Oscar Pistorius Case Latest News: Prosecutors to Appeal 'Culpable Homicide' Sentence
As the second anniversary of the crime that rocked Oscar Pistorius' life and led to the death of model-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp approaches, South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced that it will review and appeal the court's "culpable homicide" or manslaughter conviction.
According to a report in the Cape Times, state prosecutors gave notice to the Pistorius defense team last week and to the High Court of Pretoria and the Supreme Court of Appeal Monday this week. According to NPA Spokesman Velekhaya Mgobhozi, the State is waiting for the full transcripts of the trial before filing their appeal. This announcement also comes months after the High Court, through Judge Thokozile Masipa, granted the State permission to appeal the conviction but not the five-year sentence.
In the Cape Times report, Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that the sentence was "shockingly inappropriate," echoing earlier arguments it made when they filed papers in November 2014 for a harsher conviction and sentence, on "whether the principles of dolus eventualis were correctly applied to the case."
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Barry Roux, lawyer for Pistorius, however argued that the law was "correctly applied in convicting and sentencing."
A Mirror Online report says that State prosecutors are aiming for a murder conviction, and if successful, may mean a 15-year sentence for Pistorius. Additionally, a report from the South African Times said that Pistorius was listening to a live radio broadcast of the hearing, and the result "sent him into a rage," as attested by a fellow prisoner who was interviewed.
Oscar Pistorius, a South African sprint runner and Paralympic champion, is currently serving a five-year sentence handed down by the court on October 21, 2014 after he was found guilty of "culpable homicide" for the shooting of Steenkamp at his Pretoria home in the early hours of February 14, 2013. Steenkamp was Pistorius' girlfriend of three months. He was also sentenced for another three years, suspended for five years, for discharging a firearm in a restaurant in Johannesburg, in January 2013.
