Pistorius prosecutors file appeal at Supreme Court

[webfact]

Pistorius prosecutors file appeal at Supreme Court
GERALD IMRAY, Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Prosecutors pushing for a murder conviction against Oscar Pistorius filed papers at South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday, four days before the Olympic runner is expected to be released from prison and moved to house arrest.

Court registrar Paul Myburgh confirmed the prosecution's papers had been filed. Lawyers for the double-amputee runner have until Sept. 17 to file their response ahead of a hearing in 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 behavior, the 28-year-old Pistorius can be released on probation to serve the remainder under house arrest.

Prosecutors announced their intention to appeal Judge Thokozile Masipa's decision shortly after Pistorius' months-long 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.

Quoting a section of South African law known as "dolus eventualis," prosecutors argue in their appeal papers that the former track star should be convicted of murder because he shot through the toilet door in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine's Day two years ago, knowing that whoever was behind the door would likely be killed without just cause.

It's possible to be convicted of murder in South Africa if it's shown that the person foresaw the possibility of someone's death because of their actions and went ahead anyway.

Pistorius testified that he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom.

If his conviction is upgraded from manslaughter to murder, he would be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison, the minimum sentence for a murder conviction in South Africa, which doesn't have the death penalty.

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.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-18

[HeijoshinCool]

Arrogant POS.

Bad behavior in murdering his girlfriend, but good behavior in prison gets him out in record time.

[Seastallion]

"It's possible to be convicted of murder in South Africa if it's shown that the person foresaw the possibility of someone's death because of their actions and went ahead anyway."

Why wasn't this brought up during the trial?

It's a good law, better than "reckless disregard", or "negligence", and would apply to crazy speeding drivers in some cases, as well as religious nutters taking their kids out of hospital against doctors orders.

[NeilSA1]

"He was sentenced to five years in jail, but is expected to be released ... after serving 10 months​" Ridiculous.

I hope the prosecutors are more successful this time around.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

Why wasn't this brought up during the trial?

<snip>

Maybe because that pathetic "pit-bull" prosecutor Gerrie Nel (who basically bored the judge to death with his nit-picking, repetitive, time-wasting, useless questioning) didn't know about it.

[Maggusoil]

I hope they're more successful this time. If one was concerned about a felon in the toilet, why not wait til he or she comes out?

Call the police, wait outside with a gun. How many options does one need? Besides what he did.

Ridiculous. Absurd.

[Soutpeel]

I hope they're more successful this time. If one was concerned about a felon in the toilet, why not wait til he or she comes out?

Call the police, wait outside with a gun. How many options does one need? Besides what he did.

Ridiculous. Absurd.

Call the Police....as some us well know, you may be in for a long wait for the SAPS to turn up at a possible crime scene in most circumstances

Is it conceivable that this was all an accident, having walked around in my skivvies at 3 am with a firearm in hand thinking someone had broken in the house, I could see how an "accidental" shooting could occur

Certainly in the SA context of things sometime it would be more prudent to shoot first ask questions later but with that being said

But do I think that's what happened in his case ? No.....pretty sure they had an argument, she locked herself in the bathroom wouldnt let him in so he let rip on the bathroom door with a firearm knowing full well she was in there, did he plan to kill her most likely not but the sentence handed down was a joke

Will they get him on appeal sad to say don't think so, let's face it, its a country where the president got off with a rape charge and should have been done for stealing aid money to build his house and he got away with that one as well

[godden]

He hasn't got a led to stand on

[Maggusoil]

I hope they're more successful this time. If one was concerned about a felon in the toilet, why not wait til he or she comes out?

Call the police, wait outside with a gun. How many options does one need? Besides what he did.

Ridiculous. Absurd.

Call the Police....as some us well know, you may be in for a long wait for the SAPS to turn up at a possible crime scene in most circumstances

Is it conceivable that this was all an accident, having walked around in my skivvies at 3 am with a firearm in hand thinking someone had broken in the house, I could see how an "accidental" shooting could occur

Certainly in the SA context of things sometime it would be more prudent to shoot first ask questions later but with that being said

But do I think that's what happened in his case ? No.....pretty sure they had an argument, she locked herself in the bathroom wouldnt let him in so he let rip on the bathroom door with a firearm knowing full well she was in there, did he plan to kill her most likely not but the sentence handed down was a joke

Will they get him on appeal sad to say don't think so, let's face it, its a country where the president got off with a rape charge and should have been done for stealing aid money to build his house and he got away with that one as well

The time police can take to turn up at a crime scene is an interesting point. I do like your hypothesis and in addition, shooting five times through a bathroom door, would indicate the seriousness of the intent. That's not just a warning.

