Masipa earlier told Pistorius he could remain seated on the bench while she read her verdict out and until she asked him to stand for the judgment. She then proceeded to explain her assessment of the testimonies of some of the 37 witnesses in the trial, including Pistorius' testimony in his own defense.
In that assessment, Masipa described Pistorius as a "very poor witness" who had lost his composure on the stand and was at times "evasive", but she emphasized that did not mean he was guilty of murder.
Earlier, the 66-year-old judge cast doubt on witness accounts of hearing a woman's screams, a key part of the prosecution's case. Masipa said "none of the witnesses had ever heard the accused cry or scream, let alone when he was anxious," apparently acknowledging the possibility of the defense's argument that Pistorius had been the person screaming in a high-pitched voice after discovering he had fatally shot Steenkamp.
