PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for killing Reeva Steenkamp by a South African judge who cited the “gross negligence” the runner showed when he shot his girlfriend multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home.
However, legal experts said the section of law Judge Thokozile Masipa quoted when she announced the double-amputee Olympic athlete’s sentence provides for a maximum of five years in prison and Pistorius could be released after 10 months in jail to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
Masipa also sentenced Pistorius 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.
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Imray contributed from Stellenbosch, South Africa.
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Even thought he’s not American, Pistorius should be the face of keeping a loaded gun in the house. Whether by accident or “accident,” a girlfriend is far likelier to get shot than a home invader.
This is fucking pathetic… this murderer is the new OJ and I hope he suffers the same fate; pariahs on parade… celebrity murderers, come look!
Hopefully, the prosecution appeals, now…
Good thing he didn’t commit domestic violence or get an alcohol related driving offense, he could’ve gotten into some real trouble.
Gun usage for some reason stands above common criminality, like dying from a gun is different than dying in a car wreck. When in fact it is much worse. A car couldn’t have entered the bathroom and killed this lady accidentally and no one would ever believe that it was an accident, but guns can go anywhere and kill with regularity and be labeled an accident and that complete hogwash flies. It makes absolutely no sense at all.
Guns need to registered and kept track of, they are proven to be extremely dangerous and not like any of our other rights that don’t have the ability to kill indiscriminately. Because instant death is attached to gun rights, those rights require more attention and control. When was the last time that freedom of speech killed someone?