Oscar Pistorius could face
murder charges once again, after it was ruled today that his defence
lawyers have been unsuccessful in their attempt to prevent prosecutors from
appealing against his acquittal for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva
Steenkamp.
The ruling means that an
appeal can now be launched, with the
prosecutors hoping to overturn the charges for manslaughter (or culpable
homicide, as it's referred to in South African law), instead trying him for
murder once again.
The guilty verdict placed
upon Oscar for culpable homicide at his trial in September
2014 essentially means that in the law's eyes, Pistorius wasaware
of the harmful repercussions of firing the gun when he shot at his
girlfriend on Valentine's Day on 2013, but that he did notexplicitly intend
to kill her.
As a result, he is serving five years for his crime,
although he could be out of jail and under house arrest as soon as August this
year, on the basis of his terms of punishment.
However, prosecutors are dissatisfied with this result, and are
keen to indict him for the much heavier charge of murder, which would see
his sentence significantly increased.
They believe that the judge who ruled on the case, Judge
Thokozile Masipa, misinterpreted the legal principle of 'dolus eventualis' -
which means 'an awareness of the likely outcome of the action' - when
acquitting him of murder. They also believe that the South African Supreme
Court will agree.
The ruling today does not confirm that prosecuting lawyers will go ahead and appeal, but it
does mean that Pistorius' lawyer's can't prevent the opposition from doing so.
It remains to be seen whether or not the case will return to court.
0 comments:
Post a Comment