Once-famed, now infamous South African track star Oscar Pistorius has been known to have a flair for the dramatic. He upped the dramatics again on Wednesday, as he faced sentencing for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day of 2013.
This time, Pistorius decided to walk in the courtroom without his prosthetic legs as he pled his case for a lighter sentence.
He is facing a potential 15-year prison term at a minimum, but decided to beg for a more lenient sentence — using his disability as the reasoning for leniency according to NPR.
It was all part of the appeal made by Pistorius’ defense team, noting his fame and his frail psychological state as reasons the judge should go light on him.
The road to this sentencing has been winding, as Pistorius was originally found not guilty of murder but guilty of negligent homicide in Steenkamp’s death. However, prosecutors appealed and won a conviction for murder instead.
Pistorius’ appeal was denied last year, and he has been awaiting sentencing while on house arrest since that appeal.
In the sentencing hearings this week, defense lawyer Barry Roux has focused on his client’s mobility and fame. On Wednesday, he called Pistorius a “broken man,” and said Pistorius is not the “strong, ambitious” person he is perceived to be. He also said the Olympic runner has made a “series of enemies” over the course of his legal saga.
“It was not the man winning gold medals that must be judged,” Roux said in his closing arguments. He pointed out that without his prosthetics, Pistorius is much shorter than his 6-foot frame with them.
His legal team took to bringing in a psychologist to testify to Pistorius’ conditions of depression and PTSD, while also noting that without his prosthetic legs (which wouldn’t be allowed in prison) Pistorius is far from the man seen by the outside world.
Interestingly enough, the defense team finds itself arguing those points in front of the very same judge who found him not guilty of murder in the first place.
Will the pleas for leniency be heard? According to reports, the sentencing hearings are scheduled for the rest of the week and the judge will make a ruling sometime next month.
[NPR]
