Five-year sentence ‘carefully chosen’ – law expert
http://citizen.co.za/261560/five-year-sentence-carefully-chosen-law-expert/
“The number ‘five years’ was not an ordinary number, it was carefully selected,” Wits School of Law Professor Stephen Tuson said.
According to Section 276 of the Criminal Procedure Act, one-sixth of a jail sentence can be converted to house arrest, if the sentence is not more than five years.
This meant Pistorius could spend only 10 months in prison.
“That is why it was carefully chosen,” Tuson said.
This is far from the PT has asked, so hope for another reason to convince NPA officials to go for appeal. Sure they have to consider costs and ressources, but it s/b for the benefit of clarifying the interpretation of dolus eventualis. I am really worried for the precedent it would set.
On another thought. . . Anybody else feeling uneasy about 3 years (though suspended) given for Tasha's, only 5 years for killing Reeva. Just on paper it seems kind of disproportionate to me. A human live taken against a shot on the floor . . .