public image. reporter: since he s been charged with premeditated murder some who say they knew this once beloved south african sports star are now willing to tell another side of oscar pistorius. it s like we re waiting for something like this to happen. reporter: mark bachelor, a south african soccer player, who socialized with pistorius says he never bought the idyllic image being portrayed in the media. he would have a trip switch. and he d get violent and angry and he d fight with people and cause a lot of problems. and i mean that s the incident with me and him was because he was drunk at a party and he started shouting, swearing on the phone. reporter: he describes that incident as beginning when pistorius thought a girlfriend was cheating on him. despite bachelor s size, pistorius wanted a fight. he said he s not scared. if i want him to come down there, blah, bla but i left it, you know. reporter: one thing many don t know is that pistorius was armed nearly eve
incident with me and him was because he was drunk at a party and he started shouting, swearing on the phone. reporter: he describes that incident as beginning when pistorius thought a girlfriend was cheating on him. despite bachelor s size, pistorius wanted a fight. he said he s not scared. if i want him to come down there, blah, blah. but i left it, you know. reporter: one thing many don t know is that pistorius was armed nearly everywhere he went. he even applied to become a licensed gun collector so he could buy more than the four guns allowed by south african law. just last january, though the facts are in dispute, friend and boxer said pistorius was holding a gun at this outdoor cafe when it went off. he says pistorius was showing the gun to a friend. that was a major mistake what happened on oscar s part. it wasn t intentional. that could have been a bad event
burglar or any other details up to that point but it s clear. he admits the shooting. he admits the murder. bill: if that is the case then, is jail time inevitable or under south african law, i m not sure if you know this just yet because i clearly do not yet, if they go for premeditated murder or go for murder in the first degree because and do not get that because he admitted act of shooting her that resulted in her death, does he get jail time at minimum for a lesser charge or not? well, i m not sure how the lesser included offenses work when you re just, you re before just a judge but let s assume i mean in south africa it has been reported that you can t shoot somebody in your home unless they show, a, they demonstrate a fear to you, that your life is in danger. so shooting through a door is clearly not that fact. but, in this situation, i think that it s very clear that it is a homicide, whether it is premeditated
defendant to take the stand. you know what? you ve got to tell the trier of fact, don t leave your common sense at the door. you have a guy, he takes out a .9 millimeter guns and walks into the bathroom where his girlfriend is in and fires four shots, three shots hitting her, and that shows intent to kill. and the only way for him to overcome that is to get his story out by testifying. so i would not be surprised if he testifies. rachel, if he were your client, would you advise him to. and keeping in mind even if he does, the conviction rate there, so different from here is 10% or less. so what would you advise them to do? well, i m no expert in south african law, fascinating learning as much as i have the last few days and i would advise him, yes, you have to tell your side of the story because it s a case of what is the story and he s the only other one that knows truly what happened that night and he s already told his story
down doma, defense of marriage act. the move is not unexpected, but peter doocy is following that for us, live in washington. hi, peter. reporter: hi, jamie, and in that brief filed yesterday the solicitor general makes crystal clear, the obama administration thinks that the defensive marriage act, law passed in 1996, quote. denies to tens of thousands of same sex couples legally married under state law, an arare of important federal benefits that are available to legally married opposite sex couples, and jamie, this represents part of a broader shift toward insuring gay rights. and president obama made sure everybody knows they re an important part. our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. a little more than a month into his second term,