This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/09/oscar-pistorius-appeal-reeva-steenkamp-shooting-sentence
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Pistorius’ five-year sentence showed too much mercy, Gerrie Nel tells court | Pistorius’ five-year sentence showed too much mercy, Gerrie Nel tells court |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The mercy shown Oscar Pistorius was “over-exaggerated” when he was jailed for five years for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a court heard on Tuesday. | The mercy shown Oscar Pistorius was “over-exaggerated” when he was jailed for five years for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a court heard on Tuesday. |
| The sentence was “shockingly inappropriate” and should be sent to South Africa’s supreme court of appeal for review, prosecutor Gerrie Nel told judge Thokozile Masipa at a hearing in Pretoria. | The sentence was “shockingly inappropriate” and should be sent to South Africa’s supreme court of appeal for review, prosecutor Gerrie Nel told judge Thokozile Masipa at a hearing in Pretoria. |
| Nel applied for an appeal after Masipa found Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide, the South African equivalent of manslaughter, instead of murder and imposed the punishment that could see him qualify for house arrest after just 10 months. | Nel applied for an appeal after Masipa found Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide, the South African equivalent of manslaughter, instead of murder and imposed the punishment that could see him qualify for house arrest after just 10 months. |
| Masipa will on rule on Wednesday whether the prosecution’s appeal can go ahead. | Masipa will on rule on Wednesday whether the prosecution’s appeal can go ahead. |
| The Paralympian admits shooting Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, four times through a locked toilet door at his home on Valentine’s Day last year but claims he mistook her for a burglar. He is serving his sentence in the capital’s Kgosi Mampuru II prison and was not in court on Tuesday. | The Paralympian admits shooting Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, four times through a locked toilet door at his home on Valentine’s Day last year but claims he mistook her for a burglar. He is serving his sentence in the capital’s Kgosi Mampuru II prison and was not in court on Tuesday. |
| Nel argued before Masipa: “An innocent woman was shot and killed in most horrendous circumstances. The deceased must have been unbelievably fearful before she died ... And it was caused by the gross negligence of this respondent. | Nel argued before Masipa: “An innocent woman was shot and killed in most horrendous circumstances. The deceased must have been unbelievably fearful before she died ... And it was caused by the gross negligence of this respondent. |
| “The accused fired four shots. He knew there was someone in the cubicle with no escape … He didn’t fire blindly – he knew where the person was. This was a person trained in the use of firearms.” | |
| Nel said he was aware of mercy as a factor in criminal justice but contended: “There can also be an instance where too much mercy is shown to an accused. Based on all the facts, we say that the element of mercy was over-exaggerated.” | Nel said he was aware of mercy as a factor in criminal justice but contended: “There can also be an instance where too much mercy is shown to an accused. Based on all the facts, we say that the element of mercy was over-exaggerated.” |
| The court had imposed the shortest possible sentence it could reasonably impose, he continued, which set a dangerously low precedent for future cases of negligence. “The sentence for what the accused did is inappropriate. It does not fit the crime … There is a very good prospect that we may convince an appeal court that the shortest possible incarceration in a case like this, my lady, is shockingly inappropriate.” | |
| The prosecutor also challenged Pistorius’s conviction for culpable homicide, saying the court had erred in its application of dolus eventualis, a category of murder where the perpetrator subjectively foresees the possibility of his act causing death and persists regardless. | |
| The athlete should have known that firing four shots through the door would result in death, even if he did not “wish the result”, Nel claimed. “It’s inconceivable that he had any intention other than to kill that person or accepted that he may. It is an erroneous application of dolus eventualis.” | The athlete should have known that firing four shots through the door would result in death, even if he did not “wish the result”, Nel claimed. “It’s inconceivable that he had any intention other than to kill that person or accepted that he may. It is an erroneous application of dolus eventualis.” |
