Updated: Pistorius Convicted of Murder By Appeals Court, Overturns Lesser Conviction For Manslaughter

Posted September 11, 2014 9:38 PM ET; Last Updated December 4, 2015 4:04 PM ET


Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius in February 2013.
Photo: Getty Images

[From article]
A South African appeals court on Thursday convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder, overturning a lower court’s conviction of the double-amputee Olympian on the lesser charge of manslaughter for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp to death in 2013.
Justice Lorimer Eric Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered the ruling by the five-judge appeals court in Bloemfontein and directed the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, to impose sentence.
[. . .]
Leach said regardless of who might have been behind the door, Pistorius should have known someone could be killed if he fired.
“The identity of his victim is irrelevant to his guilt,” the judge said.
Under the concept of “dolus eventualis” in South African law, a person can be convicted of murder if they foresaw the possibility of someone dying through their actions and went ahead anyway.
Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, sat quietly in the courtroom during the announcement, which was carried on TV. Pistorius was not there.
http://nypost.com/2015/12/03/appeals-court-convicts-oscar-pistorius-of-murder/

Appeals court convicts Oscar Pistorius of murder
By Associated Press
New York Post
December 3, 2015 | 4:53am

* * *

[From article]
In a lengthy verdict phase climaxing Oscar Pistorius’ trial, the judge said Thursday he can’t be found guilty of murder but that he was negligent in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, raising the possibility he’ll be convicted of culpable homicide.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said she felt the double-amputee Olympian acted negligently when he fatally shot Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home in the predawn hours of Valentine’s Day last year. In a moment of high drama, she then stopped reading out her judgment in the six-month-long trial and adjourned until Friday.
[. . .]
Culpable homicide normally carries a five-year jail sentence in South Africa when a firearm is used, but it can be changed by a judge depending on the specific circumstances of the killing.

http://nypost.com/2014/09/11/prosectuors-have-not-proven-murder-charge-for-pistorius-judge/

Blade Runner skates on murder charge
By Associated Press
New York Post
September 11, 2014 | 6:49am