Oscar Pistorious Found Guilty Of Murder; Set For 15-Year Jail Term

The Supreme Court of Appeal overturned a lower court’s conviction on the less serious charge of manslaughter.

“As a matter of common sense, at the time the fatal shots were fired the possibility of the death of a person behind the door was clearly an obvious result”, he said. Pistorius was not there.

South African law does not make provision for someone to be placed under house arrest for more than five years, so Pistorius will be going back to prison, reports the BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg. The appeals court that overturned the culpable homicide charge and instead found Pistorius guilty of murder didn’t have an issue with the lower court’s interpretation of the facts of the case, but rather its interpretation of the law.

The Pistorius case is “a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions”, said Judge Eric Leach, reading the unanimous verdict by the appeal court as cameras broadcast the ruling on live television across South Africa.

The trial judge, Thokozile Masipa, past year accepted Pistorius’ story that he fired believing the person in the cubicle was an intruder and that his life was in danger. No date has been given for this new sentencing ruling.

Speaking to Sky News, June Steenkamp, Reeva’s mother, felt the new decision was right.

– State lawyers file an appeal against both the culpable homicide verdict and five-year jail sentence in early November and Pistorius’ lawyers oppose the motion.

“We have taken note of the judgment that has just been handed down by the supreme court of appeal”, said Pistorius’ family in a statement. Prosecutors said Pistorius shot Steenkamp during an argument, while the defense said Pistorius killed Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was an intruder.

Pistorius, who is now on house arrest in his uncle’s mansion in Pretoria, was not present in court when the verdict was read. He became known as “Blade Runner” because of his use of curved, carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, and catapulted to world fame when he competed against able-bodied runners at the London 2012 Games.

But Pistorius’s lawyers have said the sprinter can not afford further legal battles, having already paid huge bills.

Mr Leach said Pistorius’ decision to shoot at the toilet door without knowing if he was in danger was irrational- and that the identity of the person behind the door was irrelevant. “I want respect for my daughter’s life and that’s what I got today [with] the conviction of murder”. Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model who appeared in a reality TV show, had planned to give a speech touching on domestic abuse and family relationships at a school on the day she died.