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Pistorius re-enacts Steenkamp shooting
02:09 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

Closing arguments will begin August 7

The athlete is accused of deliberately shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp

He says he shot Steenkamp accidentally in his bathroom, mistaking her for an intruder

London CNN  — 

The defense in the Oscar Pistorius murder case rested Tuesday, bringing to an end the latest phase of a trial which has lasted longer than the athlete’s relationship with Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend he killed.

Closing arguments will begin August 7, the judge ordered.

The long delay may be because of the length of time it will take the legal teams on both sides to review the transcript of the case, CNN legal analyst Kelly Phelps said.

It’s thought to be as much as 4,000 pages long, covering a case that ran for 39 days between March 3 and July 8.

Pistorius, 27, admits firing the bullets that killed Steenkamp, but he says he mistakenly thought he was defending himself from an intruder. Prosecutors say the two had an argument and he deliberately murdered the model and law school graduate, who was 29.

Following closing arguments, the judge will have to decide whether Pistorius genuinely made a mistake or deliberately murdered his girlfriend.

If Judge Thokozile Masipa does not believe the athlete thought there was an intruder, she will find him guilty of murder and sentence him to a prison term ranging from 15 years to life. South Africa does not have the death penalty.

If Masipa accepts that Pistorius did not know that Steenkamp was the person he was shooting at, she could find him guilty of culpable homicide, a lesser charge than murder, or acquit him, according to Phelps, the CNN legal analyst.

A verdict of culpable homicide would leave the sentence at Masipa’s discretion.

Read: 13 things to know as case resumes

Read more: Judge sends Pistorius for psychiatric tests

READ: Did Oscar Pistorius have time to think?