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Pistorius Bail Ruling Is Expected Friday Magistrate Grants Bail for Pistorius
(about 3 hours later)
PRETORIA, South Africa — A South African magistrate said he will rule on Friday whether Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee track star accused of murdering his girlfriend, will be granted bail in a case that has riveted the nation. PRETORIA, South Africa — After four days of combative hearings, a South African magistrate on Friday granted bail for Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee track star accused of murdering his girlfriend, in a case that has horrified and fascinated the nation and much of the world.
The decision will be announced in the early afternoon when the court resumes after a midday recess, according to Magistrate Desmond Nair, who listened to final arguments between the defense and prosecution over whether bail should be granted. Magistrate Desmond Nair announced the decision after hearing impassioned final arguments from the defense and the prosecution in Courtroom C of the Pretoria Magistrates Court in the presence of an emotional Mr. Pistorius, who has testified that he mistook his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, for an intruder and never intended to kill her.
The prosecution opposes the sprinter’s application to be released on bail until a full trial, arguing that he might flee. It says Mr. Pistorius committed the premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law school graduate, when he fired four shots through a locked bathroom door at his home in a gated community while she was on the other side in the early hours of Feb. 14. He has said he believed the person in the bathroom was an intruder. The magistrate said Mr. Pistorius did not represent a flight risk and was not likely to interfere with state witnesses. “The accused has made a case to be released on bail,” he concluded. Pistorius family members in the packed courtroom shouted, “Yes!”
Premeditated murder is the most serious murder charge under South African criminal law and carries a mandatory life sentence with parole in 25 years at the latest. Magistrate Nair set bail at 1 million rand, about $112,000, and ordered a series of conditions before the case was adjourned to June 4. Mr. Pistorius was told to relinquish firearms and passports, avoid his home and make no contact with witnesses. He was also told that he could not leave the Pretoria area without official permission and could not use drugs or alcohol while the trial is pending.
Mr. Pistorius’s lawyer, Barry Roux, said Friday that if he were prosecuting the case, the charge would be culpable homicide — a less serious charge implying either negligence or a lack of intention to kill. Before announcing his ruling, the magistrate reprised the four days of conflicting arguments by defense and prosecution lawyers. Mr. Pistorius’s shoulders shook with emotion and tears fell from his eyes as, at one point, Magistrate Nair said, “The deceased died in his arms.”
With his head bowed as he entered the court on Friday, Mr. Pistorius appeared to be struggling to hold back tears, his jaw clenched, as the prosecutor described Ms. Steenkamp’s plight on Feb. 14. Magistrate Nair said bail was not a matter of guilt and innocence, but about determining whether justice would be served by holding a defendant in custody.
But he took issue with the testimony and actions of the prosecution’s lead investigator, Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, who has since been removed from the case, saying the officer committed “several errors and concessions” and “blundered” in gathering evidence.
“It is his evidence that may have been tarnished by cross-examination, not the state case,” he said. At the same time, the state case was not so “strong and watertight” that Mr. Pistorius “must come to the conclusion that he has to flee.”
In a two-hour summary of the case and of the laws governing bail, the magistrate also read a series of character references from friends of the athlete, who described his relationship with Ms. Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law school graduate, as loving and happy.
The prosecution had opposed the sprinter’s application to be released on bail until a full trial, arguing that he might flee. It said Mr. Pistorius, 26, murdered Ms. Steenkamp when he fired four shots through a locked bathroom door at his home in a gated community in Pretoria on Feb. 14 while she was on the other side.
The sprinter, who underwent double amputation as an infant after being born without fibula bones and uses prostheses, has said he believed that the person in the bathroom was an intruder.
Magistrate Nair said that while the prosecution case rested on “nothing more than circumstantial evidence,” there were “improbabilities that need to be explored” in Mr. Pistorius’s account of events.
“The only person who knows what happened there is the accused,” he said. But “I cannot find that it has been established that the accused is a flight risk.”
He cited legal requirements that the defense must establish “exceptional circumstances” to qualify for bail in cases of premeditated murder, the most serious murder charge under South African criminal law which carries a mandatory life sentence, with parole in 25 years at the latest.
Mr. Pistorius’s lawyer, Barry Roux, said Friday that if he were prosecuting the case, the charge would be culpable homicide — a less serious charge implying either negligence or a lack of intention to kill. Prosecutors say judges decide the sentence for culpable homicide depending on the circumstances.
With his head bowed as he entered the court on Friday in advance of the ruling, Mr. Pistorius appeared to be struggling to hold back tears, his jaw clenched, as the prosecutor described Ms. Steenkamp’s plight on Feb. 14.
“I am not saying the planning of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp happened weeks ahead, days ahead,” said the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel. “I am saying the planning to kill Reeva Steenkamp happened that night.”“I am not saying the planning of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp happened weeks ahead, days ahead,” said the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel. “I am saying the planning to kill Reeva Steenkamp happened that night.”
