D-day looms for Oscar Pistorius

Pistorius was released from prison in October last year after serving a year of his five year sentence for culpable homicide.

But, that conviction was overturned in December and instead converted to murder by the Supreme Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein.

A murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of fifteen years, unless there are substantial and compelling circumstances to impose a lesser sentence.

Pistorius was convicted of fatally shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day, 2013. Believing she was an intruder, he shot her four times through the locked toilet door of his en suite bathroom.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who presided over the original trial, will re-sentence him on Wednesday.

During sentencing proceedings in June, the court heard mitigating and aggravating factors.

Testifying in aggravation of sentence, Barry Steenkamp told the court his daughter's death had devastated him and his wife, June.

He asked the court to lift a ban on photographs of his dead daughter so that the world could see the injuries Pistorius had inflicted on her.

"What I would like the world to see are the wounds inflicted on Reeva and the pain that she must have gone through, so that the world can see this and distract people who are thinking of this type of deed in future," he said.

Judge Masipa granted the request and the pictures were made available to the media.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel described the clearly distraught father as a "broken man".

Defence lawyer for Pistorius, Barry Roux, in mitigation of sentence, painted Pistorius as the broken man. Instructing him to remove his prosthetic legs, the former athlete hobbled across the courtroom on his stumps in a bid to demonstrate his vulnerability to the world.

Psychologist Jonathan Scholtz, testifying for the defence, told the court that Pistorius was on medication for insomnia, anxiety and depression, and should be hospitalised rather than jailed.

But, Nel questioned Scholtz's view that Pistorius was not fit to testify, particularly in light of the fact that he had granted an interview to a British broadcaster.

The interview was screened on South African television last month by M-Net and has been widely criticised.

In it, Pistorius said: "If I was afforded the opportunity of redemption I would like to help the less fortunate.

"I would like to believe that if Reeva could look down on me then she would want me to live that life."

Criminal law expert William Booth believes its unlikely Pistorius will be sentenced to the prescribed minimum of fifteen years.

"My view is there is substantial and compelling evidence to deviate from that. The court must look at all of his personal circumstances, as well as his disability and the fact that he's already done a year in prison. There is a strong argument for a lesser sentence."

Booth said everyone has the right to defend themselves, but there must be an imminent threat, and that was not the case here.

Further, he said Pistorius never showed remorse and that "is a negative for him, what he showed is self-pity. And he had a whole lot of different versions about what happened. He never took responsibility".

Booth said the court would need to balance three factors - the interests of society, the seriousness of the crime, and the personal circumstances of the accused.

"Sentencing is the most difficult part of any criminal trial. Nobody will be completely happy with it. If he gets a lesser sentence, people will be unhappy, if he gets a lengthy sentence his family will be unhappy. For any judge it's difficult, whatever you impose, but the court has to be objective and cannot be swayed by emotional outbursts." - ANA