University of North Carolina law-school students could be in for an interesting lecture on Monday, especially if non-law students or non-students intend to crash the party.
The Charlotte News & Observer is reporting that Thokozile Masipa, a judge at the Johannesburg Division for the Gauteng High Court in South Africa, will deliver the 2015 William P. Murphy Distinguished Lecture at UNC-Chapel Hill's law school rotunda.
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Masipa, however, is more recognized internationally as her role as the judge who presided over Oscar Pistorius murder trial involving the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013.
Masipa ruled Pistorius innocent of murder charges in September, instead sentencing him to five years in prison on a culpable homicide charge - the equivalent to manslaughter.
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Pistorius, the double-amputee sprinter who competed in the 2012 Olympics for South Africa, currently is in the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, South Africa. According to the law there, Pistorius is eligible for house arrest after he serves one-sixth of the sentence, or 10 months.
His 10 months are up in August, although Masipa also has granted Pistorius' prosecutors the right to appeal his culpable homicide charge and seek a murder sentence in the South African Court of Appeals. A date for the new trial has not yet been established.
Masipa ruled that Pistorius did not intend to kill Steenkamp through a bathroom door at his home, but did act negligently by firing four 9mm rounds through the door from close range.
Because of the appeal, the 67-year-old Masipa will be significantly limited in what she can say about the trial, the News Observer reported.
Masipa is just the second black woman appointed to the bench in the High Court in South Africa. She is a grandmother and former social worker and court reporter who was jailed in the 1970s after demonstrating against apartheid in downtown Johannesburg.
Masipa was a student of Ken Broun, a former Chapel Hill mayor and UNC law school dean who helped conduct trial advocacy programs before and after apartheid, the Observer reported.
She likely will be tested on how much she can say about the Pistorius trial.
Do you think Judge Thokozile Masipa will be bombarded with questions by media or the general public when she speaks at the UNC law school? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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