The State vs Oscar Pistorius | |
---|---|
Court | Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria |
Decided | 12 September 2014 |
Transcript | Judgment Appeal Judgment |
Case history | |
Subsequent action | Pistorius sentenced to 5 years in prison for culpable homicide (later resentenced to 6 then 15 years for murder) |
Related actions | Multichoice (Proprietary) Limited and others v National Prosecuting Authority and another [2014] ZAGPPHC 37, Gauteng Division, Pretoria (South Africa) (broadcasting of proceedings) |
Court membership | |
Judge sitting | Thokozile Masipa |
The trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp and several gun-related charges (The State vs Oscar Pistorius)[1][2] in the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria opened on 3 March 2014. Pistorius was a leading South African runner who won attention as an athlete with a disability competing at a high level, including at multiple Paralympic Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Steenkamp, a model, had been Pistorius's girlfriend for three months. In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Steenkamp was shot and killed by Pistorius at his Pretoria home.[3][4][5] Pistorius acknowledged that he shot Steenkamp, but he said that he mistook her for an intruder.[6] Pistorius was taken into police custody and was formally charged with murder in a Pretoria court on 15 February 2013.[7][8][9] The entire trial was broadcast live via audio, and parts of the trial were also broadcast live via television.[10][11][12]
On 11–12 September 2014, judge Thokozile Masipa delivered a verdict that Pistorius was not guilty of murder but guilty of the culpable homicide of Steenkamp and reckless endangerment with a firearm at a restaurant.[13][14] On 21 October 2014, he was sentenced to a maximum of five years for culpable homicide with a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for reckless endangerment.[15][16]
Pistorius was released on parole on 19 October 2015 after serving one sixth of his sentence.[17] The state appealed the conviction, and in December 2015 the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the conviction for culpable homicide, finding him guilty of murder instead. On 6 July 2016, Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for murder. The state appealed again, this time for a longer sentence. The Supreme Court of Appeal then imposed a sentence of 15 years – with the time he had already served reducing the time to an additional 13 years and five months.[18]
On Thursday, Judge Thokosile Masipa indicated that Pistorius would not be found guilty of murder with direct intent or common murder (dolus eventualis). She ruled on Friday morning that the court's unanimous decision was that Pistorius was negligent for firing on Steenkamp. Thus, he was found guilty of culpable homicide.
In her ruling on Friday, Judge Thokozile Masipa instead found the Paralympian guilty of culpable homicide. She also found Pistorius guilty of reckless endangerment of people and property after a gunshot went off in a restaurant.