Ms. Steenkamp took refuge in the bathroom either to escape a fight or a gun, he said. Ms. Steenkamp took refuge in the bathroom to escape either a fight or a gun, he said.
But Magistrate Nair seemed skeptical on Friday about the risk of flight by Mr. Pistorius. “What kind of life would he lead, a person who has to use prostheses, if he has to flee” and found himself “ducking and diving every day” on artificial limbs, the magistrate asked. “His international career would be over in any event.”But Magistrate Nair seemed skeptical on Friday about the risk of flight by Mr. Pistorius. “What kind of life would he lead, a person who has to use prostheses, if he has to flee” and found himself “ducking and diving every day” on artificial limbs, the magistrate asked. “His international career would be over in any event.”
“A life not in prison,” Mr. Nel replied, comparing Mr. Pistorius to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, despite his “famous face.” “A life not in prison,” Mr. Nel replied, comparing Mr. Pistorius to the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, despite his “famous face.”
Piling on emotional pressure on Friday, Mr. Nel linked the death of Ms. Steenkamp to other violence against women in South Africa, including Anene Booysen, a 17-year-old who was raped and murdered in the Cape region earlier this month. “The degree of violence present in this case is horrific,” Mr. Nel said. Piling on emotional pressure on Friday, Mr. Nel linked the death of Ms. Steenkamp to other violence against women in South Africa, including the case of Anene Booysen, a 17-year-old who was raped and murdered in the Cape region earlier this month. “The degree of violence present in this case is horrific,” Mr. Nel said.
But Mr. Roux, the defense lawyer, said it would be impossible for Mr. Pistorius to flee South Africa if granted bail because of his artificial limbs and his global renown. “Let me tell you how difficult it is for this man to disappear from this world,” Mr. Roux said. The athlete’s longtime coach, Ampie Louw, told reporters on Friday that he is considering putting the athlete back in training “to get his mind clear.”
"He did not want to kill Reeva. He had no intent to kill Reeva," Mr. Roux said. Mr. Pistorius sobbed, as he has done frequently during the bail hearings.
The athlete’s longtime coach, Ampie Louw, told reporters on Friday that he is considering putting the athlete back in training if he secures bail “to get his mind clear.”
Mr. Pistorius has canceled planned track appearances and several corporate sponsors — the most recent of them Nike on Thursday — have distanced themselves from him.Mr. Pistorius has canceled planned track appearances and several corporate sponsors — the most recent of them Nike on Thursday — have distanced themselves from him.
While Mr. Pistorius may not be emotionally ready to think about running, Mr. Louw said, “the change is that he is heartbroken, that is all.” Mr. Louw spoke to reporters in the packed courtroom. While Mr. Pistorius may not be emotionally ready to think about running, Mr. Louw said, “the change is that he is heartbroken, that is all.”
“For me it is tough to see that. Not to be able to reach out and sit next to him and say ’Sorry, man, it was a terrible accident.’ But I cannot do it, I must just sit here in court and that’s all.” “For me it is tough to see that,” Mr. Louw said. “The sooner he can start working the better.”
“The sooner he can start working the better,” Mr. Louw said. In a poignant aside to the case, the South Africa edition of Heat, a celebrity gossip magazine, on Friday published what it said was Ms. Steenkamp’s last interview, a week before her death, in which she said the couple had not been discussing their relationship publicly in the media “because I don’t want to get it tainted.”
In a poignant aside to the case, the South Africa edition of heat, a celebrity gossip magazine, on Friday published what it said was Ms. Steenkamp’s last interview, a week before her death, in which she said the couple had not been discussing their relationship publicly in the media “because I don’t want to get it tainted. I don’t want anything coming in the way of his career. He’s such an amazing athlete.” “I don’t want anything coming in the way of his career,” she said, according to an advance excerpt from the interview. “He’s such an amazing athlete.
“You know what they do, they make things up, ‘Reeva cheats on Oscar’ and rubbish like that. I wouldn’t want lies about us jeopardizing it,” she said, according to an advance excerpt from the interview. “You know what they do, they make things up, ‘Reeva cheats on Oscar,’ and rubbish like that. I wouldn’t want lies about us jeopardizing it.”
On Thursday, the case was partially eclipsed by developments in the prosecution camp, when the South African police replaced its lead investigator, Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, after revelations that he was facing seven charges of attempted murder stemming from an episode in which police officers fired at a minivan. On Thursday, the case was partially eclipsed by developments in the prosecution camp, when the South African police replaced the lead investigator, Detective Botha, after revelations that he was facing seven charges of attempted murder stemming from an episode in which police officers fired at a minivan.
The national police commissioner, Riah Phiyega, said a divisional police commissioner, Lt. Gen. Vinesh Moonoo, would be assigned to preside over “this very important investigation.” The national police commissioner, Riah Phiyega, said a divisional police commissioner, Lt. Gen. Vinesh Moonoo, would take over the case.

Lydia Polgreen reported from Pretoria, South Africa, and Alan Cowell from London.

Lydia Polgreen reported from Pretoria, and Alan Cowell from London.