Court Changes Oscar Pistorius’ Conviction To Murder

But the prosecutors argued that a culpable homicide verdict didn’t go far enough, and an appeals court just overturned that decision to instead find Pistorius guilty of murder.

Judge Masipa ruled that the state had failed to prove intent or “dolus eventualis”, a legal concept that centres on a person being held responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions.

Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympic hero who shot his girlfriend through a locked bathroom door, has been convicted of murder by South Africa’s supreme court.

A murder conviction carries a much heftier sentence: a minimum of 15 years in South Africa.

October 21: Judge Thokozile Masipa sentences Pistorius to a maximum of five years in jail.

The Telegraph said Leach also ruled that “the Supreme Court found that the original trial did not take into account all the circumstantial evidence involved in the case, including key police evidence, which was an error”.

Pistorius had been meant to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest on his uncle’s property in a wealthy suburb of the capital Pretoria.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: South Africa’s DPP appealed the conviction for culpable homicide – the equivalent of manslaughter.

Pistorius shot and killed Miss Steenkamp at his Pretoria home on Valentines Day 2013.

“Let us now all get on with our lives”, he said.

“The identity of his victim is irrelevant to his guilt”, explained retired Judge Chris Greenland, who said the case would now be referred back to Masipa for resentencing.

That being said, a response from the Pistorius camp is expected in the coming days, with his lawyers reportedly having upwards of ten days to file an appeal. “We’ve got respect for Reeva, we’ve got respect for women, and I think there is a lack of respect for women in this country”.

He’s now under house arrest after spending one year of his first five-year term in jail.

Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, sat quietly in the courtroom during the announcement, which was shown live on television.

He added: “A young man overcomes huge physical disabilities to reach Olympian heights as an athlete”. He insisted he thought she was an intruder behind the door of a toilet cubicle in his home.

Criminal lawyers watching the case have stated that Oscar Pistorius can, and likely will appeal the new ruling.

Steenkamp’s family members were present for Thursday’s proceedings, remaining stony-faced throughout but hugging after hearing the verdict. The prosecution tried to depict Pistorius as an angry boyfriend who intentionally shot his model-girlfriend as she cowered behind a toilet door.