Double-amputee Olympian, Oscar Pistorius, was granted bail today in a Pretoria court, allowing him to be released from a South African jail, where he’s been held after being charged with the Valentine’s Day shooting death of this girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius sobbed throughout the week-long bail hearing as prosecutors accused him of premeditated murder, which the star athlete denies, saying the shooting death of his girlfriend was an accident because he mistakenly believed he was shooting at an intruder.
Magistrate Desmond Nair read the decision to grant bail in court today, concluding that Pistoria was not a flight risk.
"The issue before me is whether this accused, being who is and the assets he has [here], would seek to duck and dive all over the world," Nair said. "The accused has made a case to be released on bail," he added.
Nair also told the court he had to decide whether Pistorius would be a danger to others, concluding that although Pistorius has been accused of using foul language against people in arguments and once threatened to break someone's legs, he was no different from someone who had been arrested for violence.
During today’s hearing, Pistorius continued sobbing while his defense team fought for his innocence, accusing investigators of bad police work and saying the prosecution misinterpreted the assigning of intent by transferring Pistoria’s intent to shoot an intruder onto his girlfriend – who was someone Pistoria and his attorneys have repeatedly insisted he did not want to kill.
Comments