Judgement Day: Oscar Pistorius Returns To Court & Awaits Sentence

(CNN) - Oscar Pistorius, the one-time South African sporting hero found guilty of killing his girlfriend but cleared of murder in her death returned to court Monday for the hearing that will determine if he's going to prison. The sentencing decision will rest with Judge Thokozile Masipa, who presided over his high-profile trial and delivered the verdict last month. Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide, the South African term for unintentionally, but unlawfully, killing a person - a charge akin to manslaughter.
However, Masipa cleared him of murder in the killing of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp. He was granted bail pending the sentencing hearing. The hearing is likely to take several days, as both prosecution and defense will have the chance to put their arguments and evidence before the court for Masipa to consider.

There is no legal minimum or maximum sentence for culpable homicide in South African law, so it will be up to the judge to decide. A typical sentence is five to eight years. But it is a principle of South African law that the sentence should be tailored to the culprit as a whole person, as opposed to the crime. That makes predicting a sentence difficult, said Kelly Phelps, a CNN legal analyst.

The judge also found Pistorius guilty of one weapons-related charge involving a shooting at a restaurant. The maximum penalty for that is five years behind bars. But he could get a lesser sentence, such as a fine or the loss of his gun license.

It's likely that a pre-sentence report will be presented to the court, which may recommend a sentence, although the judge is not bound by it. Also, both the prosecution and defence probably will tell the court what they consider an appropriate sentence to be.

Source: CNN