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| Inside court: Day one of Pistorius bail hearing - BBC News Posted: 20 Feb 2013 08:34 AM PST
19 February 2013
Last updated at 09:47 ET
 South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius has denied intending to murder his girlfriend on the night she was shot and killed at his home. Tweeting from the courtroom, the BBC's Andrew Harding(@BBCAndrewH) described the atmosphere in court and the emotional reaction of Oscar Pistorius as prosecutors and defence lawyers sparred over what happened on the night Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed. 0600 GMT: Chaos in courthouse as journalists scramble for places at #OscarPistorius trial. Am 4th in queue.. Will that get me a seat? So much for the queue. Now waiting to be told which 10 journalists will be allowed into #OscarPistorius trial. 0700 GMT: Greetings from the benches of court C. #OscarPistorius bail hearing postponed from Friday to start soon. #OscarPistorius father and other friends and relatives sitting here. Cameras waiting for athlete to walk in. #OscarPistorius big power point projection screen on wall. Likely to be used for evidence. Hushed atmosphere now. 0800 GMT: #Pistorius arrives in court. Blue suit tie and shirt. Standing as magistrate tells photographers not to shoot or publish pictures. Pistorius head in hands crying. Prosecutor Nel addressing court. #OscarPistorius sitting a metre from me. Eyes shut now. Sobbing again. Jaw clenched. Hands in lap. Magistrate asks him if he's ok and understands proceedings. He replies "yes" in clear voice. #OscarPistorius still sobbing as prosecutor says he shot through closed door so premeditated murder even if he thought it was burglar. "Yes your worship" says #OscarPistorius to questions about court procedure. Now defence lawyer arguing 0900 GMT: #OscarPistorius sobbing hard now as defence continues. "May have been argument earlier" with Reeva but not proof of murder. No premeditation. No reason to think fact that door broken suggests guilt. He shot first then broke it to discover his mistake says defence lawyer. #OscarPistorius defence speculates that prosecution will argue that Reeva was scared and wanted to break up and hence premeditation. No evidence of premeditated murder says his lawyer. #OscarPistorius lawyer argues with passion. Much more forceful than prosecution. Prosecution now on attack. "Cold fact - I walk see closed door and I shoot... Deal with motive later." Prosecution: not like waking up with someone over your bed and shoot on instinct. No, he woke, put on legs, took gun and walked 7m to shoot. 1000 GMT: Prosecution says tiny bathroom. Nowhere for Reeva to go. #OscarPistorious leaves court for short break. Magistrate ensures no photos or video taken. #OscarPistorius is just back in court as Reeva Steencamp's memorial service ending. More discussions about the meaning of "premeditated" and the occasional joke from the magistrate Nair. #OscarPistorius silently mouths some words in anguish as magistrate mentions possibility of life imprisonment. 1100 GMT: #OscarPistorius magistrate gives blow to athlete's chances of bail with early ruling on premeditated murder not murder. For now. #OscarPistorius reacts with more tears then leaves court for another break. #OscarPistorius family gather in group to hold hands and hug. Magistrate says he could change ruling on premeditated murder at end of hearing. 1200 GMT: Prosecutor Nel tells me "a trial within a year" for #OscarPistorius. Back in session. Never seen someone so focused. #OscarPistorius stares straight ahead. Criminologist Laurie Pieters tell me SA law is "a marathon" and she worried about #OscarPistorius safety in jail. #OscarPistorius statement to court read by lawyer: "no intention to kill my girlfriend... No substance in allegation." Pistorius sobs. Pistorius describes night in detail. Compelling. Says Reeva must have gone to bathroom when he went to get fan from balcony. Pitch dark in bedroom. I thought intruder in bathroom. Used cricket bat to break door. I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable. Horror and fear. 1300 GMT: #OscarPistorius friend now tells of serious relationship between Oscar and Reeva. They made each other laugh. Very much in love. Absolutely mortified by loss of Reeva. I trust South African legal system. Another friend says #OscarPistorius told him Reeva could be "the one" he would marry. When I reached the bed I realised Reeva not in bed. Dawned on me that she might be in the toilet. I shouted at Reeva to phone police. Knew I had to protect Reeva and myself. Friend of Reeva's calls #OscarPistorius a polite well mannered humble man. Epitome of gentleman. Reeva's friend says victim told her she would "probably say yes" if #OscarPistorius asked her to marry him Incredibly compelling testimony from #OscarPistorius and friends. "It just sounds true" says journalist beside me in court. Too scripted says a criminologist. Unconvinced. Statement by #OscarPistorius doesn't deal with reports of arguments at home that night. OscarPistorius hearing adjourns till tomorrow. State prosecution admits they need to do more work after defence statement. |
