Pistorius set to go back to jail – experts
The State has argued for the maximum sentence of 15 years or long-term imprisonment, while defence advocate Barry Roux asked for a sentence of community service.
With the outside broadcasting units of the world’s media already starting to gather outside the High Court in Pretoria, experts seem to agree that former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is set to go back to jail, although not for the maximum term of 15 years sought by the prosecution, the Citizen reported.
Judge Thokozile Masipa will re-sentence Pistorius on Wednesday after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in December last year upheld the prosecution’s appeal against Pistorius’s culpable homicide conviction and five-year prison term for the Valentine’s Day 2013 killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, and found him guilty of murder.
The SCA found that Pistorius had foreseen that he would kill whoever was behind the door when he fired four shots into his toilet door behind which Reeva was standing. The SCA referred the case back to Judge Masipa, but made it clear that the just under a year Pistorius had already spent in prison should be taken into account.
The Constitutional Court in March refused Pistorius leave to appeal against his murder conviction.
Advocate Johan Engelbrecht SC, who acted for the defence in many high-profile criminal trials, said he believed Pistorius would be sentenced to a further eight years imprisonment.
He said there were clearly mitigating factors present not only because of the double amputee’s disability, but also because he was not found guilty of murder with direct intent, but of dolus eventualis.
Pistorius did not testify in mitigation, but a television interview with British journalist Mark Williams-Thomas – his first since he killed Reeva – was broadcast overseas and locally after sentencing proceedings were concluded three weeks ago.
In the interview, Pistorius said he believed Reeva would want him to serve the community, rather than go back to jail. He maintained from the start that Reeva’s death was a tragic accident as he had believed he was shooting at an intruder.
Psychologist Prof Jonathan Scholtz testified that Pistorius was severely depressed, anxious and paranoid and urgently needed to be hospitalised. He said Pistorius was not fit to testify and that further imprisonment would have an extremely negative effect on his psychological state.
Defence advocate Barry Roux had Pistorius hobbling around on his stumps in court to demonstrate that he was not a tall Olympic athlete when he shot Reeva, but a vulnerable man who feared he was about to be attacked and could not run away.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel severely criticised Pistorius for choosing to give a television interview, but not testifying, which he argued demonstrated Pistorius’ lack of remorse and disrespect for the court.
Reeva’s devastated father, Barry Steenkamp (73), testified in tears about the devastating effect his daughter’s murder had on him and his wife June. He still believed there had been an argument before Pistorius shot his daughter and said Pistorius had to pay for what he did.
Engelbrecht said Pistorius’s failure to testify could only count against him if the judge ruled that he had deliberately failed to testify in order to evade being cross-examined.
Experienced criminal defence advocate Piet Pistorius said he believed Pistorius faced a minimum of 10 years imprisonment, while criminal law attorney Ulrich Roux, who has followed the trial closely, told AFP he believed Pistorius would be sentenced to less than 15 years because of his personal circumstances and disability. He said there was a possibility that a portion of the sentence might be suspended.
Nel has argued for the maximum sentence of 15 years or long-term imprisonment, while defence advocate Barry Roux argued that further imprisonment would break Pistorius and asked the court to sentence him to community service.
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