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Tag: Oscar Pistorius

  • Murder: Pistorius to be sentenced in June

    Disgraced Paralympic gold medallist, Oscar Pistorius, will be sentenced in June for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, after his original conviction was upgraded from the lesser charge of manslaughter.

    Pistorius, 29, known as “Blade Runner” for the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he used to race, faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence and cannot appeal after the country’s top court ruled in March that he had exhausted all his legal options, Reuters reported.

    Dressed in a black suit, he showed no signs of emotion during the brief court appearance and spoke on his cellphone as he left the court.

    He denied killing Steenkamp, saying he mistook her for an intruder at his home.

    “The matter is postponed to the 13th of June 2016, High Court Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said of the final sentencing. “It will be heard until the 17th of June 2016.”

    Outside the court, a group of people in white t-shirts gathered in support of Pistorius holding placards.

    Pistorius initially received a five-year sentence for “culpable homicide,” South Africa’s equivalent of manslaughter.

    He was released from prison last October after almost a year behind bars and allowed to serve out his term under house arrest on his uncle’s property in a wealthy suburb of Pretoria.

    But in December, the Supreme Court upgraded the conviction on appeal to murder. He was allowed to stay at his uncle’s pending the final decisions on appeals and sentencing.

     

  • South African challenge Pistorius’ appeal against conviction

    South African challenge Pistorius’ appeal against conviction

    South African authorities are challenging athlete star, Oscar Pistorius, appeal against his conviction for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the national prosecuting authority said on Monday.

    The Supreme Court of Appeal upgraded the 29-year-old’s conviction to murder in December after the state prosecutors appealed the athletes April conviction for culpable homicide in the Pretoria High Court, Reuters reported.

    In the affidavit, prosecutors argued that the Supreme Court of Appeal had correctly found Pistorius guilty.

    Pistorius shot and killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, and has spent the last few months under house arrest at his uncle’s home in Pretoria while awaiting his appeal.

    Pistorius’ lawyer Barry Roux has said the appeal would cite grounds including the appeal court reconsidering a trial court finding that Pistorius felt his and Steenkamp’s life were in danger when he fired the shots.

    Pistorius, if his appeal fails, faces a possible minimum 15-year jail sentence for the murder of his girlfriend.

  • Pistorius applies for bail after murder conviction

    Pistorius applies for bail after murder conviction

    South African Paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius on Tuesday appeared in court to apply for bail following his conviction for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

    Pistorius, known as “Blade Runner” because of the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he used to race, faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence.

    The Supreme Court on December 3 upgraded the 29-year-old athlete’s sentence to murder from “culpable homicide”, South Africa’s equivalent of manslaughter, for which he had received a five-year sentence.

    Pistorius was released from jail on Oct. 19 and had been meant to serve the rest of that five-year sentence under house arrest at his uncle’s house in a wealthy suburb of the capital Pretoria.

  • Pistorius to apply for bail in court Tuesday

    Disgraced Olympic and Paralympic gold medallist, Oscar Pistorius, will appear in court on Tuesday to apply for bail following his conviction for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the justice department said.

    “The bail application hearing for Oscar Pistorius has been set down for tomorrow at 9.30 am (0730 GMT) at the Pretoria High Court,” Reuters quoted the department as saying on Monday.

    The future date for Pistorius’ sentencing will also be announced on Tuesday, the department said. Pistorius, known as “Blade Runner” because of the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he used to race, faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence.

    The Supreme Court last Thursday upgraded the 29-year-old athlete’s sentence to murder from “culpable homicide,” South Africa’s equivalent of manslaughter, for which he had received a five-year sentence.

    Pistorius was released from jail on October 19 and had been meant to serve the rest of that five-year sentence under house arrest at his uncle’s house in a wealthy suburb of the capital Pretoria.

    The athlete killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 after firing four shots through a locked toilet door. He said he mistook Steenkamp for a burglar, while prosecutors argued that he had intended to kill her.

  • Pistorius convicted for murder

    Pistorius convicted for murder

    … Athlete to be re-sentenced

    Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict.

