D-Day around corner for Pistorius

Three years after Oscar Pistorius killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, he will finally learn his fate.

Sentencing begins this week in the Pretoria High Court after the Blade Runner's conviction was changed by the Supreme Court of Appeal from culpable homicide to murder.

Wits University law professor Stephen Tuson said the sentencing by trial judge Thokozile Masipa would not differ much from the trial and that the defence will have an opportunity to argue for a lighter sentence.

"The court will be applying its mind to the conviction of murder and not culpable homicide," he said.

Steenkamp's father Barry Steenkamp, who was too ill to attend the trial, will be at the sentencing.

Said Tuson: "It is no doubt the prosecution that has called Reeva's father of the state in aggravation of sentence.

"This is where the family or victim would testify how crime has impacted his life. He is likely to testify how her death has affected his and his wife' s lives - psychologically, emotionally, and give the court a sense of the seriousness because of the impact the crime has had on the family."

He said precedents from past cases will be used to argue the sentencing.

Attorney Mannie Witz said that in sentencing the defence gets to call expert witnesses first and speculated it would call a social worker or correctional officer to show how the year has affected Pistorius and his state of mind.

Because the sentencing is for murder for a first offender, Pistorius will serve the minimum of 15 years or maximum of 20, although there are factors that could add to the sentence.

"They would have to take into account the year he's already sat," he said.