Oscar Pistorius appeared in a Pretoria, South Africa court this morning for a sentencing hearing regarding his conviction for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He walked into the courtroom wearing his normal prosthetics and shorts, and at the request of his attorney, he removed the prosthetics and walked around the room with the assistance of another person. He was emotional and crying throughout.Mr. Pistorius's defense lawyers had asked him to take off his prosthetic legs to highlight the sense of vulnerability they say he felt when, acting out of fear and confusion, he fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, early on Feb. 14, 2013.Pistorius, who is nearly three and half feet tall without the prosthetics, has claimed from the beginning that he thought the person he was shooting inside a locked bathroom in his home was an intruder and not his girlfriend. His attorneys hope to demonstrate that, due to his hampered mobility, he felt at an increased risk and essentially made a mistake out of fear in the heat of the moment. Therefore, the argument continues, his specific circumstances should be a mitigating factor in the length of his sentencing.Pistorius was originally found not guilty of murder, but guilty of culpable homicide on September 12, 2014, and was sentenced to five years in prison. In her ruling, Judge Thokozile Masipa held that the state failed to prove he intended to kill Steenkamp. But the prosecution appealed the decision to the highest court in the country and Pistorius was later convicted of murder. The court then remanded the case to Judge Masipa for sentencing, where we are now. Prosecutors are arguing for a minimum sentence of 15 years and a decision is expected on July 6th.[NYT]