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Themba Hadebe / AP
Attempted murder charges against investigating officer Hilton Botha were reinstated Wednesday.
PRETORIA, South Africa -- The lead detective in Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius' murder case is himself facing attempted murder charges for opening fire on a minibus containing seven people in 2011, South African police said Thursday.
Hilton Botha, who took the stand against Pistorius at the Paralympic gold medalist's bail hearing this week, is due to appear in court in May, police spokesman Brigadier Neville Malila said.
"Botha and two other policemen allegedly tried to stop a minibus taxi with seven people. They fired shots," Malila told Reuters.
The charges were provisionally withdrawn, but were reinstated on Wednesday - at the behest of the state prosecutor - after Botha had taken the stand against Pistorius in Pretoria's main magistrates court, he added.
The prosecution is challenging Oscar Pistorius' testimony about what happened on the night his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp was killed. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.
"We were informed yesterday that the charges will be re-instated," Malila said. "At this stage there are no plans to take him off the Pistorius case."
It was unclear why the charges were reinstated against Botha, or how the latest twist in Pistorius' sensational four-day bail hearing will affect the athlete's chances of securing release from custody pending his main trial.
Pistorius - a double amputee dubbed "Blade Runner" because of his carbon fiber racing blades - faces life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder over the shooting of his girlfriend.
South African media said that since the charges were not hanging over Botha when he was in the witness stand, the revelations about attempted murder charges were unlikely to mean his testimony would have to be withdrawn.
The new twist caps an ignominious 24 hours for South Africa's prosecution service.
Under cross-examination at the bail hearing on Wednesday, Botha was accused of contaminating the crime scene in Pistorius' house and had to backtrack on details such as the distance of witnesses from the athlete's home.
Lead defense counsel Barry Roux accused the police of oversights and slip-ups in their initial investigation.
Pistorius is accused of shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29, at his home early on Valentine's Day.
Related:
Oscar Pistorius in court: Defense exposes cracks in police evidence
Pistorius' uncle: Olympian is in shock but 'will bounce back'
Sportscaster: Pistorius was 'jumpy,' had worries about safety
This story was originally published on Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:13 AM EST
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
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Africa's take on OJ Simpson. Prepare to be introduced to a defense of 'wonderment'.
Does anyone remember the killing of Spider Sabich in the 70's? Andy Williams x-wife Claudine Longet supposedly killed him accidentally in a similar situation. This all seems way too familiar. And the outcome could also be similar. Longet paid a very small price for killing Sabich and now lives in seclusion still in Aspen Colorado where the killing took place. Check it out on Wikipedia.
Yep I remember.
Looks kinda like OJ
The blade runner will be free.
Looks like they are going to pull out all the stops to get this pistorius guy off the hook. Why we can't convict him because of what this cop did. I never thought the guy would spend a day in jail anyway. He's an athlete, no legs, etc. The sympathy factor will come into play.The victim forgotten again.
And don't forget his boo-hoo performance in the courtroom the other day.
Now I know why my faith in the justice system is the way it is!!!!!! This leaves me dizzier then any buzz I ever caught. if it wasn't for this woman's death, and her family's pain....I think I'd double over laughing.
This bozo probably will walk out of that jail, sadly, but what needs to come to mind....no matter what happens to him, it will never bring this girl back. Some day, when he least expects it....he'll pay, might not be in this life time
*this comment is about the guy who shot is girlfriend....not the idiot above....have NO idea why this should influence anything with Pistorius.
Let's see...Lead Detective (LD) was accused of contaminating the crime scene, days later attempted murder charges come back from the past to haunt LD, money is then passed from OP to LD who now will say "YES I screwed up the crime scene, I'm sorry," which will allow OP to go free!!!!
Does that about sum this up?? Yes!
looks like this scumbag will be springing or hobling out of jail soon on bond and eventually he will be acquitted of 1st degree premediated murder. See the OJ trial with Mark Furman playing out all over again...... money talks folks.
They should free him...but take away his gun rights. Ha! He'd be running for the rest of his miserable steroid fueled life.
If they free him they should take his legs away and Force him to walk on his stumps for the rest of his life. Maybe then he would do to himself what he did to his girlfriend.
Wow. I don't agree this is another O.J. travesty...yet. I'm not sure any of us can correctly assume O.P. is innocent or guilty at this point. How can any of us pass judgment from our armchairs when the S. African police and justice system are so insane? It's impossible to sift thru all the media garbage and all the information that changes day to day based on a whacky S. African justice system. Now they're backing off the steroid charges, the lead detective has his own attempted murder charges reinstated, NOW????
