Will Oscar Pistorius get jail time? we will find out soon as the sentencing procedures in the case against Oscar Pistorius started this morning.
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has returned to court for sentencing after being convicted of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.Pistorius was found guilty of the culpable homicide of Ms Steenkamp last month but he was cleared of murder.
Pistorius arrived earlier amid heavy security. He was escorted by a group of police wearing bulletproof jackets while a media contingent swarmed around him.
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When he arrived in court, Pistorius mouthed “morning” to Reeva Steenkamp’s parents June and Barry, who did not respond. Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide on September 12 for the shooting of Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.
Judge Thokozile Masipa found him not guilty of murdering Steenkamp, but convicted him of culpable homicide. Former soccer player Marc Batchelor and Steenkamp’s Johannesburg “family” the Myers, arrived in court earlier.
Pistorius’s brother Carl arrived in crutches, after being involved in a car accident in August. His sister Aimee and father Henke were also in attendance.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp through the locked door of the toilet in his Pretoria home, apparently thinking she was an intruder about to emerge and attack him.
She was hit in the hip, arm, and head.
Masipa said that there was no basis for the court to make the inference that Pistorius wanted to kill Steenkamp. Pistorius could be facing up to 15 years in jail, although Judge Thokozile Masipa may suspend the sentence or impose a fine.
She said the athlete had acted “negligently” when he shot his girlfriend through a toilet door, but in the “belief that there was an intruder”.
Sentencing procedures in the case against Oscar Pistorius started this morning in High Court, Pretoria and presently still on going