Mr Pistorius, 28, was convicted of a lesser manslaughter charge and last month released from prison into house arrest.at his uncle’s mansion in Pretoria after serving just one year of a five-year sentence over the death.
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Members of the ruling ANC party’s Women’s League attended the session and informed reporters that Pistorius had been let loose too quickly and will have his conviction upgraded to murder, which has a minimal 15-yr sentence.
Even Barry Roux, the combative lawyer who helped secure a culpable homicide verdict against Oscar Pistorius, appeared to concede that his client’s latest legal battle did not look promising.
Judge Lex Mpati, president of the supreme court of appeal.
“He’s really scared. He believes the deceased is in the bedroom, that’s the finding”.
He said Masipa’s judgment ignored key evidence, such as naming the effectiveness of certain witness testimony but then never bringing them up again.
At the original trial in September past year, high court Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that the state had failed to prove intent or “dolus eventualis”, a legal concept that centers on a person being held responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions.
Pistorius could also make his own appeal to South Africa’s Constitutional Court – the country’s highest court.
But the judge has now adjourned the case.
Judge Greenland, who was a regular commentator on South African television during the broadcasted trial, said he had discussed the case “on five continents” with lawyers all over the world.
Prosecutors believe Pistorius knew someone could die when he shot four times through a toilet cubicle door in the pre-dawn hours of February 14, 2013, killing Steenkamp.
Should the prosecution succeed, Pistorius could be returned to prison.
“The law is not created to punish you for a wrong state of mind”, he added.
And Judge Eric Leach said if a judge misdirects him or herself by excluding certain evidence, it becomes a matter of law.
“While Nel was questioned on two issues, the judges … hammered Roux on numerous points in his submission”.
On Tuesday, the SCA essentially scrapped the “Seekoei” precedent by allowing the state to press on with its appeal against Pistorius’s acquittal for murder.
Pistorius told his trial that he didn’t intend to fire, but he was in a state of high anxiety, genuinely fearing for his life, and before he knew it, the shots went off.
“He would have the option of an appeal to the constitutional court, subject to the financial means to do so”, Hood said.
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However, if the State is successful in its appeal to the five presiding judges, Pistorius could face 15 years for murder on the doctrine of dolus eventualis. He was released on parole October 19 after a year of time served.
