Last month, Oscar Pistorius was found not guilty of premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp. A day later, he was found guilty of “culpable homicide,” which in America we would call manslaughter. Now, more than a month later, the sentencing phase of Pistorius’ trial is finally over. I sort of thought the sentencing phase was more offensive than the trial, and that’s saying something because the trial included Oscar’s melodramatic theatrics as he tried to cover up his crime. Pistorius’ defense has claimed throughout the sentencing that Oscar is the big victim here, that he’s already been “punished” and that the sentence should just be house arrest and community service. Well, the judge didn’t go as hard on Oscar as she could have, but still… she gave him jail time.
Oscar Pistorius was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by a South African judge who cited the “gross negligence” he showed when he shot her multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home.
Judge Thokozile Masipa also sentenced the double-amputee Olympian to three years in prison for unlawfully firing a gun in a restaurant in a separate incident weeks before Steenkamp’s 2013 shooting death. She ordered that sentence to be wholly suspended.
Masipa delivered her ruling after reviewing prosecution arguments for a tough sentence as well as the defense case for a more lenient punishment for Pistorius.
Pistorius killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year, shooting her through a toilet door in his home. Pistorius testified that the shooting was an accident because he mistook his girlfriend for a nighttime intruder. Masipa convicted him of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, but acquitted him of murder.
Pistorius stood as the judge announced his sentence, and then left the courtroom and walked down a flight of stairs that lead to holding cells. His sentence starts immediately.
Legal experts said the section Judge Masipa quoted when she handed down Pistorius’ sentence provides that his prison term be a maximum of five years and the runner could be eligible for house arrest after serving eight months in jail.
Oh, a MAXIMUM of five years. But if he behaves, it could be as short as eight months in prison? For the love of God. I guess it’s good to be a celebrity athlete in ANY country, right? I do have to wonder – would the trial and the sentencing have been any different if Oscar Pistorius hadn’t been A) a famous athlete or B) white? This whole thing has been so shady and gross. I feel so sorry for Reeva’s poor parents.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.
Not enough.
That poor girls family.
At the end of the day, the Steenkamp family appears to be satisfied with the sentence, and for all intents and purposes this is one judge that worked hard to be in her position, so all emotion aside, this seems to be the least worst of possible outcomes.
Perhaps rather than the ability of the judge, it was the prosecution who didn’t do their job right.
Yeah, I saw Reeva’s mother after the sentencing and she seemed content that he’s going to serve at least some time. I suppose, like many of us, she feared he’d be let off with house arrest or community service, which would have been a complete travesty.
The minimum he can serve under South African law is 1O months, and I strongly suspect he will be out within the year. He is banned from sport for 5 years, and will be 33 by the next Olympics, so his athletic career is probably over. But never mind, no doubt he’ll write a book and do the talk show circuit, talking about his ‘redemption’. Ugh.
I really do think Gerrie Nel did
what he could. It couldnt be murder, the circumstances didnt allow that. However I think the general feeling is that he should be given heavier punishment in jail time. But the Steenkamps are satisfied that justice has Been served. I just hope he gets to do the full five years.
Can you really claim redemption and salvation on a book tour the world over? I always thought that was an American Jesus thing.
I think Oscar is pretty religious. His brother was tweeting today about salvation thorough god etc. So I doubt he’d have any trouble doing the Jesus thing.
Yes, the Steenkamp family said that they were satisfied, somehow, with a ragey, paranoid asshole killing their daughter via multiple gunshots, and then getting at most 10 months in jail (there is no way he’s serving a full 5 years after all of this).
The BBC articles are blowing up with comments about how if he was black, he would’ve been in jail for life, minimum. It also appears that her family accepted money from him since March 2013, $530 a month (which I would personally take as an insult). Apparently they “vowed to pay back the blood money,” but something tells me Pistorius’ money is why they are ultimately happy with the sentencing.
Seems like for white men in South Africa, it’s open season on those pesky girlfriends that you can’t control. Have a blast.
