Publishing Reeva's photos could sway public opinion about Oscar: Expert
A legal expert says it may have not been necessary to lift the ban on the publishing of graphic crime scene photos of Reeva Steenkamp.
On Wednesday during closing arguments for Oscar Pistorius, North Gauteng High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa allowed the images showing the law graduate's fatal injuries to be made public.
A number of witnesses have testified in aggravation and mitigation of sentence including Reeva's father Barry Steenkamp who emotionally recalled the death of his daughter on Valentine's Day in 2013.
Also read: Oscar Pistorius to be sentenced for murder on July 6
Late last year, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned Pistorius’s culpable homicide conviction on appeal by the State changing it to murder.
Sunil Singh from Sunil Singh and Associates says the ruling on the photos will influence public perception about Oscar's sentence.
''It's no longer a privileged document. The media may even to such an extent publish them in the paper if so necessary. But I think it will be insensitive for them to do so.
''I would think the public's perception, to a greater extent, would be that he (Oscar) should be facing a lengthy jail time," says Singh.