At Pistorius hearing, descriptions of a ‘broken man’
LONDON — Oscar Pistorius, the disabled South African athlete found guilty a month ago of killing his girlfriend, returned to a Pretoria courtroom on Monday as his lawyers began a new struggle with prosecutors over the severity of the sentence he should face.
Seeking leniency from Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa, Pistorius’ defense team called witnesses who described him as “a broken man” and said his punishment should be limited to house arrest and community service — penalties described by the prosecution as “shockingly inappropriate.”
And, as throughout the trial, the latest hearings revolved around the dual persona depicted by the defense and the prosecution: on one hand, a remorseful, contrite figure traumatized by his own actions; on the other, an egotist who snuffed out an innocent life.
Pistorius, 27, was acquitted in early September of more serious murder charges in the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, a law graduate and model. Masipa found him guilty of charge of culpable homicide, the equiva- lent of manslaughter, after he admitted shooting Steenkamp, 29, to death.
Pistorius depicted the killing as a mistake inspired by the belief that an intruder had entered his home on Feb. 14, 2013. By his own account, he fired four rounds from a handgun through a locked toilet cubicle door, only to discover Steenkamp’s body inside.
The prosecutor,
Ger- rie Nel, said Pistorius killed her deliberately after a quarrel, but Masipa rejected the prosecutor’s argument.
Her decision left the prosecution smarting and likely to press for a harsh punishment while the defense argues for leniency. Both sides will be able to appeal her decision.
Masipa has discretion over possible punishments ranging from a fine to a 15-year prison term. Nel said Monday that he would call more than one witness to the hearings.
The lead defense lawyer, Barry Roux, said he would call four witnesses, beginning with Dr. Lore Hartzenberg, the athlete’s personal psychologist, who said that flashback images of the shooting would always be with Pistorius.
He has been found to have post-traumatic stress disorder.
After the killing, he was in “a spiral of grief without resolution,” Hartzenberg said, and “directed anger and blame towards himself.”
“I can confirm his remorse and pain to be genuine,” she said. “We are left with a broken man who lost everything.”
But Nel challenged her depiction of his plight.
“We are dealing with a broken man, but he is still alive,” he said. “He can still pursue his career and more.”