Given the epidemic of domestic violence in South Africa, this sentence shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone. The issues are systemic and fundamental. And domestic violence was treated as a “private matter” there well into the 1990s. One statistic says that somewhere around 60 percent of women in South Africa don’t report domestic abuse as it is understood there will be no help forthcoming.
Um, the white thing again? OJ Simpson anyone?
So sad for Reeva…RIP
Whatever her family says…it still has to be incredibly hard.
He’s going to have a hard time keeping his sh*t together when he gets out. Hopefully, he doesn’t kill someone, but the writing is on the wall for future f*ckery, since he got away with murder; a slap on the wrist.
I’m with you. There’s another abused woman in his future, and not just because he got out easy; he’s wired for misogyny. Egad, this whole thing.
+10,000
Yes.
There were abused women in his past so yes, the pattern will continue.
Yes, I agree, and it’s horrifying to imagine what he may unleash once he’s released.
He was also ordered to turn over all his firearms. Although I can’t find any information indicating whether he is banned from ever owning or handling a firearm ever again or only for a certain period of time. I can only hope it’s a lifetime ban.
Good point. Like George Zimmerman, who has pulled guns on multiple people in the short time since he was found not guilty, it’s highly likely that Oscar is going to get violent with someone else in the future just as he has in his past.
Why even bother? This makes a mockery of justice. He’ll be out within months and able to lounge at home for a few more months and then he’s free. These ridiculous sentences cheapen life. The only possible justice is if somehow Bubba gets a hold of him in prison.
No he won’t be out within months, he’ll just be up for review in 10 to 20 months, then Officials decide if he should stay within Prison walls or be allowed to finish his sentence at home. They can decide he has to Stay in Prison and finish his Five years at each point he’s up for review. There is a high probability that Oscar will be made to do his full five years, it’s not a automatic that he’s just going to let out in months, it’s done by a Prison review board based on several factors and if they decide he has to stay in Prison, he’s not going anywhere and will do his 5 years
.
If bubba gets hold of him – perhaps he will find out if ‘he screams like a woman’
I feel for her parents too?
Any chance we get some stories on the shrien dewani case so we can compare/contrast two well publicized cases in South Africa?
EIGHT MONTHS ….
SERIOUSLY !?!?!?
It’s not enough… but at least he’ll go to jail. I honestly thought that they would let him off completely. But I’m glad that they didn’t.
I thought the same, Geemoney.
I’m feeling quite conflicted right now; I’m glad he actually has to serve a custodial sentence of sorts, because I genuinely thought he’d be immediately packaged off to a cushy house arrest in his McMansion.
But I’m irritated by the fact that I’m *pleased* he may potentially only be in prison for 8 months after killing a woman, which is galling.
Maybe it’s just me, but after expecting the absolute worst, any kind of prison time seems like a bonus when you consider how softly he’s been treated.
It’s still a sad day for humanity when a celebrity male with a known violent past doing a few months in jail qualifies as a victory. How pathetic.
@GeeMoney @Amerlia It is an orchestrated, calculated lowering of expectations. Since they got you fearing that he would get no time, now you’re relieved and satisfied that he got any time at all, when the appropriate reaction should be outrage. The public has been played, once again. Don’t let yourselves be manipulated by a press in cahoots with a corrupt system of justice. Continue to demand better, because this is not justice. We’ve only been brainwashed to believe it’s so. This is the appropriate time to Stand Your Ground.
Im so glad he got time and got years, Even if it’s five. I thought he’d Get 7 to 10, Im just glad hes Going to jail,
I believe that he is Going to be made to do the full five too. Five years.
He’s got off lightly considering he DEFINITELY KILLED HIS GIRLFRIEND. I feel sorry for her parents. The sentence is light and his theatrics in court must have been dreadfully upsetting for them.
Did he at least cry his eyes out on the way to the cell?