    He killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting her four times through a locked toilet door, the BBC reports.

    He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.

    Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder.

    It was earlier incorrectly reported that the court had ruled the manslaughter verdict would remain.

    South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis – whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.

    Reading the ruling reached by a panel of five judges, Justice Lorimer Leach said that having armed himself with a high-calibre weapon, Pistorius must have foreseen that whoever was behind the door might die.

    Pistorius’ lawyer argued that he believed that there was an intruder in the house, but the judge said the identity of the person behind the door was irrelevant.

    Ms Steenkamp’s mother, June, was present but Pistorius did not attend the hearing at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

    The double amputee was released from prison on October 19. Under South African law, he was eligible for release under “correctional supervision,” having served a sixth of his sentence.

    Pistorius can challenge the ruling in the constitutional court but only if his lawyers can argue that his constitutional rights have been violated.

     

  • South Africa’s court reading judgment in Pistorius case

    South Africa’s Supreme Court has started reading its ruling in a case that could send disgraced Olympic and Paralympic gold medallist, Oscar Pistorius back to jail on Thursday for at least 15 years for killing his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day 2013, Reuters reported.

    Last year a judge gave Pistorius a five-year jail sentence for “culpable homicide” of Reeva Steenkamp, but prosecutors said he should be convicted of murder for firing four shots through a locked toilet door.

  • South Africa prosecutors begin appeal against Pistorius

    South Africa prosecutors begin appeal against Pistorius

    South African state prosecutors began their appeal to have paralympian Oscar Pistorius’ conviction scaled up to murder from culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.

    Pistorius was released from prison into house arrest last month after serving a fifth of his five-year prison term, Reuters reported.

    During the trial, the state failed to convince Judge Thokozile Masipa of Pistorius’ intent to kill when he fired, leading to his conviction for negligent killing or culpable homicide.

  • Pistorius released on parole

    Pistorius released on parole

    Oscar Pistorius, South Africa’s double-amputee “Blade Runner” was released on parole late on Monday evening, just short of a year into his five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.

    The disgraced Paralympic gold medallist must serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest but still faces an appeal on November 3 by prosecutors who argue that he should have been convicted of murder, not culpable homicide, Reuters reported.

    Pistorius, 28, who was found guilty of the lesser charge when he fired four shots through a locked bathroom door and hit Steenkamp, will be confined to his uncle Arnold’s home in a wealthy suburb of the capital, Pretoria.

    He had been expected to leave prison on Tuesday, and his early release took media by surprise.

     

  • Pistorius to be released on Tuesday

    Pistorius to be released on Tuesday

    Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison next Tuesday, about a year after he was sentenced to five years for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, local television stations ENCA and state broadcaster SABC said on their official Twitter feeds.

    Reuters reported that Pistorius was found guilty in September 2014 of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter, after he fired four 9mm shots through a locked toilet door on February 14, 2013 killing model and law graduate Steenkamp.

  • South Africa’s parole board delays Pistorius release

    South Africa’s parole board delays Pistorius release

    South Africa’s parole review board on Monday delayed the release of Paralympic gold medallist, Oscar Pistorius, from prison, where he is serving a sentence for killing his girlfriend, setting aside a previous decision to free the athlete.

    The board upheld a decision by South Africa’s Justice Minister, Michael Masutha, who had intervened in plans for his release, saying the law required the athlete to have served a sixth of his sentence before his parole could be considered.

    Pistorius was due to have been released to house arrest in August after serving 10 months of a five-year sentence. His parole hearing was conducted before he had served six months.

    The head of the Parole Review Board, Judge Lucy Mailula, concurred with the concerns raised by Masutha, that the parole board had “made the decision prematurely.”

    A spokeswoman for the Pistorius family, Annelise Burgess, said the family could not comment as it had not yet received official word from the parole review board.

    “We have been unofficially informed of the decision of the parole review board and we are considering our options until we receive the official communication from the board,” Reuters quoted Burgess as saying on the matter.

    It was not immediately clear when a new parole hearing would be held.