Oscar Pistorius Trial Update: Prison sentence set in June for murder of GF Reeva Steenkamp

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Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius is scheduled face a fresh sentencing in June 2016 for the murder of model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013. The hearing will last five days concluding in June 17.

According to Time, Pistorius is scheduled to be sentenced in June as confirmed by a South African court. He is facing a minimum prison sentence for 15 years following the rejection of his murder conviction appeal.

On December 2015, the Supreme Court upgraded Pistorius' sentence on appeal to murder from "culpable homicide". The famous Paralympic athlete briefly appeared in court in Pretoria on Monday following an appeal to overturn his original December conviction. High Court Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said, "The matter is postponed to the 13th of June 2016, and it will be heard until the 17th of June 2016."

The South African sprint runner was convicted for the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of February 14, 2013, according to The Mirror. Pistorius shot her four times through a locked bathroom door killing her instantly. He insisted that he did not kill Steenkamp intentionally in their Pretoria home saying that he misidentified her for an intruder.

According to The Guardian, original judge Thokozile Masipa accepted his alibi ruling that there was no evidence of murderous intent. However, it was later found that Masipa wrongly applied the principle of dolus eventualis or legal intention, which states that a perpetrator who objectively forsees the possibility that his act may cause death regardless of its consequences is enough to find someone guilty of murder.

Pistorius was originally handed a five-year prison sentence for "culpable murder", South Africa's equivalent to manslaughter. He served just one year in prison and was released under house arrest in October 2015. He is currently out on bail and living at an uncle's home in Pretoria.

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Oscar Pistorius Trial, Legal News
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