Oscar Pistorius verdict: What the polls reveal about South Africa's reaction

Before Judge Thokozile Masipa began delivering her verdict on Thursday morning, the majority of Yahoo readers polled seemed convinced of the outcome: a strong 59% thought she'd rule in favour of culpable homicide.

But as Judge Masipa began to deal with the testimony of witnesses – first throwing out the evidence provided by neighbours as "unreliable" and then the evidence about gastric contents as "inconclusive" – it became clear which way she was leaning. Almost 70 per cent of those polled thought she was heading towards a not-guilty verdict within the first 30 minutes.

The reaction when she ruled that Oscar Pistorius was not guilty of premeditated murder? It was pretty divided, with only a 6 per cent margin believing it was unfair.

After our pollsters had had some time to process the ruling, we asked them to choose which of the three most commonly seen opinions about the verdict they most identified with.

During the lunch break, it became clear that lawyers were divided over Judge Masipa's interpretation of Dolus Eventualis (criminal intent), with some suggested the state could appeal her sentencing on the ground the law had been interpreted incorrectly.

Finally, as Judge Masipa adjourned court for the day – ending with the tantalizing ruling that Oscar Pistorius had shown "negligence" – we asked out pollsters whether they believed Judge Masipa would return tomorrow with a culpable homicide ruling.

The majority of our voters remained confident that she would find him guilty of the charge, but it was definitely not the majority we'd seen earlier in the day.

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