Appeal to upgrade Oscar Pistorius conviction to murder filed in South Africa
Monday 17 August 2015 22:00, UK
South African prosecutors have filed appeal papers in the Supreme Court as they push for a murder conviction against Oscar Pistorius.
The appeal was filed four days before the Paralympic athlete is due to be released from jail and moved to house arrest, and his legal team has until September 17 to file a response, with a hearing set for November.
Prosecutors want a panel of judges at the Supreme Court to overrule a decision by another judge to acquit Pistorius of murder for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
Pistorius was instead found guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, for shooting Steenkamp through a toilet cubicle door in his home.
He was sentenced to five years in jail, but is expected to be released from the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in the South African capital Pretoria on Friday after serving 10 months of that culpable homicide sentence.
Because of his good behaviour, 28-year-old Pistorius can be released on probation to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
Prosecutors announced their intention to appeal Judge Thokozile Masipa's decision shortly after Pistorius' lengthy trial last year - they said Masipa made an error in interpreting the law when she cleared Pistorius of murder and found him guilty instead of an unintentional but still unlawful killing.
If his conviction is upgraded to murder, he would be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison, the minimum sentence for a murder conviction in South Africa.
The prosecution's appeal will be heard by a panel of either three or five judges at the Supreme Court in the central city of Bloemfontein. They could convict Pistorius of murder with a simple 2-1 or 3-2 majority.
