"Who can say for sure that one will live to see tomorrow?"
----TIBETAN PROVERB
The Blade Runner
On
Valentines Day of 2013, Reeva Steenkamp, was murdered by her boyfriend at the
time, The Blade Runner. He is better
known as Oscar Pistorious, an Olympian double amputee. Pistorious shot through his bathroom door
multiple times killing Steenkamp. He
claimed that he thought there was an intruder in the bathroom and did not
realize it was actually his girlfriend. Surprisingly,
he did not check the bed or anywhere else in the house to attempt to find out
where his girlfriend was located, even though he knew she was staying the night.
It is even more devastating that the pair were
known as a power couple in South
Africa.
Steenkamp was a promising model and law school graduate. Pistorious is the first double amputee to compete
in the Olympics in 2012. At one time, he
was an inspirational athlete.
According to the NY Times and BBC News, Pistorious
was initially acquitted of pre-meditated murder and common-law murder (the act
of killing someone when the individual knew their actions could take a life),
by the trial judge and convicted of culpable homicide, which is equivalent to
what we refer to as manslaughter. He was
sentenced to five years in prison, but was released after only one year to
serve the remaining sentence on house arrest.
Even more surprisingly, Pistorious could have been released after as
little as ten months, and was only forced to serve a year only because the victim’s
family strongly opposed his early release.
Doesn’t seem like much time for someone who took an innocent woman’s
life?
The prosecutors appealed the judge’s decision and
the appellate court agreed stating that the judge from the lower court
misinterpreted the law. In their appeal,
BBC News states that the prosecution also claims the judge did not place enough
weight on the atrocious crime that took place. The NY Times recounts that the
appellate court held that Pistorious should have known that firing through his
bathroom door would have killed somebody, regardless of who was on the other
side.
The sentencing judge apparently
found that he could not be found guilty of murder because Pistorious was
allegedly unaware that it was his girlfriend on the other side of the door, but
the appellate court determined that this was a mere misinterpretation of the
law. Pistorious has not yet been
re-sentenced, and remains at home awaiting his new sentence. The Week reveals that Pistorious has been
granted bail, and is supposed to be re-sentenced in April of 2016. He is no longer running, but The Week reports
that Pistorious claims to be enrolled at a university in London studying business and law. Attorney’s for Pistorious have announced that
they are going to appeal to the highest court in South Africa, which is the Constitutional Court
regarding the murder conviction. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/world/africa/oscar-pistorius.html?_r=0
The Telegraph reports that Pistorious faces a
maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for the murder conviction, because it
was unintentional. The judge could hand
him down less time, and he would be eligible for parole after only serving 30%
of his sentence. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/oscar-pistorius/12029188/Oscar-Pistorius-appeal-decision-live.html
The Washington Post reports that Steenkamp’s family
has decided not to pursue a civil suit against Pistorious and just want to put
the tragedy behind them.
Affluenza
Apparently,
these types of nonsensical rulings by judges are not only found in other countries
such as South Africa. In Texas,
a 16 year old teen, Ethan Couch, killed four people and injured many others while
driving highly intoxicated in his truck.
Among Couch’s victims murdered were Breanna Mitchell, Brian Jennings,
Hollie Boyles, and Shelby Boyles according to the Dallas Morning Views Blog. Others were injured.
Couch had two friends in the back of his
pickup who remain severely injured: Sergio Molina and Solaiman Mohman. Couch
was charged with the crimes, but his defense attorneys claimed that the rich
teenager suffered from a condition called affluenza. Basically, the judge believed the defense
that because Couch grew up so rich, and was allowed to do whatever he wanted
whenever and wherever he wanted, he never learned the consequences of any of
his actions.
According to The Daily
Mail, Couch’s father, Fred Couch, owns a sheet metal manufacturing company and
is worth millions. The article also
points out that Couch’s parents have both had brushes with the law including traffic
violations, assault charges, and theft charges.
Couch was found guilty of DWI Manslaughter according to the Chicago Tribune.
Couch was sentenced to serve at a rehabilitation facility along with ten years
of probation---as if that punishment will teach the spoiled teenager that his
actions have consequences?
The
Chicago Tribune reveals that Couch was apparently seen in a video playing beer
pong and missed a scheduled hearing.
This prompted a warrant to be issued for his arrest. Police visited their home only to find it
empty. After a brief manhunt, Couch and his mother were found in Mexico and
await further charges related to fleeing the country and violation of
probation.
It
is clear that his mother has gone a long ways towards ruining this kid. Let’s
see what the next chapter brings for the Affluenza Kid?
