12-03-2015, 10:06 AM
Thanks for the update, afraidforallofus. It's good news.
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius' conviction for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has been scaled up to murder from culpable homicide by South Africa's top appeals court.
"Blade Runner" Pistorius could now be sent back to jail for at least 15 years for shooting Steenkamp dead on Valentine's Day 2013. The athlete is expected to be sentenced for the new murder conviction by a lower court at a date still to be determined.
"This is a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions," Judge Eric Leach said as he started reading the ruling.
At the original trial in September last year, 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.
Dolus eventualis refers to whether a person foresees the possibility that his or her action will cause death but carries on regardless.
"In these circumstances, the accused must have foreseen and, therefore, did foresee that whoever was behind the toilet door might die but reconciled himself to that even occurring and gambled with that person's life," said Judge Leach.
"The identity of his victim is irrelevant to his guilt." <-- Exactly, I never understood Masipa's ruling, which conflicted with her explanation for the ruling.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/osca...b2818d4926
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius' conviction for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has been scaled up to murder from culpable homicide by South Africa's top appeals court.
"Blade Runner" Pistorius could now be sent back to jail for at least 15 years for shooting Steenkamp dead on Valentine's Day 2013. The athlete is expected to be sentenced for the new murder conviction by a lower court at a date still to be determined.
"This is a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions," Judge Eric Leach said as he started reading the ruling.
At the original trial in September last year, 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.
Dolus eventualis refers to whether a person foresees the possibility that his or her action will cause death but carries on regardless.
"In these circumstances, the accused must have foreseen and, therefore, did foresee that whoever was behind the toilet door might die but reconciled himself to that even occurring and gambled with that person's life," said Judge Leach.
"The identity of his victim is irrelevant to his guilt." <-- Exactly, I never understood Masipa's ruling, which conflicted with her explanation for the ruling.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/osca...b2818d4926