Oscar Pistorius sentenced for Reeva Steenkamp killing
Oscar Pistorius's psychologist, Dr Lore Hartzenberg, reveals detail of her personal sessions with athlete
The sentencing of Oscar Pistorius is underway at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, with the athlete facing a potential sentence of up to 15 years in jail. Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide last month after he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013. The court is expected to hear from three witnesses for the defence, as well as an official witness from South Africa's Department of Correctional Services. The prosecution is likely to put forward at least two witnesses, with the whole process expected to finish before the end of the week. Judge Thokozile Masipa cleared Pistorius of murder last month but convicted him of the lesser charge of culpable homicide and also found him guilty of one charge of negligently discharging a firearm in a crowded restaurant in Johannesburg in January 2013.
1.20pm: Pistorius's manager Peet van Zyl continues listing his client's charity work. Defence lawyer Barry Roux asks about the athlete's plans for the future before Reeva Steenkamp was shot on 14 February 2013. Van Zyl says Pistorius had secured "substantial" contracts worth four or five times those he had before the London Olympics. He was also weeks away from announcing two new sponsors. Following Pistorius's conviction last month "all contracts have been officially terminated", the manager confirms. He says he has not discussed his client's future career since the shooting, taking the conscious decision to make no plans until he knows the outcome of the trial.
The court has adjourned for the day so that prosecutor Gerrie Nel has time to read through the defence papers and carry out his own research before cross-examining the witness. Tomorrow, the court will hear from the defence's final witness, a probation officer.
Midday: The third witness on the stand is Pistorius's manager Peet van Zyl, who also testified during the trial. He is rattling off a long list of Pistorius's charity work. This included personal donations to help people in need of prosthetics, as well as support for charities such as the British Leonard Cheshire Disability charity and Unicef. He was also due to launch his own charitable foundation in July 2013 after working closely with Strathclyde University in Glasgow to help disabled people regain their mobility. He has met with many children, adults and families affected by disability, including a child who was so excited to meet him that he bit him. Pistorius suffered blisters and almost put his racing at risk after pushing a girl in a wheelchair in a 5km fun run, says Van Zyl. He also mentions that Lord Coe and Sir Bobby Charlton were among those who asked Pistorius to help out with charitable work.
11.30am: Gerrie Nel cross-examines Maringa. The prosecutor says three years under house arrest is "shockingly inappropriate". He suggests Maringa is unfamiliar with the findings of the court. "He will not do as he wishes," says Maringa. "If someone doesn't comply with the conditions of correctional supervision then the accused can be subjected to any other sentence." Nel finishes his questions and Judge Masipa asks for more details about the type of work involved. Maringa says he is suggesting two eight-hour days, twice a month, of domestic work such as cleaning.
11.00am: Nel is asking Dr Lore Hartzenberg if Pistorius ever mentioned that he is now involved romantically with someone else. Hartzenberg says she has read reports that he had met a young lady but this was never brought up in her sessions with Pistorius. The witness admits under questioning that she cried during the trial when Pistorius was asked to take off his prosthetic legs in court. Nel completes his cross-examination.
Joel Maringa, a social worker in the Department of Correctional Services, has been called to the witness stand. He reads from a prepared statement on why Pistorius should undergo house arrest, rather than a prison sentence. He gives a short history of Pistorius's sporting career and says the athlete would be a good candidate for house arrest, subject to strict conditions. He recommends that Pistorius should not be allowed to own guns. He suggests Pistorius could undertake 16 hours of community service a month; for example, at the nearby Transvaal Museum or Pretoria's Little Company of Mary Hospital.
9.30am: Prosecutor Gerrie Nel begins to cross-examine the defence's first witness Dr Lore Hartzenberg. He pushes Hartzenberg to say whether or not Pistorius planned to resume his career as an athlete during their sessions. She insists that Pistorius never expressed his desire to pursue his athletic career. "Did you not give him hope for the future?" asks Nel. "I gave him hope for the next day," says Hartzenberg. After Nel pushes her again, she says that the only time Pistorius mentioned future plans was when he said that nothing would make him happier to work at a school that his uncle is affiliated to in Mozambique.