Doubtful because the judge wouldn’t be seeing it and it wouldn’t change anything. Sociopaths/psychopaths only cry when it’s advantageous to them.
Or throw up? Remember, he likes to throw up to demonstrate his innocence.
I knew that judge would slap him on the wrist. Eight months. For killing that young woman in cold blood. Shame on that judge, on South Africa, on the world we live in.
I love that the judge didnt wanna give the impression that there is different type of justice and whatever else and that is EXACTLY what she ends up doing! *eyeroll*
Right. Try to tell me a poor, unknown, black man would have gotten 8 months for killing her.
Exactly
@GoodNamesAllTaken: There is a difference in between USA and South Africa.
AntiStupid
Apparently not so much.
“Right. Try to tell me a poor, unknown, black man would have gotten 8 months for killing her.”
THIS! SO MUCH THIS!
Antistupid
Please tell me what the difference is. Everyone knows that justice is not blind, it sees colorfully and cashfully. It is sad.
Once the Judge said Reeva never screamed , I was done.
But Oscar got 5years and despite what the press is saying about 10 to 20months,thats bullcrap. Oscar comes up review in 10 to 20 months but they can say NO you have to serve your full 5Years.
I believe he will be made to do the full five years, despite what his defense put out about ten months just after the five year verdier was read.
10months is a review of the prisoner, not a Automatic release, They can say NO, he has to stay in prison.
That is such crap. He deserves far worse than that. I don’t see him acting up in prison, so he will get out and they will probably allow him out to train and maybe even race.
Maybe Bubba will find him in prison. But then again, he may be pampered and kept away from the general prison population. After his slap on the wrist sentence is done, I hope his life is forever altered in how people treat him.
Awful but at least he won’t be going to a country club prison.
I agree but apparently he will not be in general population for his safety so he will not face the same prison challenges that ordinary prisoners do.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to kill himself there. I think he is an egomaniac and use to getting his own way might not sit well with him in there.
AG-UK, I don’t think he’ll try to commit suicide, because I’m sure he knows he got off lightly and that the minimum 8-10 months will fly by. I’m sure he’s mustering up his theatrics now for posing as the model prisoner. And by all accounts he didn’t put up a fuss as he was led away, so it seems maybe the theatrics have already begin.
Yes, I believe he is going to be staying in the hospital wing.
I watched the sentencing and the judge went through all the case law cited by both defence and prosecution during the sentencing hearing. Even the prosecution cases didn’t result in hugely long sentences. So I do think this is a South African thing rather than a celebrity and/or race thing.
Then I wondered what the average sentence for manslaughter is in the UK. It’s 6-8 years. That’s less than for rape, which is a straight 8 year average.
Here, you normally get out after 50% of a sentence but UK parole is not anywhere near as strict as SA house arrest, apparently.
I had been hoping for 8-10 years jail, so I am more than disappointed. I still blame the prosecution for over-reaching and messing up the timeline in evidence more than I blame the judge.
I agree with your view on this.
A large part of the problem seems to be the prosecution throwing grand sounding accusations without solid evidence and analysis to back them up.
The law is not the same in every country, so as much as we disagree, we shouldn’t really be seeing this through a cultural filter.
Do you have to come on here and make perfect damned sense, all the time?
Yeesh.
In the US, the judge would have some discretion as to how much of the time he had to serve. Maybe that’s not true in SA. But if it is, I blame her for not giving him the absolute maximum she was allowed to give under the law. It doesn’t sound as if she did.
Most states have statutes that govern sentencing and while you can present either aggravating factors (factors that increase your sentence term) or mitigating factors (factors that decrease your sentence term), the judge cannot give less time than what the statute calls for. Nor would anyone receive house arrest for manslaughter in the US. If Oscar was tried in US and sentenced to 5 years, he’d have to serve 85% of that term due to the NERA (No Early Release Act) for violent crimes. So he’d serve more time in the US than in South Africa but that is because of statutes enacted and not judicial discretion. She sentenced him under the guidelines for South Africa law. Under South African law, you can apparently only serve 8 to 10 months for a violent crime and be placed on house arrest after that.
