South Africa’s “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius was found guilty on Thursday of murdering his girlfriend, in an appeal court ruling that could see him sent back to prison for at least 15 years.
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Expressing his passionate response to the overturned verdict, the South African-born maverick batsman tweeted, “Cheeeeerrrriiiiio, #OscarPistorius!”
Pistorius has been living with his uncle in Pretoria since being released on house arrest in October, performing community service once a fortnight under his conditions of parole.
“As a result of the errors of law referred to and on a proper appraisal of the facts, he ought to have been convicted not of culpable homicide on that count, but of murder”.
Steenkamp’s father, Barry, told South African television channel ANN7 that the judgment was fair.
This signals what may be the final chapter in a trial that was closely watched around the world.
He was not present when five judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein delivered their verdict. He meets a young woman of great natural beauty and a successful model. The heart of the matter was that he was shooting, and doing so in a fashion that would take a life.
“The trial misdirected itself as to the appropriate issue”, said Leach.
Pistorius insisted he shot Steenkamp by mistake, thinking there was an intruder behind the door of a toilet cubicle in his home.
Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby but who went on to become a global sporting hero, is not expected to attend Thursday’s court session in Bloemfontein, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.
Mr. Pistorius must have known that he could be killing a human behind the bathroom door, since the bullets from his pistol were tightly grouped and aimed at the centre of the person’s body, and there was no warning shot, the appeal court said.
At the crux of the case was how trial judge Thokozile Masipa interpreted the principle of “dolus eventualis” – awareness of the likely outcome of an action – under which she acquitted Pistorius of murder.
Pistorius’ legal team are now considering whether to appeal the decision.
“The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder on the basis that he had fired the fatal shots with criminal intent”, Leach said.
During the lengthy trial past year, Mr. Pistorius appeared remorseful and traumatized, often crying and vomiting during testimony by witnesses.
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Legal experts praised the appeal court’s verdict, but they noted that Mr. Pistorius might still be able to appeal the murder conviction by going to the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa, perhaps on the grounds that his trial was unfair.