Nel repeatedly poses questions designed to make Hartzenberg and the court think about the impact of Reeva's death on her parents and family. The prosecutor turns to Pistorius's relationship with Reeva, pointing out that they had not been together for very long. Hartzenberg says Pistorius felt that he had met the right person. "In his heart and mind, Ms Steenkamp was the one," she tells the court.
9.00am: Oscar Pistorius's personal psychologist, Dr Lore Hartzenberg, is the first defence witness on the stand. Hartzenberg admits she hesitated about coming forward as a witness as she had agreed with Pistorius that she would not get involved in the merits of the case. She is asked to give an insight into the personal sessions with the athlete. "Some of the sessions were just him weeping, crying and me holding him," she says. "Other sessions we could get somewhere." The sessions began as grief counselling and this evolved into trauma counselling, she says.
Hartzenberg reveals that Pistorius's feelings of "guilt and remorse" often overwhelmed him and he often had to excuse himself because he was retching, she says. He was trembling, sweating and pale, the symptoms of trauma and anxiety. Hartzenberg says she can "confirm his remorse and pain to be genuine". His concerns for Reeva's parents formed an "unremitting theme" throughout their contact, she says. His only opportunity to apologise to them was in public during the trial and he was attacked as a result. "He felt that he was damned if he did and damned if he did not."
Pistorius expressed longing for Reeva and felt a void without her, says Hartzenberg. He recognised that it was he who was ultimately responsible for her death and directed anger and blame towards himself. The abuse that Pistorius has suffered on social media and in "malevolent" public reports has had a "significant detrimental effect on his emotional functioning", says Hartzenberg. "We are left with a broken man who has lost everything."
Oscar Pistorius to be sentenced for killing of Reeva Steenkamp
12 October
The defence and prosecution in the Oscar Pistorius trial will tomorrow begin to present their arguments about what sentence he should receive, a month after he was found guilty of culpable homicide for the killing of Reeva Steenkamp. Having been acquitted of murder and premeditated murder, he no longer faces the threat of a 25-year prison sentence, but he could still face a long stretch in jail.
When will Oscar Pistorius be sentenced?
The court will reconvene tomorrow, but Pistorius may not learn his fate immediately. As well as the culpable homicide conviction, Pistorius was also found guilty of negligently discharging a firearm in a crowded restaurant months before Steenkamp's death. The athlete was granted bail, despite the prosecution's claim that he was a flight risk because he had sold his assets. However, the defence explained that Pistorius had sold his houses to pay his legal fees and the judge granted him bail, pointing out that the prosecution should have raised their concerns when he sold the houses, not at this late stage. Sentencing could go on for more than a day, as the defence and prosecution will make arguments for a lighter or heavier punishment. Witnesses, including Pistorius, could be called back to the stand.
What sentence does Oscar Pistorius face?
The sentence for culpable homicide is largely at the judge's discretion. Pistorius could be jailed for up to 15 years or he could be given a fine, a suspended sentence or correctional supervision. Legal experts say the maximum prison time is rarely handed out and Pistorius would be entitled to seek parole after serving half of his sentence. Correctional supervision could include anything from community service to a rehabilitation programme. Kelly Phelps, a CNN legal analyst, says a typical sentence is five to eight years. "But it is a principle of South African law that the sentence should be tailored to the culprit as a whole person, as opposed to the crime."
What conditions would Oscar Pistorius face in prison?
Conditions in South African prisons vary, but one nationwide issue is overcrowding. The country's prisons have an occupancy rate of 128 per cent, according to statistics from the International Centre for Prison Studies, meaning that they hold almost a third more inmate than they were designed for. In some prisons, inmates are kept locked up for 23 hours a day, with just one hour outside their cell. In one prison, the government is investigating claims that inmates were punished with electric shocks, beatings and forced injections. Laurie Pieters, an offender profiler and criminologist, has described prison in South Africa as "notoriously a very dangerous place" and he said during the trial that Pistorius would be at risk because of his disability as well as his notoriety. "Everybody knows who he is. You are going to have one lot targeting him for money and then maybe even others offering him protection for money," he told the Daily Telegraph. However, Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi, project coordinator for Johannesburg civil rights group Wits Justice Project, believes the athlete's medical needs would be taken into account. She told CNN he could be sent to a prison with better medical facilities or wheelchair access.
