A South African judge Thursday said Oscar Pistorius acted negligently when he shot and killed his girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year, but stopped short of issuing a formal verdict or sentence.
"I am of the view that
the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force," Judge Thokozile
Masipa said of Mr. Pistorius decision to fire four shots through his
locked bathroom door. He says he thought an intruder was inside. "It is
clear that his conduct was negligent."
She
then adjourned the reading of her decision until Friday. A charge of
"culpable homicide," or manslaughter, carries a wide range of possible
sentences in South Africa, from a fine to 15 years in prison. Mr.
Pistorius also faces three weapons charges that the judge didn't address
in detail on Thursday.
Ms. Masipa's
decision caps a seven-month trial that has enthralled South
Africans, drawing together the country's most famous athlete and a
beautiful model in a high-stakes reckoning with twin national scourges
of crime and domestic violence.
