Author Topic: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.  (Read 7836 times)

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Offline Admin

Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal for Steenkamp murder

BBC News
3rd March 2016

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been denied leave to appeal against his conviction for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The Constitutional Court has made the ruling, meaning Pistorius will now be sentenced in April.

Pistorius killed Ms Steenkamp in February 2013 after firing four times through a locked toilet door.

A manslaughter verdict was overturned in December and a murder verdict introduced in its place.



South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the Constitutional Court found "no prospect of success" in Pistorius' appeal.

The case will now go back to Judge Thokozile Masipa - who cleared the athlete of murder in the original case - for sentencing on 18 April.

Prosecutors are believed to be targeting a sentence of at least 15 years in jail for Pistorius.

This is the end of the road for Oscar Pistorius. The Constitutional Court was his last chance to overturn his murder conviction.

Many in the country felt that judge Thokozile Masipa had erred when she convicted him of a lesser charge, but some still believed Pistorius had not intended to kill anyone, let alone Reeva Steenkamp.

Now a full bench of the country's most powerfully judges has ruled that Pistorius' latest bid has no chance of succeeding.

The next step now is for the two legal teams to present their arguments about the length of his sentence - and the state wants no less than 15 years.

He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.

In December, South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court under Judge Masipa had not applied correctly the rule of dolus eventualis - whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.

Justice Eric Leach said that having armed himself with a high-calibre weapon, Pistorius must have foreseen that whoever was behind the door might die, especially given his firearms training.

Pistorius has always maintained he believed he was shooting at an intruder.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35720684
« Last Edit: March 03, 2016, 05:24:19 PM by Admin »

stephen25000

  • Guest
Re: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2016, 04:43:57 PM »
It could not happen to a nicer man.



I wonder if he will make a run for it. 

Offline mercury

Re: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2016, 12:21:56 AM »
He should have been allowed leave to appeal just in case he was innocent of not knowing it was his gf he was shooting at


This is what happens in cases with no witnesses, the jury and judges job is harder

I believe Nel the prosecutor was convinced of his guilt and Nel was a pretty top notch example of a good barrister as good as you can get versus the poor slimy defence...
« Last Edit: March 06, 2016, 12:32:22 AM by mercury »

Offline jassi

Re: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2016, 07:17:51 PM »
He should have been allowed leave to appeal just in case he was innocent of not knowing it was his gf he was shooting at


This is what happens in cases with no witnesses, the jury and judges job is harder

I believe Nel the prosecutor was convinced of his guilt and Nel was a pretty top notch example of a good barrister as good as you can get versus the poor slimy defence...

I don't see that who he shot is relevant.  He shot through that door with intent to kill.
I believe everything. And l believe nothing.
I suspect everyone. And l suspect no one.
I gather the facts, examine the clues... and before   you know it, the case is solved!"

Or maybe not -

OG have been pushed out by the Germans who have reserved all the deck chairs for the foreseeable future

Offline mercury

Re: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2016, 10:11:29 PM »
I don't see that who he shot is relevant.  He shot through that door with intent to kill.

It wasnt premeditated if it were burglars (so not murder but another charge) but his gf being in there and him knowing it would have been

I think

The orignal inditement was murder of his gf Reeva and he got off  first time round, due to unlawful killing or somethng, now hes guilty of orignal charge
« Last Edit: March 17, 2016, 10:16:11 PM by mercury »


Offline John

Re: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2016, 10:20:21 AM »
Oscar Pistorius's uncle hits out at 'astonishing' new claims

Apr 22, 2016

Amateur sleuths say Paralympian shot Reeva Steenkamp with air gun before killing her with revolver.

New claims that Oscar Pistorius assaulted girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp before shooting her have been dismissed as absurd by the Paralympian's uncle, Arnold.

Pistorius has always maintained that he believed there was a dangerous intruder in his bathroom when he fired into its door and killed Steenkampf, a version of events accepted by original trial judge, Thokozile Masipa.

However, in their book Oscar vs the Truth, amateur investigators Thomas and Calvin Mollett claim there is evidence to suggest Pistorius battered his girlfriend with a cricket bat and shot her with an air gun before killing her with a revolver.

Among what The Sun describes as "astonishing" claims, the brothers say a 4.5mm hole in the bedroom door and a wound of a similar size on Steenkamp's upper left arm appear to match the calibre of an air gun owned by Pistorius.

They also claim that the couple were fighting for more than an hour before the shooting and that neighbour Estelle van der Merwe, who told the trial she had heard "loud voices" coming from the house, would have been in the "perfect" position to witness the events.

"The court found it completely differently," he said, suggesting that the authors could not have read nor understood the trial findings as "every little detail" was explored.

Experts testified that Steenkamp had suffered injuries from bullet fragments, as well as wood splinters from the toilet door and pieces of her own bone. A hole in the bedroom door has also previously been put down to projectiles and it was agreed by the prosecutors and defence that Pistorius used the cricket bat to break down the toilet door.

In her final judgment, the judge said Merwe had been "in and out of sleep" and had "no idea" where the voices she heard came from, what language was being spoken or what was being said.

"Accordingly, there is nothing in the evidence of Ms van der Merwe that links what sounded like an argument to her to the incident at the house of the accused," she concluded.

Pistorius is due to be sentenced in June for the murder of Steenkamp, after his original conviction of culpable homicide was changed to murder.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/oscar-pistorius/53387/oscar-pistoriuss-uncle-hits-out-at-astonishing-new-claims
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline Angelo222

Re: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2016, 03:15:35 PM »
I find it incredible that a convicted murderer is allowed to roam around almost unfettered before he is sentenced to what could very well be 15 years imprisonment.  Is this yet another unique feature of the South African justice system after apartheid?  I bet a black man from some shanty towns wouldn't be allowed the same freedom.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2016, 03:17:40 PM by Angelo222 »
De troothe has the annoying habit of coming to the surface just when you least expect it!!

Je ne regrette rien!!

Offline mercury

Re: Oscar Pistorius denied leave to appeal his murder conviction.
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2016, 10:07:07 PM »
House arrest was the sentence for his pre murder conviction...I guess ths applies until he is sentenced which is only a few weeks away, look on the bright side, he didnt get away with it