Will Oscar Pistorius meet Reeva Steenkamp's family?
After Pistorius was convicted, Reeva Steenkamp's parents June and Barry requested a meeting with the athlete. In an interview with BBC3 following the verdict, Steenkamp's father said he could only come to terms with their loss once he had questioned the athlete himself, face to face. "It won't be anything nice or anything like that, but I'd like to sit down and talk to him," he said. "And I'm sure that will come about." Pistorius had previously requested to speak to them, but they were not ready for the confrontation at the time. Steenkamp's mother June said she was "very, very disappointed" with the verdict and was astonished that the court believed it was an accident. "I wanted the truth, I don't think we got the truth," she concluded. "That's the whole point. We did not get the truth."
Will there be an appeal against the verdict?
Both sides can apply for leave to appeal if they believe the judge made an error in law. According to legal experts, the defence could form grounds for appeal arguing that the unprecedented broadcast of the court sessions rendered it an unfair trial. Others say the prosecution might argue that Masipa applied the test for dolus eventualis incorrectly. Usually an appellant will rely on numerous grounds, says David Dadic, a litigation attorney based in Johannesburg. Steenkamp's family are also expected to continue a civil claim, which has been on hold during the trial.
Will Oscar Pistorius race in the Olympics again?
The International Paralympic Committee has said Pistorius could resume his career once he has served his sentence and the South African Olympic Committee has confirmed that it has no regulations barring athletes with a criminal record. Pistorius, known as the Blade Runner, was last year cleared to race overseas after appealing his bail terms, but chose not to while he focused on his murder trial. His agent Peet van Zyl told The Guardian that competing at the moment is not an option but that they would "sit down and take stock" after the sentencing hearing.
Oscar Pistorius was 'on phone to ex' on eve of shooting
2 October
Oscar Pistorius spoke to his former girlfriend Jenna Edkins hours before he killed Reeva Steenkamp on 14 February last year, according to a new book by two South African journalists.
Pistorius was last month convicted of culpable homicide for the Valentine's Day shooting and will be sentenced on 13 October.
A book by Eyewitness News journalists Barry Bateman and Mandy Wiener claims police investigators failed to realise Pistorius had spoken to his ex-girlfriend Edkins because her phone number was registered in her father's name. The number had been saved under the name "Babyshoes".
The book, called Behind the Door, claims Pistorius was talking to his ex-girlfriend for nine minutes just before he arrived home at around 6pm on 13 February.
Edkins, who dated Pistorius on and off for five years from 2008, said it was common knowledge that they had remained friends over the years and she did not want to be involved in any media hype around "this terrible situation".
A member of the prosecution team denied that the state had missed a crucial piece of evidence, suggesting that the phone call would have been considered character evidence and the state would have struggled to persuade Judge Thokozile Masipa about the value of the call.
While reading the conviction, Masipa dismissed phone messages between Steenkamp and Pistorius, saying they could not be used to prove anything for the state or defence. "Normal relationships are dynamic and unpredictable most of the time, while human beings are fickle," she said. "None of the evidence of a loving relationship, or a relationship turned sour, can assist this court."
A source close to the defence said they knew about the call and that Edkins had been prepared to testify for them if the prosecution introduced the phone records as a "smoking gun".
The book also claims that Pistorius's brother Carl was close to being charged for defeating the ends of justice after police said he had tampered with the athlete's phone in the days after Steenkamp was shot. The entire call history and every WhatsApp message had reportedly been deleted, as well as several messages sent to the device after the shooting.
The Pistorius family have said they are not aware of any deletions on the athlete's phone that could have affected the trial
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