Thanks, Tammy. So, if I’m following you, she really had no say in the percentage of his time that he had to serve? She couldn’t have said five years with no parole, for example?
(LOL @ Kiddo. I only wish).
I’m conflicted with this case so I’m interested in it, you know? It does challenge me because it’s an emotive case, it tangentially involves DV and also rich/celebrity privilege – all things that I have a strong opinion on. Conversely, I oppose criminal justice systems that are solely predicated on retribution. I do strongly believe that criminal justice must be about more than that for a truly healthy society. I don’t like the way Britain’s CJ is going – with longer and longer sentences, more and more people in prison, and harsher and harsher prison regimes. I hate to say it on here, American friends, but I’d cite your system as the wrongest of ways to go.
And then along comes Pistorius, who has been judged in a system that has clear intentions to avoid retribution-only outcomes, whose court verdicts don’t rest on the emotions of a jury but only on the evidence and the statute, and who ends up with a sentence that looks too light, even to me – your typical handwringer of a leftie.
Without sounding callous or showing disrespect to the memory of Steenkamp, that’s why I’m paying so much attention. I have to work out how I really feel about criminal justice generally; not just about what happens to Pistorius.
Also, there’s the whole thing of trial by media. I just recorded an HBO documentary about Pamela Smart and I’m going to watch that tonight. See if I think anything different.
You are correct that our system is crazy, Sixer. I’ve said this one here before, but my cousin’s daughter was arrested with her boyfriend, who was selling meth. Because of the amount in his car, she got LIFE. She’s 24. She was wrong, I’m not saying otherwise, but I think that’s one reason I am just mind boggled by this.
Sixer, I think the jury system has flaws but is overall a good way to go. What I think is the worst part of the US “justice” system is that we now have privatized prisons, where the contracts with the local governments call for the prison population to be maintained or grown (never to shrink in size). These local governments have sold the imprisonment of the population in exchange for a cheap deal on housing prisoners.
We need to end the privatization of prisons, we need to change laws that mandate lengthy sentences for non-violent crimes, and we need to address the racial inequality in arrests, charges, and sentences.
Wow, GNAT – that’s scary.
Here in the UK, we seem inordinately fascinated (revolted?) by your system. Hardly a week goes by there isn’t a documentary on death row, penal boot camps, the three strikes thing, a case of injustice, a police shooting, whatever. But I can assure you that whenever an emotive case like this one pops up, public opinion here is as out for blood and vengeance as anything you’d find stateside.
I’ve no idea what the best compromise is. But we do have an example of another approach in the Pistorius case and if it’s making even me feel uncomfortable, I can’t say with any conviction it’s any better.
@Tiffany – that would be a start, wouldn’t it?
Agree, Tiffany, with everything you said. Also stop imposing mandatory sentences for political reasons like the “war on drugs.” And there is also inequality in sentencing between the sexes – women receive much harsher sentences than do men.
“The War on Drugs” is so wrong for so many reasons. Complete policy failure and I have no idea why it continues (probably because it lines some people’s pockets). I didn’t know that women get harsher sentences than men, but that is something I really need to look into. Thanks for mentioning it, GNAT!
What I can’t believe is the 3 year sentence for firing a gun in public and 5 years if you kill someone. A human life is only worth two more years?!
That is very shocking! Good point.
It’s so not a race thing, nor a celebrity thing. These comments are based on some complete misapprehension of not only the legal system in South Africa but the propensity for lenient sentences for ALL criminals. The amount of criminals out on bail/parole continuing on their crime sprees is worrying at best, terrifying at worst. So please before you make this into a white or celebrity know your facts!
And I’m by no means an Oscar supporter, the one thing I agree on is that his sentence is way too light but that goes for many criminals in SA…
Um… I was saying it WASN’T a race or celebrity thing. Sorry if I wasn’t clear!
