Last month, Oscar Pistorius was found not guilty of premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp. A day later, he was found guilty of “culpable homicide,” which in America we would call manslaughter. Now, more than a month later, the sentencing phase of Pistorius’ trial is finally over. I sort of thought the sentencing phase was more offensive than the trial, and that’s saying something because the trial included Oscar’s melodramatic theatrics as he tried to cover up his crime. Pistorius’ defense has claimed throughout the sentencing that Oscar is the big victim here, that he’s already been “punished” and that the sentence should just be house arrest and community service. Well, the judge didn’t go as hard on Oscar as she could have, but still… she gave him jail time.
Oscar Pistorius was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by a South African judge who cited the “gross negligence” he showed when he shot her multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home.
Judge Thokozile Masipa also sentenced the double-amputee Olympian to three years in prison for unlawfully firing a gun in a restaurant in a separate incident weeks before Steenkamp’s 2013 shooting death. She ordered that sentence to be wholly suspended.
Masipa delivered her ruling after reviewing prosecution arguments for a tough sentence as well as the defense case for a more lenient punishment for Pistorius.
Pistorius killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year, shooting her through a toilet door in his home. Pistorius testified that the shooting was an accident because he mistook his girlfriend for a nighttime intruder. Masipa convicted him of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, but acquitted him of murder.
Pistorius stood as the judge announced his sentence, and then left the courtroom and walked down a flight of stairs that lead to holding cells. His sentence starts immediately.
Legal experts said the section Judge Masipa quoted when she handed down Pistorius’ sentence provides that his prison term be a maximum of five years and the runner could be eligible for house arrest after serving eight months in jail.
[From People]
Oh, a MAXIMUM of five years. But if he behaves, it could be as short as eight months in prison? For the love of God. I guess it’s good to be a celebrity athlete in ANY country, right? I do have to wonder – would the trial and the sentencing have been any different if Oscar Pistorius hadn’t been A) a famous athlete or B) white? This whole thing has been so shady and gross. I feel so sorry for Reeva’s poor parents.
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Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.
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