Oscar Pistorious Sentencing & Trial [WATCH VIDEO]
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"It was just such momentous story and a story on so many levels. Here's this titan of a human being, part man, part machine, almost a mythical being, and then he has this fall from grace. She was this gorgeous creature. It came across to me this is a Greek tragedy playing out with two lives indelibly damaged. It was irresistible." - George Mazarakis, producer of 24-hour TV coverage of Oscar Pistorius's trial
The court drama which put people on the edge of their seats, waiting for possible tables turning and hoping for the "most climactic" yet satisfying ending to what, for the past months, has been the ultimate soap opera, with real characters, real plot, and unknown ending. At least until the end of this week.
After seven months since the beginning of what media has called "trial of the century", judgment day will finally come to Paralympics champion Oscar Pistorius who has been convicted for culpable homicide for "accidentally" killing lover and former law student-turned-model Reeva Steenkamp.
The sentence to be given by Judge Thokozile Masipa for the double-amputee will be known within the week, and the punishment --or corrective action as some may want to put it-- can range from a suspended sentence and a fine to 15 years in prison.
The offense--also known in other countries as manslaughter-- was determined after the court has established that Pistorius "accidentally" shot his girlfriend through his toilet door in February 2013, thinking it was an intruder. He was found to have fired four shots in what could be a case of mistaken identity.
The conviction was a down grade from the original "pre-meditated murder" and "second-degree murder", according to Dailymail.co.uk. Given the range of sentence to be given to Pistorius, the site said that according to some experts, " a five-year jail sentence is a guideline when a firearm is used".
Meanwhile, many are clamouring for a lighter sentence on grounds that the convicted has shown genuine remorse to what he had done.
Dr. Lore Hartzenberg, Pistorius's psychologist, who testified in court earlier vouched for the athlete's truthful show of compunction during their counselling sessions which "were just him weeping and crying and me holding him," narrating how he had sometimes "cried, retched, perspired and paced up and down during sessions in which she tried to assist him," reports from the guardian.com said.
Pistorius was described by the psychologist as a broken man who has lost everything, and a "caring, remorseful person who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder," the Guardian said.
"The flashbacks and the re-experiencing of the shooting will be mental images that he will carry with him. They will be part of his life until such time that healing has taken place," the psychologist said in defence of Pistorius, who according to her, "had lost his girlfriend, his moral and professional reputation, many of his friends, his career and his financial independence."
"On an emotional level his self perception and self worth have been damaged. He is unlikely to recover from the shooting incident ... Mr. Pistorius experienced himself as utterly worthless," she added.
On the other hand, State prosecutor Gerrie Nel has been pushing for a longer sentence saying that the dead girlfriend's father had suffered a stroke as a result of the killing of his daughter, while Steenkamp's mother had collapsed upon learning of her daughter's death.
"Would you not expect a broken family?" he said in response to Hartzenberg's "broken man" claim of Pistorius.
Reports from independent.co.uk indicated that Mr. Nel said Pistorius also had the opportunity to return to his life and his track career. "We are now dealing with a broken man, but he is still alive," he added.
Mr. Nel requested time to review documents until Tuesday when at least two of the state's witnesses will be called, The Independent said.