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Pistorius could spend 15 years behind bars after being convicted of the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
This week, his legal team argued that Judge Thokozile Masipa should be lenient and not send him back to jail.
REASONS OSCAR SHOULD GET 15 YEARS
1. THE CRIME SCENE PHOTOS OF REEVA
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel fought for the photos to be released after Reeva Steenkamp’s father, Barry Steenkamp, told the court he wanted people to see “the pain she must have gone through”.
Criminal law attorney Riaan Louw says Nel was probably using the same tactics Oscar Pistorius’s lawyer, Barry Roux used by having him walk on his stumps in court “to play on the judge’s emotions”.
2. OSCAR FEELS NO REMORSE AND WAS A POOR WITNESS
Nel argued that in pleading not guilty and refusing to testify during sentencing proceedings, Pistorius had failed to show any remorse for the crime. “‘I’ve caused a death’, is not the same as ‘I murdered her’,” Nel said. “Acceptance of the verdict is also not remorse ... until the accused tells the court why he did it; his regret can’t be taken as genuine remorse.”
3. OSCAR AGREED TO A TV INTERVIEW
Pistorius’ decision to grant an on-camera interview with the UK’s ITV for an upcoming documentary could hurt him in sentencing. Nel called the decision to speak on TV while refusing to disclose his version of events in court “disrespectful to the court, and disrespectful to the victims”.
Louw said it wasn’t very wise of Pistorius to give that interview.
4. THE STEENKAMPS ARE DEVASTATED
Although it won’t bring his daughter back, Barry Steenkamp told the court Pistorius had to pay for the crime he had committed. In harrowing testimony, Steenkamp described how at times he has stabbed himself with his diabetes needle to try to feel some of the pain that his daughter felt.
The court will take the parents’ anguish as well
as their economical loss into account when making
its decision.
Louw said the factor that needed to be brought in was the opinion of the victim. “And in this case, the victims are the Steenkamps.”
5. THE LAW SETS THE BAR AT 15 YEARS
The law is very clear that the minimum sentence for the crime of murder is 15 years in jail. Judge Masipa can grant a lesser sentence if she feels there are “compelling circumstances”.
Nel pointed out to the court that “correctional supervision is not even close to the benchmark”.
Louw said: “Barry Steenkamp said he doesn’t want the maximum sentence – I think that’s going to carry weight with the judge. She will probably look for a midpoint, for example, eight years in prison.”
REASONS OSCAR SHOULD GO FREE
1. OSCAR ON HIS STUMPS
Although South Africa does not have a jury system, the defence team appear to be hoping that the image of Pistorius walking unsteadily on his stumps combined with the public scrutiny of the trial will sway Judge Masipa towards being lenient. Pistorius took a few steps around the court as Roux painted a picture of the psychological state of his client: “This is the person, its three in the morning, he is on his stumps. He suffers from an anxiety disorder.”
Louw said despite these tactics being somewhat manipulative, Masipa is likely to take Pistorius’ disability into account. “It’s obviously a shock tactic to get a lesser sentence.”
2. OSCAR IS A ‘BROKEN MAN’
Psychologist Jonathan Scholtz told the court Pistorius was still on medication for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and that he also suffers from anxiety. Scholtz recommended Pistorius be hospitalised rather than sent to jail. “If he was my patient in private practice, I would admit him to hospital,” Scholtz said.
3. RETRIBUTION WON’T SERVE THE COMMUNITY OR THE STEENKAMPS
Increasingly, the law is looking for solutions that focus on restorative justice rather than merely retribution. Roux focused heavily on this approach, telling the court that Pistorius has already been deterred from committing a similar crime again, and there would be no purpose served in sending him back to jail.
Scholtz said Pistorius had already suffered several “humiliating and hurtful” experiences in prison.
4. OSCAR HAS ALREADY LOST HIS CAREER
Roux said Pistorius has paid from the minute he shot Steenkamp, and will pay for the rest of his life. “He has paid with his future, emotionally, with not being able to live with his chosen loved one, and financially ... He is a broken man.”
Louw said the court will likely take this into account, but since Masipa will be looking to create a balancing act between what all the parties want, it’s unlikely to be a good enough reason to give him an entirely suspended sentence.
5. THERE WAS NO EVIL INTENT
A phrase that Roux kept going back to was “moral blameworthiness”. He repeatedly referred to the case of former rugby player Rudi “Vleis” Visagie, who accidentally shot and killed his daughter in 2004, believing her to be a car thief. Roux pointed out that the charges against Visagie were dropped.
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