She might be addressing me, because I think he got off so lightly because he was famous. I’m not sure I buy that “this doesn’t happen in SA,” but thecookingpan is correct that I really don’t know. So I shouldn’t say so. If it’s true that all sentences are too light, then that seems a crazy, vicious circle. Didn’t Pistorius use the high crime rate as a defense or explanation as to why he would be so terrified that he shot through the door? Crazy world.
@GoodNamesAllTaken the high crime rate was a major part of his defense…
@cookingpan
Are you in SA? Why do you feel sentences are lighter there? Like I said, I listened carefully to the judge’s sentencing remarks and noted that comparable crimes were given comparably light sentences. Is it a throwback/reaction to the harshness of the penal system in the apartheid days? A feeling that rehabilitation is better served by less punitive sentences? Anything you could add to my understanding would be appreciated.
It could be very helpful to compare SA with the US. Both have more gun violence than most other developed countries and the criminal justice response is very different.
@Sixer I have not lived in SA for years now but SA criminals tend to get lighter punishment because the violence is an everyday affair. USA has some crazy gun violence things going on sometimes or so what the internet tells me but it is not the same. When violence become common, people judges included sometimes pass over things and SA jails are already have three times more criminals than they are capable of to have. Oscar Pistorius is a rich man, i don’t think his race had anything to do with the final judgment but i cannot be sure about the money part. If he was a rich black man, he would get the same treatment; but if he was poor, he might have gotten a harsher punishment.
Thanks, maybe.
This is an utter travesty of justice. Her poor parents must be doubly devastated. *Shakes head in disbelief*. I wonder if he’ll have to be kept away from the rest of the prison population – convicts don’t take lightly to a fellow prisoner who has harmed a woman or child.
Really? I know that pedophiles are supposedly treated badly in prison, but I’m sure many murderers in prison have killed women. Think about all the deadly robberies, rapes and domestic disputes that have involved female victims. Seems like there would be too many of these people to single out.
I’m not sure how a girlfriend killer is treated, but I can bet how a lot lot lot of inmates feels about picking on the weak ones. And he will be weak and famous. No hospital wing, no wheelchair accessible zone will help him with that.
I read that he will be staying in the hospital wing.
This is sad all round. It really is just a slap on the wrist to keep everyone happy and we all know that he will be out with in a year. It’s a sad, bad and crazy works we live in.
The only person that can hold their head up high is Gerrie Nel. God knows he gave it everything for a better conviction. The judge wimped out. She should have excused herself right at the start if she didn’t have the cojones to potentially go all the way. Maybe they needed a judge with more experience. What a shame she got it so wrong.
There’s a good chance she made her judgment under some kind of duress–or reward.
Eight months. Then house arrest. For the horrific murder of a young woman. Hardly a deterrent for abusive, gun-happy, narcissistic losers, prone to temper tantrums. Shows exactly who is valued in society, and who is not. And “male and rich” trumps “female” every time.
This. Things were going to pot in their relationship and he found the ultimate way to control her, as abusers often do.
Exactly. So thoroughly depressing, but not surprising in the least.
I feel so bad because I went to bed last night bracing myself to wake up and read “no prison time” headlines this morning. When I woke up and saw that he got a little bit of time, I was relieved. But this makes me angry, because I should NOT expect that a man will get freedom for killing a person. Reflecting on my reaction, it makes me so sad that my standards have fallen so low. That my expectations of the world and what “justice” is have come so far down from my ideals that I essentially have no expectations anymore.
Agree with all of your comments here. Also, I think the parents are weird. Their comments have been too benign since the beginning. They kept saying, “they just want the truth”. Really? The truth wasn’t obvious? This asshole murdered their beautiful daughter and is only paying a minimum penalty for it. If Oscar did this to my child, I would want him dead or at least locked up for life.