| The state was pushing, he summed up, for “a harsher sentence and a harsher conviction” – a conviction of murder. | The state was pushing, he summed up, for “a harsher sentence and a harsher conviction” – a conviction of murder. |
| But defence counsel Barry Roux replied that the appeal had no prospect of success. He said the state had not got the result it wanted but was trying to secure an appeal based on issues of fact, not law, which is not allowed. “It’s not for the state to get over some hurdles,” he suggested. “It must first get out of the starting blocks.” | But defence counsel Barry Roux replied that the appeal had no prospect of success. He said the state had not got the result it wanted but was trying to secure an appeal based on issues of fact, not law, which is not allowed. “It’s not for the state to get over some hurdles,” he suggested. “It must first get out of the starting blocks.” |
| The court had found that Pistorius had no intention to kill, Roux explained. “If the finding is he did not intend to kill, can it ever be dolus eventualis?” | The court had found that Pistorius had no intention to kill, Roux explained. “If the finding is he did not intend to kill, can it ever be dolus eventualis?” |
| He told the judge: “Their problem is they don’t like your factual finding. They don’t appreciate that. You absolutely, correctly applied the law.” | He told the judge: “Their problem is they don’t like your factual finding. They don’t appreciate that. You absolutely, correctly applied the law.” |
| Roux disputed the suggestion that Pistorius would be out of prison after 10 months. “It is incorrect to say that it’s a light sentence. It’s not. What we’re actually dealing with is an academic debate.” | Roux disputed the suggestion that Pistorius would be out of prison after 10 months. “It is incorrect to say that it’s a light sentence. It’s not. What we’re actually dealing with is an academic debate.” |
| The state also wants to appeal against a possession of ammunition charge of which Pistorius, a double amputee known as the “Blade Runner”, was acquitted. The defence opposes this request. | |
| Masipa said she would give her ruling at 9.30am local time on Wednesday. Should she grant the appeal, the case will be heard in South Africa’s supreme court of appeal in Bloemfontein, the country’s judicial capital. If she refuses, the state can still petition the supreme court to hear the case. | Masipa said she would give her ruling at 9.30am local time on Wednesday. Should she grant the appeal, the case will be heard in South Africa’s supreme court of appeal in Bloemfontein, the country’s judicial capital. If she refuses, the state can still petition the supreme court to hear the case. |
| The so-called “trial of the century” was shown live on television and gripped millions around the world. On Tuesday the high court in Pretoria appeared much quieter, with the white tents erected by international broadcasters over the road long packed away, and a smaller contingent of journalists in the courtroom. The front row of the public gallery, for so long occupied by the Pistorius and Steenkamp families, was empty. | The so-called “trial of the century” was shown live on television and gripped millions around the world. On Tuesday the high court in Pretoria appeared much quieter, with the white tents erected by international broadcasters over the road long packed away, and a smaller contingent of journalists in the courtroom. The front row of the public gallery, for so long occupied by the Pistorius and Steenkamp families, was empty. |
| Pistorius reportedly spends 17 hours a day in a 6ft by 8ft cell and marked his 28th birthday in jail last month. His older brother, Carl, told South Africa’s You magazine: “He’s encountering many beautiful stories from prisoners. There are people there who have committed crimes but whose lives have changed.” | Pistorius reportedly spends 17 hours a day in a 6ft by 8ft cell and marked his 28th birthday in jail last month. His older brother, Carl, told South Africa’s You magazine: “He’s encountering many beautiful stories from prisoners. There are people there who have committed crimes but whose lives have changed.” |
| Carl said his brother has been allocated a stool to sit on in a communal shower room rather than having his own private bathroom. Pistorius relies on weekly 45-minute visits with his family to leave cash at the canteen so he can supplement his standard prison diet with snacks including baked beans and canned pilchards. “He now lives moment by moment,” Carl added. “There’s no fairytale.” | Carl said his brother has been allocated a stool to sit on in a communal shower room rather than having his own private bathroom. Pistorius relies on weekly 45-minute visits with his family to leave cash at the canteen so he can supplement his standard prison diet with snacks including baked beans and canned pilchards. “He now lives moment by moment,” Carl added. “There’s no fairytale.” |