Oscar Pistorius is not guilty of murder, although there is a sentiment that he got away with murder. What he is guilty of has yet to be determined.
In what first appears to be a strange halting of a verdict in midsentence, Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled Pistorius not guilty of murder in the 2013 shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
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"There just aren't enough facts to support such a finding," Masipa said.
But a lengthy discussion of the case, which was interrupted by lunch, abruptly ended less than a half-hour after the break, the New York Times reported, when Masipa called an adjournment until Friday.
She will rule on a charge of culpable homicide, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years. The Wall Street Journal reported that a judge delivering a thorough explanation for the verdicts they reach and give an indication of how that judge is inclined to rule before giving the formal verdict is not uncommon.
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It was not immediately clear whether judges in South Africa who are scheduled to announce a verdict commonly adjourn for an entire day before announcing that verdict.
A "culpable homicide" charge, also known as "manslaughter," has wide latitude in terms of sentencing in South Africa, the Wall Street Journal added. The punishment could be as lenient as a fine to as heavy as 15 years in prison.
The Times added that rulings of long prison terms for culpable homicide, defined as killing through negligence rather than intent, are rare.
It is the possibility of the leniency that prompted a prominent South African defense lawyer, Martin Hood, to decry Masipa's dismissal of the murder charge.
"It sends a terrible message about how we tolerate crime in South Africa," said Martin Hood, a prominent defense lawyer. "The message is that you can just kill someone and get away with it."
Masipa also is expected to render a verdict on three lesser firearms charges.
She did assert that Pistorius was wrong to fire a gun four times into the bathroom door that ended up killing Steenkamp. Pistorius has pleaded that he thought an intruder was behind the bathroom door.
"I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force," the judge said, according to the WSJ. "It is clear that his conduct was negligent."
The defense's argument of Pistorius' insecurity due to his disability was off base, Masipa said.
"The accused isn't unique in this respect. Women, children the elderly and all those with limited mobility would fall under the same category," Ms. Masipa said Thursday. "Would it be reasonable if without further ado they armed themselves with firearms? I don't think so," she said.
Masipa also said Pistorius' "evasive" testimony had made him "a very poor witness" at his own trial. However, she said, just because a witness is "untruthful, does it mean that he is guilty," the Times reported.
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