LIVE - Africa Live: Oscar Pistorius guilty of murder

[proverbialwisdom]

Source: BBC

Live Reporting By Hugo Williams and Lucy Fleming
All times stated are UK

Key Points
* South African appeals court rules Oscar Pistorius is guilty of murder
* Court overturned earlier manslaughter conviction
* The Paralympic athlete to return to court to be re-sentenced
* Has served one year of his original five-year term
* Pistorius was transferred to house arrest in October

Posted at 08:52
Murder sentence: 15 years minimum

So Judge Lorimer Leach at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has said that in the interest of justice, the manslaughter conviction of Oscar Pistorius for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp must be set aside and replaced with the correct conviction - murder.

Under South African law, murder has a minimum sentence of 15 years.

However, experts say that a judge can exercise discretion if there are compelling reasons to do so.

Pistorius is currently under house arrest, staying at his uncle's home in Pretoria.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-34989020

[MADem]

1. Still a light sentence for taking someone's life, but at least it's better than that last

absurd ruling that sounded like a bribe was somewhere in the mix.

I can never get used to these "more than one bite of the apple" countries.


If he gets re-sentenced by the original judge, she'll probably STILL let him off easy.

The only solace is that he is now known as a CONVICTED MURDERER.

Ugh.

[nitpicker]

2. Link to BBC update

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34993002

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict.

He killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting her four times through a locked toilet door.

He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.
(snip)

South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis - whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.
(snip)

South African law does not make provision for someone to be placed under house arrest for more than five years, so Pistorius will be going back to prison, reports the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.
(snip)

[davidpdx]

3. This is beginning to remind me of Italy and the Amanda Knox trial

Granted the charges weren't changed, but the verdict changed and was overturned several times.

If I had to guess he'll get 10 years, minus the time served which will make it 9 years.

[rocktivity]

4. CUE THE VONAGE THEME!

Last edited Sat Mar 5, 2016, 12:04 AM - Edit history (3)

According to Pistorius' account, he and Steenkamp had...retired to his bedroom...by about 10 PM...After finishing her yoga, she got into bed with him and the two fell asleep...

During the early morning hours...Pistorius woke up and went to his bedroom balcony to bring a fan inside and close the sliding glass doors and blinds. "I heard a noise in my bathroom...I felt a sense of terror...I believed that someone had entered my house...I grabbed my 9mm pistol..."

Pistorius' statement said contractors had been working at his house and had left ladders outside, and there were no security bars on the bathroom window. The bathroom contained a separate toilet area with its own door. “As I did not have my prosthetic legs on I felt extremely vulnerable. I had to protect Reeva and myself...I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps...”

The statement then described Pistorius hearing movement inside the bathroom. "I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted at Reeva to phone the police...She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding. When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet..."
link

(S)ince he had the presence of mind -- and the mobility -- to move things off his bedroom balcony, I can't attribute his actions to not being fully awake. Did he or did he not realize Reeva was in the bed when he first woke up? Why didn't he check to see if Reeva was still in the bed when he first heard noises coming from the bathroom? And why couldn't he have unlocked his own bedroom door?


rocktivity