The Supreme Court say the lower court did not correctly apply to rule of “dolus eventualis”- which is whether Pistorius knew a death would likely result because of his actions.
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Pistorius was released from prison and placed under house arrest on October 19, having spent one day less than a year behind bars for shooting dead model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, in a case that attracted worldwide interest and continues to fascinate and divide South Africa.
The athlete, known for the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he uses when running, will be sentenced for the murder conviction by a lower court at a date still to be determined.
According to CNN, a 15-year prison sentence is the minimum punishment for murder in South Africa.
Former South African track star Oscar Pistorius will nearly certainly be headed back to jail.
“The issue before this court is whether in doing so he committed the crime of murder, the intentional killing of a human being, or the lesser offence of culpable homicide, the negligent killing of another”, the opinion read.
State prosecutors who lodged the appeal say Pistorius meant to kill Steenkamp and that she fled to a toilet during a row.
On behalf of her family, Reeva’s father Barry Steenkamp told media his daughter will now be able to “rest well” knowing that “justice was done”.
Pistorius always maintained that he believed there was an intruder in the house but the judge said that the identity of the person behind the door was “irrelevant to his guilt”.
There was initial confusion in the court when the judge preceded his reading of the Pistorius ruling by saying an appeal had been dismissed; although he was referring to a separate legal case, some news organizations incorrectly reported that Pistorius had not been convicted of murder.
“It is inconceivable that a rational person thought he was entitled to fire at this person with a heavy-duty firearm”, said Leach, who described Pistorius’s testimony as “vacillating and untruthful”. I feel so proud now that she’s got some respect and she hasn’t lost her life for nothing. He had been sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter. In acquitting Pistorius of murder, Masipa ruled that Pistorius could not have anticipated that someone might die before he shot four times through a door into a toilet cubicle, killing Steenkamp.
Steenkamp’s mother, June, sat quietly in the courtroom during the announcement, which was shown live on television.
So there will be a new sentencing hearing. Prosecutors argued that he shot her following an argument.
The Pistorius family said in a statement that it had taken note of the judgment.
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Meanwhile, there was little or no activity at the Pistorius residence after the appeals court ruling.
