Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius wipes his face during his sentencing hearing at the …
PRETORIA (Reuters) - South African athlete Oscar Pistorius would be
"broken as a person" if he were jailed for killing his girlfriend
because of his disability and psychological problems, a defense witness
at his sentencing hearing said on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Paralympic and Olympic athlete, whose
lower legs were amputated as a baby, was convicted of culpable homicide
last month for shooting dead his girlfriend, law graduate and model
Reeva Steenkamp, 29, on Valentine's Day 2013.
Probation officer Annette Vergeer, who was paid by the
defense to produce her report, said South African prisons were not
conducive to the disabled and Pistorius would be vulnerable to violence
and highly stressful situations.
"It will not assist him but break him as a person. The
death of the deceased and the period since have been a far bigger
punishment than incarceration," Vergeer told the court.
"His disability and state of mind would cause his detention to be an
excessive punishment with no benefits to him, society and the
deceased's family," she said.Pistorius, dressed in a dark suit and tie, sat impassively in the packed courtroom as one of the most closely watched murder trials in history edged towards its conclusion.
The athlete has broken down in tears and wretched into a bucket during the on-off, six-month trial. His psychologist told the court on Monday he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and sometimes spent sessions weeping.
On the first day of the hearing on Monday, a social worker
recommended Pistorius be sentenced to partial house arrest and
community service, which state prosecutor Gerrie Nel described as
"shockingly inappropriate".
Nel will call at least
two witnesses as the state pushes for a lengthy prison term. Sentencing
is expected to conclude by the end of the week.
Culpable homicide, South Africa's equivalent of
manslaughter, can be punished by anything from 15 years in jail to a
suspended sentence or community service.
A non-custodial sentence would be likely to cause public
anger, fuelling a perception among black South Africans that, 20 years
after the end of apartheid, wealthy whites can still secure preferential
justice.
Judge
Thokozile Masipa cleared Pistorius of murder, saying prosecutors had
failed to prove his intent to kill when he fired four 9mm rounds through
a toilet door in what he said was the mistaken belief that an intruder
was hiding behind it.
Pistorius, known as the 'Blade
Runner' because of the carbon-fiber prosthetics he uses on track, said
the shooting in his upmarket Pretoria home was a tragic mistake as he
thought Steenkamp was asleep in bed, not in the small toilet cubicle.
The decision by 66-year-old Masipa, only the second black
woman to rise to South Africa's bench, to clear Pistorius of murder drew
criticism from many legal experts and the public in a country infamous
for violence, particularly against women.
The state could decide to appeal the culpable homicide
verdict in pursuit of a murder conviction. An appeal cannot be launched
until sentencing has been concluded.
(Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Janet Lawrence
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