Oscar Pistorius' sentence will come on Monday, October 13, a month after the verdict where he was found guilty of culpable homicide came out - this is the South African equivalent to manslaughter. The athlete's defense asks that Oscar Pistorius' sentence be one of house arrest and community service, after the court said last September that he was guilty of reckless firearm use and culpable homicide, but not of premeditated murder.
Oscar Pistorius' sentence will come after a long and highly publicized trial regarding the case of the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria, on Valentine's Day 2013. According to the athlete's defense, in the early morning of that day, Pistorius woke up to noises in the bathroom and assumed that a burglar had entered his home. The runner got up and, thinking girlfriend Steenkamp was in bed next to him, took four shots through the bathroom door and killed her.
Oscar Pistorius' sentence was set to be handed out on October 13, after the verdict on September 11. Pistorius' defense called for house arrest and community service, according to the United Kingdom journal The Telegraph. Officer Joel Maringa, a state employee who was also a defense witness, recommended that Oscar Pistorius' sentence be one of house arrest and two eight-hour shifts of community service per month, plus being allowed to go through his athletic training. Also, it was advised that Pistorius go to meetings regarding trauma and anger management, and also be banned from possession of firearms.
According to psychiatric reports from different experts, Pistorius now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and since the incident with then-girlfriend Steenkamp he has become a "broken man" that hasn't even attempted to discuss his return to his athletic career, and won't even discuss a new relationship that has been reported by South African media.
However, the court was adjourned for the day, as prosecutor to study new documents provided by Pistorius' former agent.
Oscar Pistorius has been a part of the South African Paralympic and Olympic teams, being one of the country's most notorious athletes. His case, which was supposed to last 3 weeks, is now on its seventh month.
Today, it was also announced that all of Pistorius' sponsorship contracts have been terminated after the culpable homicide verdict last month.
