Paralympian Oscar Pistorius was being sent like a ping pong ball between courts and the state’s application for leave to appeal against the five-year sentence should be dismissed with costs.
The murder case of Pistorius had been exhausted beyond the point of conceivable exhaustion.
Counsel for Pistorius Barry Roux SC made this impassioned plea in the High Court in Johannesburg as he opposed the state’s application to extend Pistorius’ jail term to a possible 15 years.
Pistorius was first sentenced to a five-year jail term in 2014 after the High Court in Pretoria found him guilty of culpable homicide for the murder of his girlfriend‚ Reeva Steenkamp‚ on February 14‚ 2013.
He served just over a year of that sentence before being released on parole.
However‚ the state went to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to get the conviction replaced with the of murder.
In December last year‚ the SCA set aside the culpable homicide conviction and replaced it with that of murder. The SCA sent the matter back to Judge Thokozile Masipa to determine a new sentence.
Judge Masipa sentenced Pistorius to a six-year jail term last month‚ a decision that the state wants to appeal.
Roux accused the state of unnecessarily prolonging the legal process and subjecting Pistorius to continued uncertainty.
Roux argued that Pistorius had been sentenced to an effective eight-year jail term if one considered the year Pistorius spent in prison for the culpable homicide conviction and time spent under correctional supervision from October last year until July this year when he was sentenced again for the murder conviction.
Roux said Masipa should dismiss the application because eight years was not shockingly inappropriate or lenient — “that is what the state wants”‚ Roux said.
In reply‚ prosecutor Gerrie Nel persisted with the contention that the sentence was “shockingly inappropriate” and disputes Roux’s submission that Pistorius had been sentenced to an eight-year jail term.
The court adjourned until 11.45am. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital
State’s case against Oscar has been exhausted: Roux
The murder case of Pistorius had been exhausted beyond the point of conceivable exhaustion.
Counsel for Pistorius Barry Roux SC made this impassioned plea in the High Court in Johannesburg as he opposed the state’s application to extend Pistorius’ jail term to a possible 15 years.
Pistorius was first sentenced to a five-year jail term in 2014 after the High Court in Pretoria found him guilty of culpable homicide for the murder of his girlfriend‚ Reeva Steenkamp‚ on February 14‚ 2013.
He served just over a year of that sentence before being released on parole.
However‚ the state went to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to get the conviction replaced with the of murder.
In December last year‚ the SCA set aside the culpable homicide conviction and replaced it with that of murder. The SCA sent the matter back to Judge Thokozile Masipa to determine a new sentence.
Judge Masipa sentenced Pistorius to a six-year jail term last month‚ a decision that the state wants to appeal.
Roux accused the state of unnecessarily prolonging the legal process and subjecting Pistorius to continued uncertainty.
Roux argued that Pistorius had been sentenced to an effective eight-year jail term if one considered the year Pistorius spent in prison for the culpable homicide conviction and time spent under correctional supervision from October last year until July this year when he was sentenced again for the murder conviction.
Roux said Masipa should dismiss the application because eight years was not shockingly inappropriate or lenient — “that is what the state wants”‚ Roux said.
In reply‚ prosecutor Gerrie Nel persisted with the contention that the sentence was “shockingly inappropriate” and disputes Roux’s submission that Pistorius had been sentenced to an eight-year jail term.
The court adjourned until 11.45am. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital
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