If I am not mistaken, Reeva’s father has had TWO strokes since her death. Oscar did not just take Reeva’s life, he took the whole Steenkamp family down with him that night. 8 months is an insult and an injustice!
Yes. Reeva’s family has been destroyed. It’s outrageous.
Also, Reeva’s family are not well-off and relied on her income as a model and TV personality. So not only have they lost their beloved daughter, they’ve lost their main breadwinner as well.
Reeva’s family should sue him.
@Etheldreda Why didn’t they have any income of their own? Most families don’t rely on their young adult daughters to provide for them.
Betty,
Good question. I don’t really know the answer, but I do know the Steenkamps largely depended on Reeva’s income. Perhaps her parents were in poor health and couldn’t work? Someone said above that her father has had two strokes recently, so maybe that’s it?
I heard on the BBC yesterday that Oscar has been giving the family a monthly payment but they have decided to return all of it to him. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me, and they provided no other details as to the reasoning why they accepted payments to begin with and why they have now reconsidered.
Esmom, I read that Oscar’s team was making payments as kind of a pre-payment agreement in place of a civil-suit. I think it said the family had been keeping it in an account because they didn’t know what to think of it, that it was Oscar’s team who pushed for the arrangement as to avoid another legal battle.
It’s too little. If he wasn’t famous he would have more years probably. It’s not right
This piece of sh*t. I hope jail is a deep dark dangerous hole. Welcome to Thunderdome, b*tch.
So dissappointed. I was waiting at least maximum 8 years. Gerrie Nel made some great points throughout process, i was hoping Judge Masipa would take them into consideration somehow. I don’t think his race had something to do with it since Judge Masipa has never made a race biased judgment before. I still first and foremost blame the prosecution and SAPS.
I wonder if he’ll get to wear his “legs” in prison. Or will they be considered a weapon. Even in protected custody while in jail, he will be bait for many. Or one can hope.
Wonder if the new girlfriend will be waiting for him
It’s way too light a sentence for what he did, but he will at least have to serve SOME time in jail. I was wondering if he’d get away with no time, or just house arrest.
That’s how I felt at first, especially when I saw it was a 5 year sentence. But knowing it’s highly likely he will be out in less than a year is depressing. WAY too light.
Why do people keep focusing on the 8 months? He may just serve 8 months or a year or 5 years. Stop blaming the judge too. The police and prosecution botched the case before it even got to her.
Yeah, It bothers me how everyone is so quick on the judge. Judges have a job extremely hard. It is the prosecuter’s job to prove his case and if he doesn’t there’s not much a judge can do. The judge is after all constraint by the law and her ruling cannot bypass it just because the public wants her to.
Constraints of the law had nothing to do with her deciding to suspend the 3 year sentence for firing a gun. It was a slap in the face to her parents and a reward for him.
what a f*cking joke. and then judge says 3 years suspended for firing a gun, only two more for killing someone! and he might get out after 8 months. guess judge bought his bulls*it
8 months instead of 13 years. f*cking joke is right.
He may serve the full 5Years, which I think he will be made to,
In this case it wasn’t the fact that he was white that helped him,it was just that he was a famous athlete,and disabled at that.As if him being disabled excuses any and all bad behaviour.
A black rapper from South Africa,Jub Jub,and a friend of his, was sentenced to only 10 years each earlier this month, after they ran down and killed 4 school kids in 2010, while drag racing.It’s ridiculous!How can you kill 4 people and only get 10 years (and maybe not even a full 10 years)?!
Being a celebrity has always been a get out of jail card, and it is truly sickening.
I don’t understand why anyone who heard a noise in their home would shoot up someone who was locked in the bathroom. Didn’t he notice that his girlfriend wasn’t in bed with him? Even if there was an intruder in the bathroom, why wouldn’t he call the police and say to the intruder “I have a gun! Don’t try to open the door, or I’ll shoot!”? He just got up, put his legs on, and shot up the bathroom? That’s the story? Did I miss anything?
