He has spent less than a year behind bars since being convicted of homicide, and expected to leave jail on Friday. Oscar Pistorius could be sent back to prison if prosecutors are successful in their argument in the appeal court filed Monday that he should have been convicted of murder rather than culpable homicide, a charge equivalent to manslaughter.
If they win their case, which is expected to be heard in November, Pistorius could face at least 15 years in jail. Pistorius does not dispute that he shot model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in his Pretoria home in the early hours of the Valentine’s Day in 2013. But he said he mistook the 29-year-old for an intruder. Prosecutors insist that he deliberately killed the her after an argument. They are appealing both the judgement and the sentence, calling the five-year jail term “shockingly light. Prosecutors argue in the appeal papers that even based on the athlete’s own version of events, Pistorius “knew there was a person behind the closed door and deliberately fired shots into the door”. The athlete’s defense team has until September 17 to file its response.
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