Oscar Pistorius guilty: Found guilty of culpable homicide, athlete is led – briefly – to cells

blade runner guilty 3In any case, the circus will return on 13 October for the sentencing hearing, where Barry Roux will fight once more to secure the minimum sentence for his client, who has, we learnt yesterday, sold all three of his houses to meet his legal costs.

In general, South African public opinion seems unsatisfied by the conclusion it has been given. The newspaper headlines talk of Oscar’s “great escape”, even though a lengthy prison sentence “seems likely”. There is no minimum sentence for culpable homicide, our equivalent of manslaughter. There will be mitigating factors, but it is not unreasonable to assume Pistorius’s actions are toward the top end of that range. The maximum sentence is 15 years in jail.

As South Africa, and the wider watching world, is finding out, real-life court cases rarely have a satisfactory conclusion. Pistorius had motivation to be the “untruthful witness” Judge Masipa described. But he will know untruthfulness will not help him in the very last act to come.

Article Appeared @http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/oscar-pistorius-guilty-found-guilty-of-culpable-homicide-athlete-is-led–briefly–to-cells-9730426.html

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