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The Oscar Pistorius trial has resumed following a month long break. During that time, Pistorius underwent a psychiatric evaluation at the direction of the court to determine if he suffered from general anxiety disorder (GAD) at the time he killed Reeva Steenkamp. The Charges The issue being determined at trial is whether Pistorius killed Steenkamp intentionally, or as Pistorius alleges, he killed her by accident believing her to be an intruder. Form a legal standpoint, this distinction is really important since it ties into the charges faced by Pistorius. There are three possible scenarios with respect to the charges: Premeditated murder, murder and culpable homicide. Premeditated murder requires an intent to murder plus planning the murder. Premeditation is reserved for more robust planning and generally doesnt capture an intent that materialized right before a crime was committed. There was no significant planning to the crime, so premeditated murder will likely fail. Even if the prosecution cant make out premeditated murder, it can still get Pistorius on the lesser charge of murder. In order establish murder, they only need to show that he intended to kill Steenkamp (no planning element needed).Should the prosecution fail on murder, there is another lesser charge that could come into play: culpable homicide. This charge means that Pistorius negligently killed Steenkamp (or that he killed her by accident). Premeditated murder would get Pistorius a compulsory life sentence, while murder would result in a compulsory sentence of 15 years. For culpable homicide, the sentencing is discretionary (varies from fines to prison time), although its not unusual to see prison time in South Africa of 5-10 years for this type of crime. Facing very serious charges, the defence team wanted to establish that Pistorius should not go to jail because he was mentally ill when he fired those four gunshots the night of Valentines Day. And thats where GAD comes into play. General Anxiety Disorder And Diminished Capacity A defendant that suffers from a mental disorder can be found not criminally responsible on the basis that he or she could not appreciate the difference between right and wrong at the time the crime was committed. If such a finding is made, one possible outcome is the trial ends right then and there, and the defendant is committed to an institution indefinitely. In essence, it would look very much like an acquittal with ongoing psychiatric care. So if it was concluded that Pistorius had a mental disorder that made him incapable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act, the trial could have come to a very abrupt end and Pistorius could have avoided jail time. Psychiatric Finding The psychiatric report concluded that Pistorius was not mentally ill at the time he killed Steenkamp. As per the report, "at the time of the alleged offenses, the accused did not suffer from a mental disorder or mental defect that affected his ability to distinguish between the rightful or wrongful nature of his deeds". So that means the trial continues and Pistorius does not avoid prison in favour of an institution. Mental Illness No. 2: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Things didnt end with GAD. On July 2, the defence team declared that Pistorius was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and as result was suicidal. "He is...mourning the loss of Ms Steenkamp," said Barry Roux, Pistorius lawyer. "Should he not receive proper clinical care, his condition is likely to worsen and increase the risks for suicide." Is this a meaningful finding with respect to exonerating Pistorius? No. This mental disorder speaks to Pistorius state of mind AFTER the murder and not before or during the act. The key is in the name of the affliction: POST-traumatic stress disorder and not PRE-traumatic stress disorder. So that means that even if it can be shown that Pistorius suffers from PTSD, his mental illness did not render him unable to appreciate the difference between right and wrong at the time of the killing since he would have only developed the illness after the crime. Accordingly, as far as being a defence to the core issue in this trial, namely that Pistorius did not intend to kill Steenkamp, its irrelevant and of no import. However, the defence team may have raised PTSD as further evidence that Pistorius did not intend to kill Steenkamp. The defence team would argue that Pistorius is distraught to the point of being suicidal because he never intended to kill Steenkamp. If he did intend to kill Steenkamp, he would not be suicidal. Of course, this argument is vulnerable to attack. Pistorius intending to kill Steenkamp is not incompatible with feeling profound remorse and guilt after the fact. Indeed, it could be argued that experiencing feelings of anguish and accountability after intentionally killing someone is not unusual in this type of circumstance. The defence team also raised PTSD so they could rely on it as a possible mitigating factor to reduce his prison time come sentencing. The idea would be that he would need ongoing psychiatric care, which could only be adequately provided in an institution outside of prison. Next Steps Once the defence has called all its witnesses, it will close its case. That should within the next week or so. After that, both parties will present their closing arguments with a view to persuading the court of their respective positions. Once closing arguments wrap up, the Court will schedule a date to announce the verdict. Following the determination of guilt, a sentencing hearing will be held where both sides will present arguments with respect to the appropriate sentence. Thereafter, Judge Masipa will hand down her sentence. At the rate the trial is proceeding, expect it to conclude sometime in mid-summer. Pistorius claims lack believability and veracity. Given the number of improbabilities in his story (as discussed here), it would not be a surprise to see Pistorius convicted of murder. Cheap Miami Dolphins Jerseys Online . Or at least on everyone elses expectations. Costa Rica followed up its surprise win over Uruguay with another World Cup stunner on Friday, beating four-time champion Italy 1-0 to secure a spot in the next round and eliminate England in the process. Custom Dolphins Jerseys . Rookie Marek Mazanec made 39 saves for his first NHL victory and the Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2 Saturday night. http://www.cheapdolphins.com/ . Trailing 4-1 in the final set, Sharapova steadied her erratic service game and took command again to beat the 56th-ranked American 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on clay at the Magic Box tennis centre. The ninth-ranked Russian looked to be cruising before McHale broke late in the second set to tie the match and then took her commanding lead in the final set after breaking Sharapova. Miami Dolphins Jerseys China . -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City. Stitched Miami Dolphins Jerseys .L. - Defending womens champion Alberta improved to 3-0 at the Canadian junior curling championships with a 10-3 win over Ontario in Sundays afternoon draw.LONDON -- Luis Suarez damaged the reputation of English football with his serial offending and his departure to the Spanish league is not being mourned, the head of the Premier League said on Wednesday. "Hes done his time here ... I cant say Im sorry to see him go," was the frank assessment of Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the worlds most lucrative league, about one of the best players to have played in Englands top division. Liverpool sold Suarez to Barcelona for $130 million in July, soon after the player was given a four-month worldwide ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup. The Uruguay international previously served two long suspensions for the same offence, once in the Premier League after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in April 2013, and was banned in 2011 for racially abusing Manchester Uniteds Patrice Evra during a league match. "Hes a great player and Im not taking anything away from his talents -- he was voted by both his own players and the media last year the player of the year and deservedly so," Scudamore said of the Premier Leagues top scorer last season. "Hes great to have but an accident waiting to happen, and if you spend your time trying to promote whats good about the Premier League, youre always waiting for the next thing to come allong.dddddddddddd." Scudamore said the latest biting incident involving Suarez, which happened during Uruguays World Cup group game against Italy, "clearly . reflected on Liverpool as one of our great clubs. And it reflected on us (the Premier League)." Suarezs departure to La Liga, however, leaves English football without its best player from last season. The same happened the previous summer, when Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid from Tottenham for a world-record fee of 100 million euros (then $132 million). In Bale, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and now Suarez, and new Madrid signings James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos, Spain undoubtedly has most of the worlds best players in its league. But Scudamore says the competitiveness of the Premier League as a whole makes it stand out globally. "That to me is more important in many ways, that the matches are competitive," said Scudamore, speaking at the Premier Leagues season launch. "Weve got enough stars, and we dont need absolutely every world megastar name to make this a successful league. "There are more teams being talked about as able to win our title than youll ever hear discussed in Spain. That makes us more interesting around the world. We have a much bigger global appeal than they do currently." 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