The judge in Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, has found the double amputee guilty of culpable homicide. Though Pistorius had already been found not guilty of premeditated murder, Pistorius still can face up to 15 years in prison. Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa has not decided what his sentence will be as of yet.
The prosecution, she said, had failed to bring “strong circumstantial evidence” to support its case of murder, while Mr. Pistorius’s version of events “could reasonably be true.”
After the shooting, Mr. Pistorius had been prompt in calling for help, the judge said. He prayed to God and sought to resuscitate Ms. Steenkamp, a model and law-school graduate, and his behavior, the judge said, “was inconsistent” with that of someone who wanted to commit murder.
Moreover, she said, “it cannot be said that the accused did not entertain a genuine belief that there was an intruder in the house.” He could thus not be found guilty on murder charges, Judge Masipa said.
But, she said, Mr. Pistorius had been negligent when he opened fire, knowing that somebody might be inside the toilet cubicle.
“A reasonable person with a similar disability would have foreseen the possibility that the person behind the door” would have been killed, the judge said.
[h/t NY Times]