Celebrities and the Law

Carrie Ann wrote:Or doing the most basic thing, like yelling, "Who's in there?" to which Reeva probably would have responded.

Doesn't he say he DID call out? In which case, he expects us to buy that his girlfriend decided to ignore him and not say, "It's just me"?

And who thinks they hear an intruder and their first instinct isn't to, you know, ask the person in bed with them if they heard it too? Or to tell your girlfriend to get out of the house and call the cops if you think there's honestly someone who broke in the house?

Carrie Ann wrote:Or doing the most basic thing, like yelling, "Who's in there?" to which Reeva probably would have responded.

Or, you know, just reaching over to her side of the bed with the intent of making sure she was awake and asking if she heard what he did. I admit I do not live in a high-crime society so I know all my assumptions are different (I mean, when his father or uncle or whatever said, "if you hear a noise in the night, no one would assume it's a member of their family!" I was all, "I WOULD! EVERY TIME!") but it seems like the first thing you'd do is make sure the other person in the room was awake and knew what was going on.

Sorry, I meant that I don't believe he called out for that reason--it doesn't line up. He says that he thought Reeva was still in bed, but apparently she never stirred while he both shouted to an intruder and retrieved the gun from her side of the bed in order to go after the Bathroom Bandit. And even if he was convinced she was there, he didn't bother checking on her or warning her about the danger? Give me a break. [ETA: what Coneycat said.]

His career is over, regardless. One of the reasons Lance Armstrong could come back (but probably won't in any significant way) is that he's been a major figure in his sport and US culture for like 15 years. Pistorius only became known to most of the world this summer. I don't think people will be clamoring to forgive him. Also, Lance's crime was doping, lying, and being an appalling dickhead to other people. He didn't murder anyone in cold blood.

So much of what he claims happened that night doesn't ring true for me. I agree, if you think you hear someone in your house at night, surely the very first thing you do is wake up the person in bed next to you? To ask if they heard it, to warn them, to ask them to back you up while you look... it's just the obvious first step. At the very least you look to see if they're there, in case the source of the noise is them. And then you find your supposed intruder in the bathroom? What do you think they're doing in your bathroom?

My faith in the South African police to sort the truth out, however, dwindles further with each day.

And then you find your supposed intruder in the bathroom? What do you think they're doing in your bathroom?

And his first instinct is to go to the balcony, when he thought the intruder was in the bathroom also seems odd. Especially, if you know only have stumps for legs (that is the word he used in the article)! I have to imagine that even though at the initial hearing they hadn't made a precise trajectory of the bullets but I imagine it should be fairly easy to tell if he had on his prosthetics are not. But then again maybe I just watch L&O too much.

He claimed he yelled to warn Reeva, then yelled at the intruder, then fired shots.

So...accepting his version of the events, it's entirely possible that Reeva in the bathroom thought there was an intruder outside. In her place (although, yes, I am not from an area with violent crime like SA), I probably would have stayed in the locked room and been quiet, at least for a few minutes. In his statement, he fired through the door immediately after yelling, so she may or may not have had time to announce herself. She may not have known where he was yelling at. Which brings us right back around to him shooting at a noise that was not a danger to him without making any effort to get away from it OR even determine it was a threat.

I think his career is over, too. I think murdering someone, even 'accidentally,' with a gun ends all goodwill. He's either a violent asshole or a violent giant idiot with a gun fetish.

I have no idea what the gradation of charges, as it were, is like in South Africa, but in a system presided over by judges/magistrates instead of a jury, I can't see how he can be acquitted of at the very least a lesser charge equivalent to second-degree murder or manslaughter. At worst, he killed his girlfriend in a fit of rage during an argument, or intended to kill some unidentified person hiding in the toilet. At best, he displayed what good old Ben Stone used to refer to as "a depraved indifference to human life," so even if the premeditated murder charge doesn't stick, I can't see a judge failing to convict him on some lesser but still very serious charge.

And whatever happens, he's got to be sponsorship poison from here out, so I'd agree his career is probably over.

Did anyone ever elaborate on the original statement by SA police that they'd been called out to the house before for domestic incidents (presumably domestic violence)? You would think that would come up in a bail hearing where the prosecution is trying to show a propensity for violence, but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere since the first news of the shooting.

Clearly this a young woman with her priorities in the right order. I can't imagine why her career's not back on track yet!

Peter Murphy gets his first hit in years.

Facing hit and run, DUI, and meth charges.

Meth? At his age?

I love Bauhaus and his first couple of solo albums, this makes me sad. I blame his role in Eclipse, the Twilight franchise is not good for the psyche.

Never thought I'd see the day when Reese would get arrested even if only for a very brief while.

I am surprised she didn't pull the "do you know who I am" at the rental car place and upgrade from the Ford Focus.

The whole story made me literally laugh out loud. Loved the reaction of the officer, with his "I told her to sit on her butt" remark. This was even more entertaining than most of her movies!

That report reads as shit girl, you were hella drunk.

The American soil thing? Oh my God, she was plastered.

Oh my god, that was hilarious.

As the report details, “Mrs. Witherspoon asked, “Do you know my name?” I answered, “No, I don’t need to know your name.” I then added, “right now.” Mrs. Witherspoon stated, “You’re about to find out who I am.”

The report also specified, “Mrs. Witherspoon also stated, ‘You are going to be on national news.’ I advised Mrs. Witherspoon that was fine.”

I'm surprised she didn't mention her ancestor who signed the Declaration of Independence while she was at it.

The friendship with Chelsea Handler makes a lot more sense now.

Kiran wrote:That report reads as shit girl, you were hella drunk.

The American soil thing? Oh my God, she was plastered.

Yeah, that was my first thought too. The second was HEEEEEEE.

Awesome. I saw this, and wanted to link it in the Schadenfreude thread.

Is it wrong that I'm picturing this?

“Mrs. Witherspoon also stated, ‘You are going to be on national news.’ I advised Mrs. Witherspoon that was fine.”

I am kind of in love with that officer. He's as unimpressed by the famous drunks as he is by the regular drunks.

Heh, I'm probably a jerk but after this week, a headline about an actress going "Don't you know who I am!!" and getting arrested for it makes me laugh a great deal. I'd rather that always be the top news.

OMG I am like, CACKLING over here. This is literally the first public stumble I remember seeing from her and it's just hilarious. Mostly because I picture her waking up the next day and being all OH GOD and literally hiding under the covers. Thankfully, no one was hurt, so hopefully she'll be able to laugh about it eventually.

Used to like her but drunk driving (and the condoning thereof) is a "DEAD TO ME FOREVER" offense, so fuck you Reese!