The judge has to answer several questions to reach her verdict on the murder charge, one of four charges Pistorius faces.
First -- and most
important -- did Pistorius know Steenkamp was behind the door in his
bathroom when he fired four shots through it on Valentine's Day last
year, killing her?
If the answer is yes,
beyond a reasonable doubt, Pistorius knew he was shooting at his
girlfriend, then the judge will find him guilty of murder.
Later, she'll have to
decide whether it was premeditated. If she thinks it was, he could be
sentenced to life in prison. In South Africa that means he'll have to
serve at least 25 years.
If she thinks the murder wasn't premeditated, Pistorius could get a minimum of 15 years behind bars.
But if Judge Masipa is
not convinced that Pistorius knew Steenkamp was behind the door -- if
there is any reasonable doubt of that -- he will not be convicted of
murder.
Pistorius argues he made a
mistake -- that he thought was trying to defend himself from an
intruder. If Masipa accepts that as plausible, she will then have to
decide if his mistake and his actions were reasonable.
If she says they were
not, she'll find him guilty of a crime called culpable homicide. There
is no minimum sentence for culpable homicide in South African law --
Judge Masipa will decide the punishment herself, taking South African
precedent into account.
And there's one final possibility.
If the judge does not
think the prosecution has proved it case -- if she believes there is a
reasonable chance Pistorius made a reasonable mistake and responded
reasonably -- she will find him not guilty, and Oscar Pistorius could be
a free man.
Masipa will make her decision with the assistance of two experts known as assessors. South Africa does not have jury trials.
Pistorius faces three
other weapons charges in addition to murder. The most serious carries a
potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
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