| Boehner, WH trade blame for sequester - CBS News Posted: 20 Feb 2013 08:18 AM PST With just a little over a week to avert them, it appears increasingly likely the $1.2 trillion in so-called sequester cuts will go into effect. That's left House Speaker John Boehner trading blame with the White House for the stalemate. Boehner penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday evening called, "The President Is Raging Against a Budget Crisis He Created." He blasted President Obama for publicly shaming Republicans for failing to avert the sequester. Mr. Obama yesterday said that "Republicans have a choice" between putting the economy at risk, for the sake of protecting special interests, and compromising to protect investments in things like health care and national security. However, in his op-ed, Boehner charged that the public "might not realize from Mr. Obama's statements is that [the sequester] is a product of the president's own failed leadership." The $1.2 trillion sequester cuts, which were initially set to kick in on Jan. 1, emerged out of Congress' 2011 budget negotiations. Congress agreed that if a congressional "supercommittee" couldn't come up with an acceptable deficit reduction plan, Congress would just slash $1.2 trillion from the budget over 10 years -- half coming from defense spending and half from non-defense. Nearly everyone in Washington agrees that indiscriminately slashing $1.2 trillion would damage the economy, but lawmakers can't agree on a deficit reduction package with which to replace the cuts. Given the economic damage the sequester would inflict, Congress this year stalled the cuts for two months -- which is why they're set to go into effect in March. Unless Congress acts in the next week and a half, $85 billion in across-the-board cuts will kick in this year. Boehner argues, "There is nothing wrong with cutting spending that much--we should be cutting even more--but the sequester is an ugly and dangerous way to do it." Boehner also blamed Mr. Obama for insisting on inserting the "sequester" plan into the 2011 budget deal. Originally, the speaker said Congress wanted a plan to stop debt limit increases if the "supercommittee" failed. "But President Obama," Boehner charged, "was determined not to face another debt-limit increase before his re-election campaign. Having just blown up one deal, the president scuttled this bipartisan, bicameral agreement. His solution? A sequester." Boehner said that Republicans are unwilling to agree to any more tax hikes in any plan to avert the sequester. "Mr. President, we agree that your sequester is bad policy," he wrote. "What spending are you willing to cut to replace it?" The White House was quick to respond, with White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer calling Boehner's op-ed "an amazing act of revisionist history." In a White House blog post, Pfeiffer notes said, "it was the Speaker who praised the sequester at the time." He notes that Boehner, in a 2011 interview with CBS News, said of the budget deal, "When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted. I'm pretty happy." He also noted that the 2011 deal passed in the GOP-led House of Representatives with the support of 174 Republicans, including Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Pfeiffer points out that both Mr. Obama and congressional Democrats have put forward plans to avert the sequester and blasted Republicans for their resolute objections to closing any tax loopholes. He challed congressional Republicans to vote once more on the legislation the GOP passed last year to avert the sequester. "Where is the Republican plan? The GOP bill expired," he wrote. "If they're confident the draconian cuts will win support in Congress and more importantly - with the American people -- they should bring it up for a vote." |
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