Pistorius faces fresh legal hurdle

Pistorius faces fresh legal hurdle

By Our Reporter  on November 4, 2015   Sports

SOUTH African judges have heard an appeal on whether athlete Oscar Pistorius should be convicted of murder instead of culpable homicide.
The Paralympian was transferred to house arrest last month after serving one year of his five-year term for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius, 28, shot her through a locked toilet door in 2013 but insists he thought she was an intruder.
No date was set for the judgement that could see Pistorius return to prison.
Pistorius and his family did not attend the hearing at South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. Ms Steenkamp’s mother, June, was present, as well as some women activists of the governing African National Congress who said they came to show solidarity with her.
The proceedings were broadcast live on television.
State prosecutor Gerrie Nel outlined the state’s case for the verdict to be changed to murder from culpable homicide, or manslaughter.
The five appeal court judges did not consider the facts but the application of the law, in a highly technical case. What is on everybody’s lips is what Pistorius’ lawyer Barry Roux was overheard saying at the end of the hearing. “I’m going to lose”, he is reported to have said in a conversation with Mr Nel while their microphones were still open.