Convicted South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius was back in court on Tuesday for bail application following his conviction for murder. He will be under house arrest at his uncle’s home in Pretoria, and may only leave between the hours of 7 a.m. and 12 p.m. He may travel no farther than 12 miles from that house, and has surrendered his passport.
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After an original manslaughter conviction, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis – whether he knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.
In his bail affidavit, he said he had no income.
Pistorius will still have to wear an electronic monitoring device.
CBS News correspondent Debora Patta says a case can only be brought before the constitutional court as a last resort, and only if an accused person can argue that one of their rights was violated in the initial trial process.
Prosecutor Mr Nel said that Pistorius was a “high-risk” to flee from the country “considering the severity of his crime and the possibly tough sentence that awaits him”.
Judges changed his conviction from manslaughter to murder last week, BBC reported.
The athlete’s lawyer said he would ask for leave to appeal against the murder conviction.
His lawyer has applied for more stringent house arrest conditions, which have been agreed with the prosecution, to reach a deal on bail.
After his sentencing for culpable homicide past year, Pistorius’s bail was set at 1 million rand (about $69,000).
Nel said the only reason prosecutors didn’t oppose bail was because they reached agreement with Pistorius’ lawyers that he would remain at home throughout the day, only leaving if absolutely necessary with the permission of police.
Steenkamp died on February 14, 2013 when Pistorius fired four shots through the toilet door.
He will also face a minimum 15 year sentence for murder. But the appeals court decision to convict him of murder, as well as reports that he has spent much of his fortune on legal bills, have helped to diminish perceptions that he was somehow above the law.
Pistorius is next scheduled to appear in court on April 18, to confirm the next steps in the legal process.
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In October this year, he was released from jail after serving a year of his five-year sentence.
