{"id":25907,"date":"2016-07-07T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/pistorius-sentenced-to-six-years-in-prison-for-murder\/"},"modified":"2016-07-07T08:00:43","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T15:00:43","slug":"pistorius-sentenced-to-six-years-in-prison-for-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/pistorius-sentenced-to-six-years-in-prison-for-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Pistorius sentenced to six years in prison for murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRETORIA, South Africa <\/strong>\u2014 Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian described by a judge as a \u201cfallen hero,\u201d was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in a South African prison for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a ruling viewed by some as too lenient.<\/p>\n

However, Judge Thokozile Masipa appeared to anticipate criticism of a jail term that fell far short of the normally mandated 15 years for murder under South African law, declaring: \u201cOur courts are courts of law, not courts of public opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pistorius, who shot Steenkamp through the door of a toilet cubicle in his home in 2013, was asked to stand and face Masipa as she announced his sentence in a wood-paneled courtroom in the South African capital, Pretoria. He was calm after the ruling, embracing his aunt and tearful sister before being led down a courtroom staircase to a holding cell ahead of being taken to prison.<\/p>\n

Later, a convoy of police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing left a side entrance of the courthouse. In the convoy was a van with tinted windows, possibly carrying Pistorius.<\/p>\n

The sentencing was the latest act of a three-and-a-half year legal drama that has often played out on live television and shown the fall from grace of a runner once viewed as an inspiration to many for overcoming his disability. Both of Pistorius\u2019 legs were amputated below the knees when he was 11 months old because of a congenital defect.<\/p>\n

He made history by competing at the 2012 Olympics on his carbon-fiber running blades, and was one of the world\u2019s most recognizable athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a fallen hero, he has lost his career and he is ruined financially,\u201d said Masipa, who originally convicted Pistorius of manslaughter, a ruling that was overturned by an appeals court that instead convicted him of murder and sent the case back to her for sentencing.<\/p>\n

In explaining the sentence, Masipa said there are \u201csubstantial and compelling circumstances\u201d to show leniency toward Pistorius because he is a \u201cgood candidate for rehabilitation,\u201d is unlikely to commit another crime and had shown what appeared to be genuine remorse over Steenkamp\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Pistorius, 29, maintained he killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and reality TV star, by mistake thinking she was an intruder hiding in the bathroom early on Valentine\u2019s Day 2013. Prosecutors alleged that he killed her intentionally after the couple argued.<\/p>\n

Part of the difficulty for the judge in determining an appropriate sentence was that the Supreme Court convicted Pistorius of murder with \u201cindirect intent.\u201d Pistorius was found guilty because he knew someone might die \u2014 even an intruder \u2014 when he shot. As Masipa noted, the Supreme Court did not find that Pistorius knew he was firing at Steenkamp.<\/p>\n

Pistorius will be eligible to apply for parole after three years, according to legal experts. Prosecutors, who had asked that he be sentenced to 15 years in prison, can appeal for a heavier sentence but have yet to comment on whether they will do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family accepts the judgment,\u201d Anneliese Burgess, a spokeswoman for the Pistorius family, said outside the courthouse.<\/p>\n

The Steenkamp family did not criticize the sentence. \u201cThe family has said it before they wanted the law to run its course. It has done so. No further comment. They will keep a dignified silence,\u201d said Dup de Bruyn, the Steenkamp family representative.<\/p>\n

Legal expert Marius du Toit described the sentence as \u201clenient but not wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some people who gathered outside the courthouse were critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law didn\u2019t take its course,\u201d said Dukes Masanabo, a South African sports official who had hoped Pistorius would be sentenced to 10 to 12 years, not six.<\/p>\n

He said the sentence is too light because Pistorius was sentenced to almost the same sentence \u2014 five years \u2014 for his earlier manslaughter conviction. He served one year of that sentence before being placed under house arrest at his uncle\u2019s mansion in Pretoria, and he had some freedom of movement outside the home during certain hours.<\/p>\n

The time that Pistorius already served in prison is not subtracted from his new sentence, which may have contributed to the judge\u2019s relatively lenient decision, say legal experts.<\/p>\n

Another South African, Sarah Maete, said she wanted Pistorius to get the full 15 years in prison for murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not enough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In delivering her sentence, Masipa referred to the difficulties she faced in deciding a sentence that \u201csatisfies every relevant interest\u201d in a case that captured the world\u2019s attention and led to extremes of opinion over the celebrated athlete. She noted that Pistorius had fired four times \u2014 not once \u2014 through the closed toilet door and spoke of the devastating effect the crime had on Steenkamp\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, \u201cmitigating circumstances outweigh the aggravating factors,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n

Steenkamp\u2019s parents, Barry and June, were present in the courtroom, which was packed with relatives of both Pistorius and Steenkamp, journalists and other observers.<\/p>\n

Pistorius\u2019 defense lawyers had asked for no jail time at all, saying he should be allowed to do charity work with children.<\/p>\n

Ulrich Roux, a South African lawyer and commentator who is not involved in the Pistorius case, said it had opened a window for South Africans into how their justice system works, including cross-examination and how a judge reaches a decision.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt\u2019s been a huge learning curve for our society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRETORIA, South Africa \u2014 Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian described by a judge as a \u201cfallen hero,\u201d was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in a South African prison for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a ruling viewed by some as too lenient. However, Judge Thokozile Masipa appeared to anticipate criticism of a jail […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-25907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25907"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=25907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}