Oscar appeal judgment being read

Oscar Pistorius. File picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Oscar Pistorius. File picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Published Dec 3, 2015

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Bloemfontein - Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) Judge Eric Leach on Thursday started handing down judgment in the State’s appeal of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius’s culpable homicide conviction at 9.am in Bloemfontein.

The State is asking the SCA to overturn the culpable homicide conviction imposed on Pistorius for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

Instead, the State wants the court to impose a verdict of murder.

While Pistorius and his family were not in court, Steenkamp’s mother June attended proceedings with family friends.

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Pistorius maintains he believed an intruder was hiding in the locked bathroom of his Pretoria home when he fired four shots into the cubicle, while the State insists that Pistorius, a firearms enthusiast, should have foreseen that his actions were likely to kill or injure the person behind the door.

Pistorius was sentenced to five years imprisonment by Pretoria High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa in 2014 after Pistorius said he believed an intruder was hiding in the cubicle.

He was released this year after serving less than a year of his sentence.

If the culpable homicide conviction is overturned, and he is found guilty of murder, the paralympian might find himself behind bars again.

ANA

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