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Tag: cassidy taylor-memmory

  • Oscar Pistorius’ iPhone Pursued For Murder Trial

    Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee and South African Olympian who was arrested and charged in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, last Valentine’s Day, will be heading to court for the final time in early March.

    Pistorius, 27, fatally shot 29-year-old Steenkamp in the early morning hours of February 14th after he says he mistook her for an intruder in his bedroom. According to investigators, Pistorius fired his weapon at Steenkamp through the bathroom door four times, hitting the South African model with three of those bullets.

    Now, South African investigators are pursuing the phone records from Pistorius’ iPhone, hoping to gain access to information they can present to convict Pistorius at his murder trial. According to The Associated Press, South Africa’s Eyewitness News stated that the police in the country are appealing to the FBI to force Apple to release the phone records.

    Also concerning Pistorius, new information has been released regarding the civil case he was embroiled in with Cassidy Taylor-Memmory, a woman who says that her leg was injured at Pistorius’ home in September 2009 when he slammed and then punched a door.

    The runner’s spokeswoman, Anneliese Burgess, said Wednesday that Taylor-Memmory and Pistorius had reached an agreement in an out-of-court settlement in late 2013 after the Olympian’s attorneys advised him that he could not battle both a civil suit and a criminal suit at the same time.

    Taylor-Memmory first told Eyewitness News about the settlement, saying that Pistorius agreed to pay her court costs and drop his own $200,000 counter-suit, which cited that Taylor-Memmory’s allegations were false and that he had been arrested without probable cause.

    “I agreed to it because I was so tired of it weighing me down. It became so difficult at a stage that I needed a bodyguard when I went out in public due to all the hate rants,” Taylor-Memmory said.

    Oscar Pistorius will go to trial at the North Guateng High Court in the capital city of Pretoria on March 3rd; he is facing both the premeditated murder charge in Reeva Steenkamp’s death, as well as firearms-related charges.

    Steenkamp’s family is still in negotiations with Pistorius in an out-of-court settlement stemming from Reeva’s death, and hope to finalize an agreement before the murder trial begins.

    Steenkamp’s family members have not attended any of the court hearings involving Reeva’s death, but have stated that the young woman’s mother, June, will be at the trial in March.

    “June and other family members will be at the trial in Pretoria. All we are looking for is closure and to know that our daughter did not suffer on that tragic Valentine’s Day,” said a statement released by the Steenkamps.

    Image via Katom, Wikimedia Commons.

  • Oscar Pistorius Settles Assault Suit

    Oscar Pistorius, South African Paralympian-turned-pariah, has at least one thing off his plate before facing trial for murder: He has agreed to an out of court settlement in an assault case unrelated to the murder of his former girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

    At a 2009 party at Pistorius’ residence, the Olympic and Paralympic sprinter was fighting with his then-girlfriend and allegedly became so enraged that he punched down a door, part of which fell on a guest, Cassidy Taylor-Memmory. Taylor-Memmory then brought a suit against Pistorius seeking a public apology and legal fees. Pistorius countersued for defamation, seeking 2.2 million Rand (roughly $200,000) in recompense.

    Taylor-Memmory claims that after hearing shouting and vulgar language from another room, she approached to find Pistorius screaming at his former lover. “As I approached his large outside doors, Oscar was furiously trying to close them. He started to punch the door and then is when one of the top panels fell and hit my left leg,” she said. “After this happened I went to tell Oscar that he had hurt me to which he replied ‘well, go call your f****** lawyer.’”

    Pistorius, colloquially known as the “Blade Runner” in reference to the blade-like prosthetics he uses as a sprinter, was globally regarded as a hero as recently as a year ago. Having been born without fibula in either leg, his legs were amputated below the knees when he was only 11 months old. However, the absence of legs didn’t prevent him from enjoying a brilliant career as an athlete. His fall from favor was abrupt when his girlfriend, model and reality TV star Reeva Steenkamp, was found shot to death in his home in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013. Pistorius stands accused of the killing and will stand trial next month.

    The terms of the settlement have not been made public, but appear to cover little more than Taylor-Memmory’s legal fees. When asked whether she was merely “chasing money” with the suit, she replied, “All I wanted was an apology from Oscar and the settlement of the legal fees. I have never made a public appearance or even approached the media about it.” Taylor-Memmory further claims that she was intensely harassed for bringing a lawsuit against the man who was at that time still a national hero: “I received hate mail on a daily basis. People who didn’t know me from a bar of soap were calling me the most horrific names. It became so difficult at a stage that I needed a bodyguard when I went out in public due to all the hate rants.”

    Pistorius hasn’t apologized to Taylor-Memmory, likely hoping to minimize damage from this suit insofar as it may affect his criminal defense efforts.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons