... and Oscar goes to... for...

[MajGenl.Meade]

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s former Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius appeared briefly in a Pretoria court where a judge scheduled five days in June to determine his sentence for murdering his girlfriend. The sentencing hearing for Pistorius will be held from June 13 to 17 at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

The 29-year-old double amputee sprinter, who was found guilty of murdering Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013, was greeted by a small group of vocal supporters outside the court. The sentencing hearing will be heard by Judge Thokozile Masipa, who presided over Pistorius’s trial and found him guilty of manslaughter, a verdict that was overturned by a higher court that found him guilty of the more serious charge of murder.

Pistorius appealed his murder conviction, arguing that a lower court erred when it overturned his manslaughter conviction. But at South Africa’s Constitutional Court dismissed his appeal. The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, although it can be reduced in some circumstances.

Pistorius is expected to argue for a lesser sentence. He has already spent one year in the hospital wing of Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria. He is currently serving the remainder of his five year manslaughter sentence under house arrest and he stays at his uncle’s home in Pretoria.

Pistorius was cheered by his supporters, most of who were dressed in white, when he left the court and navigated his way through a scrum of reporters. A leader of the supporters, Don Hassett, appealed for a lenient sentence for Pistorius.

“He knows it was wrong and he has admitted that, but the media has generated hatred against Oscar,” Hasset told reporters. Before the proceedings a group of supporters gathered inside the courtroom and prayed for the athlete.

[Long Run]

His uncle, the warden?

[RayThom]

Murder is not nice. Oscar needs to understand this and a few months in jail and home confinement will teach him a good lesson. After all, everyone deserves a second chance. My guess is that he'll never kill another girlfriend in cold blood ever again.

FYI: The summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016 start 5th August thru 21st August. Oscar needs some time to get himself in peak competitive condition.

[MajGenl.Meade]

He's heard it before but this time it's true:

"Oh, he'll never run again"

I predict he gets 10 years, although 14 is not out of the question

[oldr_n_wsr]

Why does it take 5 days to sentence him?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Testimony for and against.... the poor woman's family and friends perhaps appealing for 15 years; Oscar's family/friends pleading for mercy ("He's got no legs!"). Psychiatric evaluations. Zuma's sign-language guy.

[Gob]

("He's got no legs!").

Even less chance of playing Tarzan than Dudley Moore had then.

[Joe Guy]

Speaking of stumps, do any former Dartre's here remember Stump? It would be nice if we could get him to join Plan B.

I heard there's an opening....

[RayThom]

Speaking of stumps, do any former Dartre's here remember Stump? It would be nice if we could get him to join Plan B. I heard there's an opening....

Stump (Don) was a member-in-good-standings at LeChatHouse. He was moving back and forth between LCH and facebook for quite a few years. Stump got rankled and left LCH after a member-in-bad-standings, Meth'uselah, was banned for the third time. Stump thought it was unfair, many others did not.

I checked up on him a short time ago on fb and I see he chats regularly with many of the old Dartre/LCH members. I also see Guin is associated with that group so maybe she could influence his signing up here. After she reads this post maybe she'll let him know there are people asking about him. I miss him, he always had a interesting slant on almost any subject.

[Crackpot]

You can also let thin know that Wes left.

[Econoline]

I agree that Stump would be an excellent addition to this board; I understand why he left LCH but I was disappointed that he wasn't there anymore.