As far as the police turning up, I lived in an "interesting" area with a lot of street crime in Sydney. It was very busy with petty crime and assaults which sometimes got serious.

I discovered that if on the call to the police one said the magic words ". . . I believe I may be physically harmed or someone else may be or has been physically harmed . . . " Gets immediate results. The cops will come. Not enough to say I think she's going to kill him or whatever.

This is pretty arcane but an interesting piece of information regarding what the police respond to quickly or not at all.

[SheungWan]

I hope they're more successful this time. If one was concerned about a felon in the toilet, why not wait til he or she comes out?

Call the police, wait outside with a gun. How many options does one need? Besides what he did.

Ridiculous. Absurd.

Call the Police....as some us well know, you may be in for a long wait for the SAPS to turn up at a possible crime scene in most circumstances

Is it conceivable that this was all an accident, having walked around in my skivvies at 3 am with a firearm in hand thinking someone had broken in the house, I could see how an "accidental" shooting could occur

Certainly in the SA context of things sometime it would be more prudent to shoot first ask questions later but with that being said

But do I think that's what happened in his case ? No.....pretty sure they had an argument, she locked herself in the bathroom wouldnt let him in so he let rip on the bathroom door with a firearm knowing full well she was in there, did he plan to kill her most likely not but the sentence handed down was a joke

Will they get him on appeal sad to say don't think so, let's face it, its a country where the president got off with a rape charge and should have been done for stealing aid money to build his house and he got away with that one as well

'Did he plan to kill her?' Just check out the height of the bullet holes in the door to know nobody comes out alive from that barrage.

[Roadman]

I hope they're more successful this time. If one was concerned about a felon in the toilet, why not wait til he or she comes out?

Call the police, wait outside with a gun. How many options does one need? Besides what he did.

Ridiculous. Absurd.

Call the Police....as some us well know, you may be in for a long wait for the SAPS to turn up at a possible crime scene in most circumstances

Is it conceivable that this was all an accident, having walked around in my skivvies at 3 am with a firearm in hand thinking someone had broken in the house, I could see how an "accidental" shooting could occur

Certainly in the SA context of things sometime it would be more prudent to shoot first ask questions later but with that being said

But do I think that's what happened in his case ? No.....pretty sure they had an argument, she locked herself in the bathroom wouldnt let him in so he let rip on the bathroom door with a firearm knowing full well she was in there, did he plan to kill her most likely not but the sentence handed down was a joke

Will they get him on appeal sad to say don't think so, let's face it, its a country where the president got off with a rape charge and should have been done for stealing aid money to build his house and he got away with that one as well

'Did he plan to kill her?' Just check out the height of the bullet holes in the door to know nobody comes out alive from that barrage.

That was what was so ridiculous. The bullet holes height and angle were all in alignment with someone sitting on the toilet. I guess the South Africans always have to use the john when they are burgling a house.

This is even better. Now his house parole has been blocked because it did not follow correct procedure according to the justice minister. And in reply -

Ulrich Roux, a prominent criminal defence lawyer, said the minister's decision was "procedurally correct" but its timing was "bizarre".

"The eyes of the whole world are on South Africa and this certainly isn't a good reflection on our department of correctional services."

Roux is correct that the eyes of the world are on the South Africa justice system and reflecting what a joke it is.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Roadman

[robertthebruce]

Shocking 5 years Jail Sentence, and freed after 10 months... i hope the new trial serves him the sentence he deserves.

She was a Beautiful young woman, who did not deserve to die..

He seemed like a spoilt brat, and has a history of violence to his ex girlfriends...

Once again so so sad, for the Victim.. and her Family..

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

I woke up last night and heard a sound and thought maybe a robber was in the house until I looked next to me and saw my girlfriend was not in the bed. So I got up anyway and heard the sound was coming from the bathroom. I called out "Honey you in there?" She didn't respond but a moment later she opened the door. I asked her why she didn't respond to me immediately, she said "I was in the middle of taking a dump" Pistorius instead shoots through the closed door and kills his girlfriend. Murderer...And Premeditated at that.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere