The former track star’s lawyer did not say on what basis he would be appealing the murder conviction at the Constitutional Court, South Africa’s highest court.
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Pistorius, who was granted bail this morning after judges altered his manslaughter conviction to murder last week, claimed on page three of his lengthy affidavit that he was now studying law “by way of correspondence”.
Pistorius had been meant to serve the rest of a five-year sentence there but the Supreme Court upgraded the 29-year-old’s conviction to murder from culpable homicide last week.
Last week, prosecution arguments were accepted by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein and ruled that the lower court failed to accurately use the concept of dolus eventualis – whether Pistorius understood that the departure would have been a likely effect of his activities.
Judge Aubrey Ledwaba, who postponed the case until April 18, 2016, told the court Pistorius has proved he is not a flight risk, but asked Pistorius to hand over his passport.
Martin Hood, a criminal lawyer based in Johannesburg, told AFP that Pistorius was now “clutching at straws” by trying to appeal to the Constitutional Court.
“I somehow think the Constitutional Court is not going to willy nilly grant leave to appeal”.
Du Toit said Pistorius’s legal team will have 15 days to apply for leave to appeal.
Pistorius’s defense attorney Barry Roux hinted at an appeal in the sentencing, saying that he was going to argue a conviction under “dolus directus” instead – which implies negligence and recklessness but not premeditated intent.
“We’re not convinced that the accused has made a good case”, Nel said.
He is now under house arrest at his uncle’s home, after serving one year of his previous five-year sentence in a Pretoria prison.
“He also agreed subject to your sanctioning that he would submit himself to electronic monitoring to be monitored in terms of Section 62 F of the Criminal Procedure Act”, he said.
Pistorius can only travel within a 20-kilometre radius of his uncle’s home, where he is staying under house arrest, and will be electronically tagged.
He will also face a minimum 15 year sentence for murder.
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If leave is not granted to appeal, a date will be set at the High Court for sentencing on the murder conviction.
