PRETORIA
A South African judge on Wednesday allowed the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to appeal the culpable homicide conviction of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, last year.
"The following questions of law are reserved for the consideration of the Supreme Court of Appeal: one, whether the principles of dolus eventualis were correctly applied to the accepted facts and to the conduct of the accused," Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled.
But she dismissed the state's request to appeal the five-year jail term slapped on Pistorius.
"The application for leave to appeal against the sentence is dismissed," Masipa said.
State prosecutors had asked to appeal both the conviction and the sentence, asserting that the judge had misinterpreted the law and had been too lenient with Pistorius.
In October, Masipa sentenced Pistorius to five years in jail on one count of culpable homicide.
For violating the country's Firearms Control Act, she also slapped the 27-year-old double amputee athlete with three years in prison wholly suspended for five years.
But prosecutors wanted Pistorius charged with murder instead of culpable homicide.
The matter will now go to the Supreme Court of Appeal, where the state will appeal the conviction.
Pistorius was accused of murdering Steenkamp at his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day (February 14) of last year.
He fired four shots at the closed door of his bathroom, instantly killing Steenkamp, who, he alleged, he had mistaken for an intruder.
According to legal experts, the appeal court will reexamine the verdict. If they find there were errors and the accused was wrongfully acquitted, Pistorius will be convicted of murder and re-sentenced.
The Supreme Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals lodged against High Court rulings. The court's rulings are binding on all lower courts.
Pistorius began serving out his jail term last month in the hospital section of Pretoria's Kgosi Mampuru II Prison.
According to Section 276 of South Africa's Criminal Procedure Act, Pistorius can ask to be put under house arrest after serving only one sixth of his sentence, which is equal to ten months.
Popularly known as the "Blade Runner," Pistorius was born without the fibulas in both legs. Before completing his first year, he had to have both his lower limbs amputated.
In 2004, Pistorius shot to fame at the age of 17 after winning a gold medal at the Athens Paralympics Games.
The sprinter has since gone on to win several other prestigious medals.
Pistorious made history in 2012 by becoming the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics.
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