It is being reported on August 26, 2016 that a judge has rejected prosecutors request to appeal the six-year-sentence for murder given paralympian Oscar Pistorius earlier this year.
Many felt that the sentence Pistorius received for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, was not punishment enough. Many trial watchers expected the double amputee ex-Olympic runner to receive at least ten years for the murder.
The entire court process has been moving slowly towards justice over the years. Little-by-little progress is made to give the 29-year-old shooter an appropriate sentence. In his first trial in October 2014, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide or manslaughter and was sentenced to five years, spending only 15 months in prison.
Prosecutors had to appeal in order for Pistorius to be convicted with murder in 2016. Pistorius has now received a slightly longer 6-year-sentence. For some people, this is still not enough. This led to the prosecutors applying again today for an appeal, but it was rejected.
In her light sentence, Judge Masipa “ . . .cited mitigating factors, including Mr. Pistorius’s disability, his expressions of remorse, his status as a first-time offender and the circumstances of the shooting.”
The judge rejected the appeal at South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, “I am not persuaded that there are reasonable prospects of success for an appeal.” Pistorius was not present in these proceedings.
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