Is murder caused by deliberately shooting a weapon still considered a heinous act when the target remains unknown? In 2013, the South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius was accused of killing his girlfriend. Pistorius claimed not-guilty and declared his version of the scenario with the jury. However, the evidence had its own story to tell. Oscar and his girlfriend were in bed and he awoke in the middle of the night to retrieve some fans from another section of their apartment. Pistorius claims that Ms. Steenkamp murmured “Can’t you sleep my baba?” as he got up. Upon his arrival back to the bedroom Oscar heard a noise coming from the bathroom which startled him and triggered a reaction. Under the assumption that an intruder had entered his home he grabbed his pistol and …show more content…
Steenkamp time to react to the pain. The last piece of evidence the jury had was merely a question. How did Oscar fire four rapid shots at an
A SUMMARY OF OSCAR PISTORIUS TRIAL
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unknown killer without locating his girlfriend first to ensure her safety? The battle went back and forth between the two sides.
One’s perception is the way they interpret or understand something. This concept is a big part of psychology because everyone’s unique minds perceive things differently. Perception also played a role in the Pistorius case. Oscar had his own perception of the chain of events that occurred the night of his girlfriend’s death and viewed the situation as an accident. However, the opposing side of the court room perceived the murder as just that, an intentional murder. Both sides were revealed to the jury and then their perception ultimately determined the fate for Oscar.
Besides perception, this case relates to the biology and behavior portion of psychology as well.
Oscar claimed this situation was an accident and that he acted out of fear and self-defense. This kind of behavior is caused by the adrenal glands which enable the fight or flight response