Oscar Pistorius Found Guilty of Culpable Homicide

[Hissyspit]

Source: BBC News / CBS News

@BreakingNews: Oscar Pistorius found guilty of culpable homicide in death of Reeva Steenkamp - @BBCNews live video http://t.co/vefC09FTsj/s/_2N2

"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius learns his fate

CBS NEWS
Last Updated Sep 12, 2014 4:30 AM EDT

PRETORIA, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius sat down in a Pretoria court Friday and within an hour, he learned his fate.

After a rocky day in the same room on Thursday, the double-amputee track star knew he would not be convicted of the most serious charges he had faced in the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp; premeditated murder or murder.

Judge Thokozile Masipa resumed reading her approximately 100-page ruling Friday morning, and she didn't take long to get to the point.

She declared Pistorius guilty on the charge of culpable homicide, which could still see him hit with a lengthy prison sentence.

The ruling means Masipa deemed the runner negligent in causing Steenkamp's death. It is a charge roughly equivalent to manslaughter in the U.S. legal system.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscar-pistorius-blade-runner-verdict-reeva-steenkamp-day2

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Live on MSNBC now

It's slow going...

[lululu]

2. Well, that's something.

Hope he gets the full sentence. It should have been a murder conviction, though.

[barbtries]

3. i had heard he was found not guilty of murder

thought he got off. glad to hear he will see some justice at least. hope he gets prison, years and years of it. i still think he murdered her.

[Kahuna]

4. Thank you, Mi'Lady. nt

[sendero]

5. Having watched this case...

..... I think this is basically fair on the one hand, maybe slightly lenient. I was worried that he might evade conviction entirely and I don't think that would have been right at all.

[raven mad]

6. A friend from SA posted this on my FB page several hours ago.

He didn't think the judge would do it. I did. I won a free trip to Cape Town (if and when I can afford it, which is never). He didn't think it would happen - but it did.

[customerserviceguy]

7. It's not over yet

I'm sure there is an appeals process in South Africa that Pistorius' attorneys will fully avail themselves of.

[davidpdx]

8. I wasn't aware that there were more charges

A 100 page ruling is pretty detailed.

I knew someone who was convicted of manslaughter (my ex-wife's brother drove drunk killing his gf) and he got 15 years in South Carolina. We'll see if Pistorius gets more than that. From what little I know about it, I'd guess his sentence is going to be about 20 years.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. 15 years is the maximum sentence

Pistorius now faces up to 15 years in prison after the culpable homicide conviction, although there is no minimum sentence and previous cases have been punished with community service and fines.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/what-is-culpable-homicide-and-what-is-the-maximum-sentence-oscar-pistorius-could-face-9728168.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Pistorius verdict: judgment seemed to support charge of 'dolus eventualis'

South African lawyers argue if athlete could have foreseen someone could die, he should be guilty of common-law murder

...
The South African legal system allows for different kinds of murder convictions, and the one that's relevant here is what is known as common-law murder with indirect intentions – or "dolus eventualis".

According to the law, someone is guilty of murder if they know that their actions could lead to the killing of a person and reconcile themselves to that fact, and act anyway.

In delivering her ruling, judge Thokozile Masipa said that "a reasonable person would have foreseen if he fired shots at the door, the person inside the toilet might be struck and might die as a result", which suggests a classic case of dolus eventualis.

But the judge seems to have cleared him of this charge because she felt that, to be guilty of common-law murder, Pistorius needed to have foreseen that his actions would kill a specific person – Reeva Steenkamp.
...

Ulrich Roux is a South African barrister specialising in criminal law and director of the law firm BDK attorneys

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/pistorius-verdict-questioned-as-state-prepares-appeal?cmp=wp-plugin