No jury trial for murder (the judge determines innocence or guilt in S. Africa?!?!), the police are beyond corrupt and if you noticed in any of the photos, police wearing jeans with holes (?!), and now this detective has his own attempted murder charges looming, and charges strangely reinstated now that he's involved in this trial??!! WTH??!!
Another reason to be proud and relieved we still live in the greatest nation on earth, messed up as it is right now.
OJ thought he got away with murder also, but look what happened to him. No one wanted to be seen with him, endorse him, or have him endorse their product. The same thing will happen to OP if he gets off scott free for killing his girlfriend. He will become a nameless, faceless pariah and a very lonely person. Sometimes karma is a bitch and you may think you got away with something only to have worse things happen to you on down the road.
that may be true for i gurantee you that you, I, OP, OJ, etc will trade that any day from getting it up the arrse by an inmate in prison (dont drop the soap). no matter what, getting acquitted in spite of all of the negative consequences to follow, is a lifetime victory for him....sad sad. smh
Unfortunately there are plenty of people who still lionize OJ Simpson and are very eager to associate with him. He got away with a double murder with relatively little cost to himself personally.
Boo South Africa. The whole world is watching your corruptness. The guilty are guilty, no matter how much of a fame and cash cow he is to you!
There is no jury in South Africa, the judge and two assistants decide the case....so for the people that are hoping the jury is going to lock him up, think again. Actually I would say his chances of "walking" away are pretty good because there is no evidence that it wasn't a mistake, the cop himself is crooked and the crime rate is telling of why he freaked and started shooting. I'm not saying he isn't guilty because he did in fact shoot her, but it looks like he will probably get away with this.
well aside all of that, i think his chances of ever "walking" again are slim to none and slim just left the building.
I just spit my drink out laughing....
^ :) ^
They will go at anybody to get this sucker off. OJ Simpson case all over again. This cops case has nothing to do with this case.
So is Pistorius going to get away with murder because he is a high-profile celebrity with high-priced lawyers whom the Media in the past has lionized. Does anyone remember and continually talk about the beautiful young woman who was killed by him?
He is possibly being protected via money from a sponsor, because they don't want their products associated with a POS like that. If they can get him off the hook, people will forget about it in time. But even if the woman he killed would not have been young or physically beautiful, he's still a killer.
This guy is so guilty it is not even a case. He was full of roid rage and killed her. Send his ass to jail and let him rot thinking about the life he took away. He can't ever run away from that, he knows what he did the prick.
I'd say there's some mighty powerful political influence involved here, when a cop has attempted murder charges dropped against him and then suddenly has them reinstated. Mr. Pistorius obviously has some high ranking political friends.
one of his lawyers got an acquital on a guy accused of killing Nelson Mandella's grandchild so that ought to tell you something
Wether he did it or not is still up for for the courts to decide. It sounds like the cops their are crooked, P.O. is crooked and the D.A. is crooked. It will end up being who has the longer staying power for this case.
are they all homicidal out there? you're probably safer in detroit.
Not sure which case i can stomach better from these lying POS's. The Jodi Arias case or this one. Jodi Arias detailed everything about the events before and after she murdered her boyfriend but while on the stand yesterday says there is a big gap and dark spot in her memory in terms of remembering the details of shoooting and slicing this guy to death..... have people never heard of Hell ? You murder, mortal sin, then you lie about the murder, double mortal sin. They will pay one day I guess.
Just a way to get him off, there will be a mistrial. The lead detective is being charged with attempted murder, Why is he still on the police force. If charges were dropped 2 years ago why would the reinstate them now? They need a reason for this trial to be thrown out. Pistorius was representing his country in the Olympics, and being the first amputee in the games. South Africa doesn't want this bad publicity. He will get off for the murder of his girlfriend. Maybe this guy will end up robbing someone at gun point for his blade legs or other memorabilia a few years later and then finally go to jail. Just like another Sports figure/hero from a different country.
It's clear that this pathetic little country would do anything to keep this so call olympic hero out of jail instead of putting the handicapped, steroid useing P.O.S in a hole where he belongs.
You know, nothing surprises me anymore.
South Afrika has some of the best judges money can buy. But they put the wrong defective - er - detective on the case.
Even if he really did think it was a burglar, he'd be guilty of manslaughter. You don't just open fire at any noise you hear without identifying the source.
'the law is a spider's web which catches the little bugs and allows the large ones to go free".