Oscar Pistorius Removes Prosthetic Legs For Court Room Demonstration

Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympian gold medalist who was found guilty of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp’s murder, removed his prosthetic legs for a demonstration in a Pretoria, South Africa courtroom Wednesday.

Oscar Pistorius Sentencing

Pistorius, 29, is facing a 15-year minimum jail sentence for killing Steenkamp, which he has maintained was an accidental act born out of fear of an intruder. The prosecution has argued that Pistorius shot Steenkamp in a fit of rage, and believe that the athlete has failed to show remorse for his crime.

In court Wednesday, in a bid to avoid a long jail sentence for Pistorius, his defense endeavored to show the level of vulnerability Pistorius experiences without his prosthetic legs. For the demonstration, Pistorius removed his prosthetics and shuffled through the courtroom to exhibit the level of difficulty he experiences when walking on his stumps.

“The accused was vulnerable because of his disability,” Roux, who is asking for a non-custodial sentence for Pistorius, told the court.

Pistorius had been initially serving a five-year sentence for Steenkamp’s murder on a charge of manslaughter. The sentence was upgraded to murder just as the house arrest portion of the sentencing was to take effect. As a court ruled that Pistorius has exhausted all legal options, he will not be permitted to appeal the decision.

Pistorius’s lower legs were amputated when he was a baby. While competing in track events, Pistorius sported carbon-fibre prosthetics that gave him the nickname “Blade Runner.” He became the first amputee runner to qualify and compete at an Olympic Games at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.