Blade Runner becomes Blade Gunner **Mod Warning Read OP""

Pickpocket

Six years.

Dr Strange

He got six years. http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0706/800464-pistorius-sentence-murder/

seamus

FunGoose wrote: »

It will be interesting to see what sentence he gets, it is due very shortly...

I wouldn't hold your breath. Our experience of this whole thing is that SA judges love the limelight and the sound of their own voices. Expect the hearing to kick off and last for hours.

Edit: Or not. Lol.

seamus

According to the BBC, he has to serve at least 50% of the sentence before he can be considered for release. I wonder does the 1.5 years already served count against this? And whether he'll be placed in a special facility considering his disability and vulnerability?

FunGoose

...and taken down to the cells to serve a 6 year sentence. That'll learn 'im!

I would imagine the Steenkamp family will be satisfied with this sentence.


RIP Reeva Steenkamp

Mr Freeze

6 Years only, knew she wouldn't give the min of 15, but honestly thought she would give him a suspended sentence or house arrest.

What will he serve of the 6? another 10 months?

Mr Freeze

seamus wrote: »

According to the BBC, he has to serve at least 50% of the sentence before he can be considered for release. I wonder does the 1.5 years already served count against this? And whether he'll be placed in a special facility considering his disability and vulnerability?

Back to the same hospital wing cell I believe.

Sugarlumps

They should amputate his arms, just in case it happens again.

Mr Freeze

From Sky news feed

Barry Roux, Pistorius' lawyer, was seen punching the air - indicating there may not be an appeal

Will the state appeal I wonder.

Kristopherus

A joke of a sentence:mad:

ohnonotgmail

How can he get a sentence that is shorter than the prescribed minimum? The word minimum does mean the same thing in South Africa, right?

seamus

Mr Freeze wrote: »

From Sky news feed
Will the state appeal I wonder.

His lawyer is probably delighted that he got less than the 15. BBC reckoned the prosecution may appeal, but the defence won't; they would risk increasing what is a very short sentence anyway.

How can he get a sentence that is shorter than the prescribed minimum? The word minimum does mean the same thing in South Africa, right?

I imagine there's some wiggle room for extenuating circumstances; the judge seemed to make a lot of nods to her belief that Pistorious is genuinely remorseful and is a "good candidate" for rehabilitation.

Mr Freeze

Supposedly from a source from the State, Claiming if the sentence was less than 8 they would appeal:

Taken from The Telegraph Feed:

"If all goes according to what we would really like to happen, in the worst-case scenario it would be 10 years," the source said. "We think she might go down to eight. You would expect the system to work and we will do the best we can. We can only hope for the best but she has disappointed us before.

"If we get a pittance of a sentence, make no mistake we will appeal. We can apply for leave to appeal and it will go to the full bench of high court. If it’s going to be less than eight years, there is no way we are not going to appeal. It sets such a bad precedent if a murderer doesn’t get life. This was a brutal murder. "

And then from Sky News:

There were tears from Reeva's family in court - but their lawyer has indicated the sentence is fair

Maybe the state are happy with 6 now too.

check_six

On the radio reports they were saying that prison overcrowding means that most gaol terms are so severely curtailed that convicts may actually serve less than a quarter of their full sentence. They speculated it could be as little as a sixth, as in one year. One year? For murder?

Enzokk

One year more than his sentence for culpable homicide is a joke. My guess is the State will appeal, not against him but the precedent this may set. We will have to see what her judgement reads, I am sure the fact that he didn't like prison will come into her reckoning, which shouldn't mean anything as I am sure she has sentenced people to jail before that also had problems adjusting when they first arrived in jail. That is no reason to lessen the sentence.

BoJack Horseman

He's an incredibly lucky man.
6 years for murder.

In SA, which has a pretty high rate of murder, this could have serious ramifications for their justice system.

Mr Freeze

Enzokk wrote: »

One year more than his sentence for culpable homicide is a joke. My guess is the State will appeal, not against him but the precedent this may set.

Thats my thinking too.

AudreyHepburn

A fair sentence imo, although I'm still not convinced it was actually murder.

Whatever happened Pistorius has shown full real remorse and I genuinely feel sorry for him. He just does not fit with the profile of a cold psychopathic murderer.

And before anyone says it, of course I feel sympathy for June and Barry Steenkamp and for Reeva.

