Oscar Pistorius ‘cannot afford another trial’

Despite facing another trial over the killing of Steenkamp, Pistorius is still eligible for release under house arrest, where he could serve out the remainder of his short sentence.

Said Roux: “He would again be charged for murder on the same facts, notwithstanding that he was acquitted on a charge of murder on the merits”.

The papers were filed in response to the State’s argument that Pistorius should have been found guilty of murdering Ms Steenkamp and not the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

According to Roux, the reliability and objectivity of another trial would be contaminated by the overwhelming public scrutiny that followed the first hearing.

In Wednesday’s papers, Pistorius’ lawyers argued prosecutors were wrong to challenge the original verdict, and were using the appeal to try again with a murder case that had already been rejected by Judge Thokozile Masipa.

“The respondent’s financial ability for a trial de nuevo is non-existent”, Mr Roux said.

The lawyers said that if the Supreme Court agreed with the prosecution, it should only order a re-trial and not upgrade his conviction to murder itself. The SCA is expected to hear the matter in November.

In December 2014, Masipa granted the State leave to appeal, saying her culpable homicide verdict was based on her interpretation of the law. The purported questions of law could therefore in any event not affect the outcome of the case.

But the defense also argued a re-trial would be unfair on Pistorius because, for one, he is broke from his long and expensive first trial and wouldn’t be able to afford another court battle. He was sentenced to five years in jail.

The double-amputee’s family learned that members of the South African prison authorities would meet September 18 to decide if the Olympic sprinter should be placed on parole and if so, set a new date for his release, Efe earlier reported.