Pistorius takes notes in the dock on day
eleven of his trial for the murder of his
girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, at the
North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria,
on March 17, 2014. Pistorius is on trial
for murdering his girlfriend Reeva
Steenkamp at his suburban Pretoria
home on Valentine's Day last year. He
says he mistook her for an intruder.
(Photo Credit: DANIEL BORN/AFP/Getty
Images)
A South African judge has delivered a
guilty verdict to Olympian Oscar
Pistorius in the shooting death of model
girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, Friday,
September 12, 2014 in Pretoria.
Earlier, the judge had found the double-
amputee athlete who is popularly called
the Blade Runner, not guilty of murder
and 2nd degree murder.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said today that
Pistorius was not guilty of murder, as
prosecutors had alleged. She ordered
Pistorius to stand before she delivered
the verdict.
The sentence for a culpable homicide
conviction is at the judge's discretion,
and it can range from a suspended
sentence and a fine to up to 15 years in
prison. Sentencing would be announced
at a later date.
Pistorius was also convicted on one of
three unrelated firearm charges. The
judge ruled that the athlete was guilty
of unlawfully firing a gun in a public
place when a friend's pistol he was
handling discharged under a table in a
restaurant in Johannesburg in early
2013 — weeks before Steenkamp's
killing, Huffington Post reports.
Pistorius was acquitted on two other gun
charges, including a count of firing a
gun in public and a count of illegal
possession of ammunition in the Pretoria
home where he killed Steenkamp.
Thursday, Masipa said there was not
enough evidence to support a murder
conviction for Pistorius' killing of
Steenkamp.
Pistorius fatally shot Steenkamp in his
home on Feb. 14, 2013. The couple had
been dating for three months prior to
the shooting. He said he mistook her for
an intruder, while the prosecution said
he killed her intentionally after an
argument.
The blade runner arrived at court today
with heavy security as journalists
swarmed to get a comment from him.
Armed security officers stood at each of
the three entrances to the courtroom,
while others stood near the red-robed
judge as she explained her verdicts
from her dais overlooking the court.
There were also paramedics in the
courtroom.
Steenkamp's family was in the room
when the verdict was delivered.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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