I don't see any reason why feeling sorry for one party negates my ability to feel sorry for the other.

Kristopherus

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

A fair sentence imo, although I'm still not convinced it was actually murder.

Whatever happened Pistorius has shown full real remorse and I genuinely feel sorry for him. He just does not fit with the profile of a cold psychopathic murderer.

And before anyone says it, of course I feel sympathy for June and Barry Steenkamp and for Reeva.

I don't see any reason why feeling sorry for one party negates my ability to feel sorry for the other.

Sob! Sob! Remorse my ass !!!

Mr Freeze

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Whatever happened Pistorius has shown full real remorse and I genuinely feel sorry for him.

I think any remorse he has shown is more for himself than anything.

From the various legal experts sounds like the max he might actually serve in prison is 2 years.

elastics

Disgraceful .

Not surprising though.

Hande hoche!

Would imagine that the state will appeal, so it isn't over yet. The Steenkamps were very dignified.

mzungu

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Whatever happened Pistorius has shown full real remorse and I genuinely feel sorry for him. He just does not fit with the profile of a cold psychopathic murderer.

He is sorry for himself and nobody else.

Sunflower 27

I was really saddened to hear the verdict. Like many, I have been following this. He is a despicable human being. I feel real sympathy for Reeva her her family. This is not justice, not even close to it.

Tin Foil Hat

elastics wrote: »

Disgraceful .

Not surprising though.

Not at all. She's obviously a fan of his. How the sentencing is allowed to revert back to her, instead of a different judge, after her original verdict was found to be flawed, is beyond me. What a mental system.

This thread is like a metaphor for the sad demise of boards.ie

The final sentence is in, and there's only been about two pages written. Earlier in the course of the trial, you'd be refreshing the page a few times per minute.

Times are a-changin' here, and it gives me no satisfaction to say that.

Laois_Man

How the feck does it make any sense that his excuse for murdering her (ie that he thought he was shooting at an intruder) which was deemed by the court system to have been lies, was then used by the same court system as a mitigating factor in his sentencing.

That judge is an absolute moron!

Clearlier

Laois_Man wrote: »

How the feck does it make any sense that his excuse for murdering her (ie that he thought he was shooting at an intruder) which was deemed by the court system to have been lies, was then used by the same court system as a mitigating factor in his sentencing.

That judge is an absolute moron!

I think it was more that the judge didn't recognise in the original verdict that he had to know that shooting his gun had a high chance of leading to a death. The identity of the person he killed wasn't relevant to that point.

FWIW I think that he is a sociopath and I'd rather he spent the rest of his life in jail. I don't believe his story for a moment or that he's remorseful about anything other than the consequences for him and I'm extremely disappointed in the judge's decision having been given a second opportunity to deliver an appropriate sentence.

Enzokk

Laois_Man wrote: »

How the feck does it make any sense that his excuse for murdering her (ie that he thought he was shooting at an intruder) which was deemed by the court system to have been lies, was then used by the same court system as a mitigating factor in his sentencing.

That judge is an absolute moron!

She also found the nurse truthful and the testimony that he didn't see a body of a suicide victim and that he has medicine with him that he shouldn't have had somehow is okay, he is vulnerable because of his disability.

I wonder if Judge Masipa will have lots more career advancements if her original ruling has been overturned and if the State appeals and this is also overturned.

seamus

Laois_Man wrote: »

How the feck does it make any sense that his excuse for murdering her (ie that he thought he was shooting at an intruder) which was deemed by the court system to have been lies, was then used by the same court system as a mitigating factor in his sentencing.

That judge is an absolute moron!

Like in Ireland, the identity of the person behind the door is irrelevant. It's murder if you intend to kill or seriously injure a person, and someone (anyone) dies.

It was never declared that Pistorious knew that Steenkamp was behind the door or that he intended to kill her. The facts of the case never changed, the court never said he was lying about shooting at an intruder. In fact, IIRC, the court accepted Pistorious's version of events.

The charge was upgraded to murder on the basis that shooting at someone carries a reasonable expectation of death. And whether Pistorious intended to kill them doesn't really matter - someone died when Pistorious did something which was likely to kill them.

That's the judge's reasoning for leniency - he didn't specifically fire with intention to kill. But he gets murder because you can't fire a weapon and not expect death as an outcome.