedroom. They later said the substance was unknown.
Steenkamp was found by medics in the early hours of Thursday last week at Pistorius’s luxury Pretoria home covered in bloodied towels, with bullet wounds to her head, elbow and hip. She died at the scene.
In a statement read out in court earlier this week Pistorius said that he had fired at the door of the bathroom as he was “filled with horrible fear” that someone had sneaked in through an open window in the dead of night.
The 26-year-old athlete has previously said he kept a gun in his bedroom because of fears of violent burglary.
The Olympian and Paralympian sprinter, who has been in police custody for over a week, could face months or perhaps years in pre-trial detention if he does not win bail.
More as we get it.
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But only the darker skin people died so in his book it is a success.
@Jeanniejampots: Not only, the fact any darker skin people died is a resounding success for him
@Chris Hammond: they dont have electrical college votes so get didn’t care
More casualties than 9/11 & 90 billion in damages, yea sure that’s o.k. So, does he even know what he’s talking about? You would have to wonder!
Trump Trump Trump, the Journal has a serious hard on for Trump
@Karen Ryan: you’ve a serious hard on for Ben Shapiro.
@West Cork Lad: how come ?
@Karen Ryan: Are you ok? Can you not find another news outlet?
@Karen Ryan: So the press should ignore it when someone in as high a position as Trump says something that is very clearly not true??. The press writes so much about Trump because he gives them good reason to most of the time plus the job of the press and of any form of journalism is to hold those in power accountable for there actions and if Trump says something asinine as this the press has a right to call him on it because even a die hard Trump supporter shouldn’t be him here, the stats speak for themselves and the US handling of the hurricane was a shambles as shown by the fact that the death toll is still rising almost a year later
@Karen Ryan: he is a tool.
@Seamus Mc Meel: I’m great Seamus thanks for asking , I have plenty of news outlets I watch them all its good to take it all in ……
Not to mention the electricity rebuilding contractor Whitefish Energy, and ties to a major Trump donor
Trump Derangement Syndrome in motion again. He is damned when does & damned when he doesn’t.
@Declan Carroll: Because he Does stupid stuff and Doesn’t do anything good for anyone
@Ciarān: This was from news reports at the time :
9,500 cargo containers with medicine, food, and other goods were stuck at the port of San Juan. It noted they need the local truck drivers to move the goods if they’re going to receive the next shipment of supplies currently on its way.
CNBC blamed failure to move the supplies on the inability of trucking companies to contact their drivers to get them to go to work and on a lack of fuel for the delivery trucks. Local media have reported a different reason: truck drivers with the Puerto Rican Teamsters Union, Frente Amplio, are allegedly refusing to move the supplies.
According to the local TV station WAPA, the strike is over a recently passed law: “el proyecto del Senado 525 que da paso a la Ley de Transformación Administrativa de la Comisión de Servicio Público,” also called “el Proyecto del Senado 525.”
The law caused a rift with unions by placing control and regulation of public transportation in Puerto Rico under the local Public Service Commission.
Colonel Michael A. Valle, director of the Joint Air Component Coordination Element, responsible for Hurricane Maria relief efforts in the area, told Huffington Post, “The aid is getting to Puerto Rico. The problem is distribution … Supplies we have. Trucks we have. There are ships full of supplies, backed up in the ports.
Valle said the problem is “only 20 percent of the truck drivers show up to work.” there were other reports that the union drivers wanted $50 an hour to deliver .
and now it’s Trumps fault !!
Who said anything about the Puerto Ricans ? I was referring to the management if you read the post and just to clarify I didn’t cut and paste from the daily caller I posted from another site but I must have a look and see what they did report. it aint no comedy at all my dear very tragic what happened but you had the mayor of San Juan blaming Trump when the relief was there. she is trying to cover up for her incompetence the same woman is been sued by Yadira Molina
@neilo: Who said anything about the Puerto Ricans ? I was referring to the management if you read the post and just to clarify I didn’t cut and paste from the daily caller I posted from another site but I must have a look and see what they did report. it aint no comedy at all my dear very tragic what happened but you had the mayor of San Juan blaming Trump when the relief was there. she is trying to cover up for her incompetence the same woman is been sued by Yadira Molina
@Karen Ryan: he’s a nob and a tool.
@Karen Ryan: you are so full of it
Trump should have enacted his weather control powers
Most of those criticizing Trump’s FEMA response in Puerto Rico have nothing to say about George W Bush and Katrina.
Hysterical since the Puerto Rico response was being hampered by the mayor of San Juan for months
@Drian Buffy: Your right .. Trump just upholding the tradition of privatisation following a disaster.
While the Journal continuously post about Trump where is their report on the EU copyright directive is ADOPTED by the European Parliament with 438 votes in favor, 226 against and 39 abstentions. Publishers rights and platform liability for copyrighted content are in the text. this is bad news for us ,
@Karen Ryan: go home Karen
@Colin Reilly: I’m at home , or was that statement “shut up” I enjoy free speech and if it offends you don’t read it …………. don’t call the hurty police line on me now …!!
Some needs to say it “A BULLSHITTER”
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