The woman responsible for the fate of Oscar Pistorius has been portrayed - whether deserving - as "a judge impassioned by crimes against women," the Independent reports.
Judge Thokozile Masipa will announce her verdict in Pistorius' murder trial on Thursday. The verdict will come more than a month after closing arguments in the case regarding whether Pistorius meant to kill girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2013 when he shot her four times through a bathroom door in their South African home.
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Pistorius has said he believed she was an intruder, while the prosecution has charged that Pistorius argued with Steenkamp earlier that night and knew she was behind the bathroom door.
According to the Independent, Masipa's verdicts history has been a topic of discussion since South African authorities put her in charge of the Pistorius case - a decision that those authorities insist was simply a matter of procedure.
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The 66-year-old Masipa became only the second black woman judge appointed to the High Court, when she received the honor in 1998. The Independent cited two cases over which she presided that have garnered considerable attention in connection with the Pistorius trial.
The Independent reported, "One (case) is her exploitation of a narrow constitutional avenue to hand a 252-year sentence to a serial rapist, noting in her judgment that the victims had been attacked 'in the sanctity of their own homes where they thought they were safe.' "
"The other was the life sentence given to a police officer who shot his estranged wife as they argued over their divorce settlement. 'You deserve to go to jail for life because you are not a protector. You are a killer,' she told him."
The newspaper added that the facts in both those cases were not in dispute and stated that "there is nothing concrete to suggest that her defense of women trumps what those who know her say is her principal interest - in fairness, in justice."
The Pistorius case, the Independent reported, is much more complex.
Do you think any previous cases Judge Thokozile Masipa has overseen will have an impact on her verdict in the Oscar Pistorius trial? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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