STEELENBOSCH, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius will finally learn his fate tomorrow. A South African judge who convicted him of culpable homicide in the shooting death of his girlfriend is expected to announce the sentence for the Olympic runner.
Pistorius could be sentenced to years in prison. Or, he could be given a suspended sentence and a fine, and receive no jail time for shooting Reeva Steenkamp multiple times through the door of a toilet cubicle in his home.
Prosecutors have demanded at least 10 years in prison for the double-amputee athlete. His defense lawyers have suggested three years of correctional supervision, with periods of house arrest and community service.
Pistorius testified during his murder trial that he mistook Steenkamp for a dangerous nighttime intruder about to come out of the cubicle and attack him when he shot four times through the door with his pistol. The judge found that Pistorius did not intend to kill Steenkamp, but that he acted negligently and with excessive force in the Valentine’s Day 2013 killing.
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APPHOTO XTH105: Oscar Pistorius leaves the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, Oct. 17, 2014. Following the testimony hearing, Judge Thokozile Masipa is expected to announce Pistorius’ sentence on Tuesday after she found him guilty last month of culpable homicide for negligently killing Steenkamp, but acquitted him of murder. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) (17 Oct 2014)
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