Pistorius denied right to appeal murder conviction
Tribune News Service
Johannesburg — South Africa’s Constitutional Court has denied Oscar Pistorius the right to appeal his murder conviction for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, the court said Thursday.
“The Constitutional Court has considered this application for leave to appeal, by Mr. Oscar L. Pistorius. It has concluded that the application should be dismissed for lack of prospects of success,” the statement read.
The 29-year-old is expected to be sentenced for murder — a crime carrying a minimum of 15 years in prison — in April.
His family’s spokeswoman, Anneliese Burgess, said the family will not comment on the court decision for the time being.
Pistorius has been on bail awaiting a new sentence since December, when a court of appeal found him guilty of murder, overturning his earlier manslaughter conviction.
Pistorius had applied for permission to appeal in January.
Judge Thokozile Masipa had earlier sentenced the athlete to five years in prison for culpable homicide, the South African term for manslaughter.
He was released under house arrest after one year in prison.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp through the bathroom door in his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2013.
He testified he mistook the 29-year-old model for a burglar.