Oscar Pistorius to be released next week

While there is speculation that Pistorius will serve his house arrest at his wealthy Uncle Arnold’s house – a mansion in a posh Pretoria suburb – there is a possibility the athlete will ask to serve his sentence in a different location, away from the glare of the media.

He had been serving one-sixth of his five-year sentence before the announcement he would be released.

Judge Thokozile Masipa erroneously excluded critical aspects of circumstantial evidence in Oscar Pistorius’s culpable homicide conviction, the State argued in its appeal papers on Monday.

Pistorius was instead found guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, for shooting Steenkamp through a toilet cubicle door in his home.

Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison in October 2014 after he was convicted of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

CNN is reporting that Pistorius is getting out early because of the fact that many South African prisons are overpopulated.

Prosecutors officially filed heads of argument in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, just days before the athlete is set to be released under correctional supervision.

He was sentenced to 5 years.

Prosecutors say Pistorius knew there was someone hiding behind the door when he fired, and that this amounts to the level of intent required for murder. Pistorius’s defence team has until 17 September to submit its response, with the appeal hearing expected in November.

The athlete, nicknamed “Blade Runner” because of the carbon-fibre prosthetics he used during his stellar career on the track, will likely be allowed to leave the house to work, carry out community service or to attend important family events. If released some suggest it sends the wrong message to others since Oscar Pistorius is considered a role model.