Pistorius can’t be convicted of murder, judge says in South African trial

The judge in the trial of double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius said Thursday that he couldn’t receive a murder conviction in the shooting death of his girlfriend.

Judge Thokozile Masipa said she felt Pistorius acted negligently when he fired through a bathroom door at his home late at night last year, killing his girlfriend. Pistorius said during the six-month trial that followed that he thought she was an intruder.

The judge then stopped reading her verdict and adjourned until Friday.

Pistorius still can be found guilty of culpable homicide, which brings a maximum 15-year sentence. Premeditated murder would have brought a heavier sentence.

South Africa does not have a trial by jury. Instead, the judge and her legal aides decide on a verdict.