The audible sigh of relief from the watching world must have been heard loudly far & wide, mustn’t it? This South African disturbing performance of justice has apparently run it course – the actual days in Court totally submerged in the torrent of delays.

What did people really want or expect in general from the Court then? To coin a boxing metaphor “a clean honest fight, no rabbit punches & no punches below the belt, no pulling, no shoving or biting, no head butting or hair pulling, no hitting after the bell, listen to the instructions and break when told to”. Unfortunately Judge Masipa probably has never been to a professional fight, so as the Referee here, she didn’t know to tell them that – so we got it all didn’t we?

What did people really want or expect in general from the Defendant Oscar Pistorius then? A frank admission that whatever happened he screwed-up? That he took full responsibility for his disgraceful, negligent, and irresponsible actions? That his obsession with guns, firing them, their supremacy over situations, and their ‘zombie stopper’ power, had lead him down a dangerously dark pathway? That his personal character, his arrogance & lifestyle, and paranoia had engulfed him in tragedy? That he himself had destroyed his own existence by taking a human life and that indeed of a (loved?) innocent young woman? That he accepted with humility, the severest punishment, and would serve his jail time with due recognition and dignity? He would make an honest vow that after patiently & quietly serving his sentence, he planned to try to redeem his life by using his talents and abilities to do some good in his remaining years (rather than regaining his riches & personality status)? DID YOU SEE ANY OF THAT, eh?

The learned Judge Masipa will be back in Court on Tuesday October 21 to tell us all – so what should we expect? Disappointment?

Oh yes, she has sent many others to prison before, but in this case she seems to have shown surprising inconsistency in SA law interpretation (as suggested by other legal experts there), together with a strange leniency, and indulgence towards Pistorius (as seen in her acceptance of him on oath being a liar and evasive as a witness, which she herself concluded in her judgement).

ALL OVER NOW? Never!

If Pistorius is sentenced to jail, he won’t go there will he? No he will appeal (because he doesn’t accept that he has done anything wrong does he?) and will get indulgent bail (as normal).

If Pistorius is NOT sentenced to jail, then the State itself will appeal (because they still consider him guilty of murder).

[We have of course seen the ‘BIG’ question, constantly growing for many-many months now (when it has all been ‘Pistorius’, ‘Pistorius’, ‘Pistorius’) – will there ever be justice for Reeva Steenkamp?].