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Court Reversal: Oscar Pistorius Convicted of Murder

Court Reversal: Oscar Pistorius Convicted of Murder

Dec 3, 2015 by Gordon Mack
Court Reversal: Oscar Pistorius Convicted of Murder



In a stunning reversal, disgraced former Olympian and Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been convicted of murder for the February 2013 death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, according to the AP. The conviction carries with it a minimum 15 year sentence in South Africa, although lesser sentences may be imposed in exceptional circumstances under the law.  

Pistorius' disability, his status as a first time offender, and time already served would fall under the "exceptional circumstances" umbrella, meaning that the South African could avoid that lengthy of a punishment. 

Pistorius had previously been charged with the lesser charge of culpable homicide for Steenkamp’s death, as he maintained that he mistook the woman for an intruder. He was released to house arrest on October 19th of this year, after only serving one year of his original five year prison sentence.
 
However, today’s ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal utilized the “dolus eventualis” concept under South African law, which allows a person to be convicted of murder if they continue with actions which could result in the death of another. 
 
Justice Larimer Eric Leach, who delivered the ruling, told the courtroom, “the accused ought to have been found guilty of murder on the basis that he had fired the fatal shots with criminal intent.” Leach directed the North Gauging High Court to impose a sentence for Pistorius, who was known as “Blade Runner” during his athletic career, a reference to his prosthetics used while competing.
 
The 29-year-old won six Paralympic gold medals, and most notably, made history at the 2012 London Olympic Games by becoming the first double leg amputee to compete at the Olympics.
 
However, all the success that Pistorius found on the track has been entirely overshadowed by his strange journey through the South African legal process, which took a sharp 180° turn on Thursday as Judge Leach noted that the identity of the victim was irrelevant to Pistorius’ guilt in the case. Leach called the original ruling “fundamentally flawed” according to CNN.
 
Double jeopardy— which prevents a defendant from being tried twice following a verdict— does not apply in this instance because Pistorius had not been acquitted on the charge, and additionally, because the appeal was focused on “a question of law, not a question of fact,” CNN legal analyst Kelly Phelps said.
 
According to Phelps, she believes that Pistorius will appeal today’s ruling in South Africa’s Constitutional Court, his final path of appeal.
 
“I certainly don’t think that it is the end of the story. This simply marks the end of one phase and the beginning of another one,” Phelps said.

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