Methinks the judge missed something
Yeah it litterally makes no sense. In my country he would have got more time EVEN IF IT WAS AN INTRUDER. Because here you can’t just kill someone for no reason (life was not in immediate danger). Then again, we aren’t allowed guns either so moot point…
And how the Judge just ignored that Reeva screamed,,bothered me.
She stated Reeva never screamed, as if it were fact. That was such a copout and a way to make her Decision come together, jby just throwing away Reeva’s screams.
The judge said she did not believe Reeva ever screamed…WTF….bullets were coming through a bathroom donor, hinting her and the Judge says she never screamed. The judge lost me after that.
Reeva’s Voice was taken out of the entire trial by the judge and that bothered me.
The judge seemed more concerned with making Oscar comfortable,etc…..
I’m glad she gave him five years, but it was almost as if she was apologizing for doing that and had to be practically Pushed into doing it, because of outrage in SA.
Oscar is disgusting,,I hope they make him serve every day in Prison.
He’s a murderer Who killed a defenseless woman behind a bathroom door.
The judge was weak, IMO, bending over backwards to accomodate him, with little thought to the Victim’s Voice,Reeva.
RIPReeva , what her poor mother,father,family and friends must be Going through.
8 months to 5 years? That’s IT?!
Grave miscarriage of justice here but not surprising. My mom is originally from South Africa and her family has told us so many horror stories of corruption in law enforcement. The fact he’s a celebrity makes little difference. Madiba could combat a lot of things he couldn’t combat the corrupt lw enforcement system which is basically the last remanent of the Aparteid that still stands.
Did anyone have a chance to watch “Private Violence” last night? It was an HBO documentary on domestic violence. It was absolutely excellent and really exposed just how reticent the legal system still is to put abusers behind bars even when there is strong evidence of grave injury inflicted on their victims. Reading this latest update on Pistorius right on the heels of that documentary, and I honestly believe the world doesn’t give a flying fig about violence against women. It’s absolutely sickening how far we still have to go, even in progressive countries, before abused women ever receive anything resembling justice.
Cora, thank you very much for your post! I haven’t seen the documentary, but I get HBO on demand and will need to look that up.
…Wow. I just did a google search, and saw a headline about the documentary that said, “Private Violence: up to 75% of abused women who are murdered are killed after they leave their partners.”
Reading that caused me to physically shudder. So wrong. We need to change this.
you are not being fair: Judge Tokozie Mazipa is a woman who’s main focus of legal work was on domestic abuse and specifically abuse against women. She had to decide based on the evidence presented. Obviously prosecutor didn’t do such a good job. It has nothing to do with people not caring about domestic abuse.
WTF!
I am disgusted with this sentence. I was disgusted with the reduction of the crime to manslaughter already. I.am.disgusted. The End.
Its a shocking indictment of how women can be treated in any country. And for his defence to try and keep him out if jail because of his “disability” – what happened to the blade runner who wanted to compete with able bodied athletes to prove he was just as capable if not better than anyone else? The guy is a fraud a liar an abuser and a murderer and th judge any many other people bought into his poor litle broken man bullshit. He should be left rotting in jail.
Steenkamps family, asked for money because they were broke only reason why they played it back was because reporters found out about it. Still though 5 years isn’t long enough and if people who ate in the know say he will serve minum 8 months the out on house arrest sucks
Couldn’t prove beyond reasonable doubt – legal standard – that he’d done it, though it’s pretty obvious to spectators with common sense that he probably did it in a fit of rage knowing that Steenkamp was the person in the bathroom, and not a burglar.
This guy was/is a disaster waiting to happen.
I was hopping for maximum 15, but Im glad he got something, 5years,
I also believe hes Going to be made to serve the full 5 Years in Prison.
It’s out of the judges hands Now.
So sad for Reeva’s family and a chilli runs down my spine to think what Reeva must have gone through the moments before she was killed by this creep.
RIP Reeva
I believe that there is a hogh chance that the judge was bribed and she is corrupted.