Oscar Pistorius Trial: Judge Delivers Verdicts
Oscar Pistorius is learning his fate after 41 days of evidence in a murder trial which has gripped South Africa and the world.Alex Crawford explains the outcomes Pistorius could expect to face.
新聞背景：
“刀鋒戰(zhàn)士”奧斯卡·皮斯托瑞斯涉嫌于2013年2月14日情人節(jié)當(dāng)天，槍殺女友里瓦·斯滕坎普。斯滕坎普的死亡慘劇讓全球媒體，也讓南非認(rèn)識(shí)到，這顆在倫敦殘奧會(huì)之后冉冉升起的體育新星是何等耀眼和備受矚目。槍擊案的發(fā)生讓南非和全世界都為之震驚。因“刀鋒戰(zhàn)士”此前的故事感動(dòng)了無數(shù)人，這是一個(gè)用希望和決心戰(zhàn)勝逆境的經(jīng)典故事，然而這一切都因?yàn)闃寶⑴寻戈┤欢埂０讣怀觯⒖桃l(fā)激烈的反響，且摻雜著強(qiáng)烈的主觀情緒。南非人民對“刀鋒戰(zhàn)士”這樣一位英雄人物似乎有著很深的情感，也不可避免地對他誤入歧途的行為唏噓不已。
本次庭審只宣判“刀鋒戰(zhàn)士”是否有罪以及罪名，不會(huì)宣布量刑，這需要再次庭審才能決定。“刀鋒戰(zhàn)士”和檢方都可能對于宣判提出上訴。如果法官裁定皮斯托瑞斯謀殺罪有罪，他將面臨無期徒刑并至少服刑25年；如果裁定他刑事殺人罪，他將面對長期監(jiān)禁。
There are two main questions that judge Masipa needs to answer about what happened in Oscar Pistorius's house that Valentine's Day morning. The first one is whether he intended to kill when he ran down this corridor and into the bathroom and fired four shots through the toilet door. If she decides that he did intend to kill, then she finds him guilty of murder and she has to decide whether that murder was premeditated and planned when he ran down that corridor in here. If she believes it was planned, then he faces a lifetime
in prison. If she decides it was an unplanned murder, then he still faces a minimum of 15 years in jail. If she's convinced that he did not intend to kill as he ran down the corridor and into the bathroom, then she must find him not guilty of murder. Then the thing that she has to decide is whether his actions were the lawful actions of a reasonable man.
Now Oscar Pistorius relied on just one defense which was that of self-defense and the judge must rule, under South Africa law, whether he complies with the test of self-defense.
And in the law in this country, the test of self-defense is whether there was a clear, imminent and immediate danger facing him. The judge must also decide as well whether the athlete had any other options open to him. For instance, did he really need to fire four times through the toilet door? Or could he have, for instance, just fired one - a warning shot? If the judge decides he did act reasonably, then he is not guilty and Oscar Pistorius will walk out a free man. But if the judge decides that his defense of self-defense does not hold up in the eyes of the South African law, then she must convict him as culpable homicide and he faces up to 15 years in jail, or the judge has the discretion to impose something other than a jail sentence and she could opt for, for instance, house arrest or put the athlete under probation. These are the main questions that the judge has to answer.