Former Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has said he cannot afford a new trial over the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
In papers filed with South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal, his lawyer Barry Roux argued it would be too long and complex.
He said the first trial was subject to intense public scrutiny which would "contaminate and confuse" the reliability and objectivity of another hearing.
Furthermore, Pistorius' "financial ability" to pay for a second trial was "non-existent".
Mr Roux said his client also faced the risk of double jeopardy in that he would be charged with murder again, on the same evidence, despite having previously been acquitted.
The papers were filed in response to the State's argument that Pistorius should have been found guilty of murdering Ms Steenkamp and not the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
It claims Pretoria High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa incorrectly applied the principle of dolus eventualis in reaching her verdict.
Ms Steenkamp died when Pistorius fired four shots though a locked toilet door at his Pretoria home on St Valentine's Day, 2013.
He said at his trial that he believed it was an intruder and Ms Steenkamp was in his bedroom at the time.
The judge accepted his version of events and cleared him of murder, but he was found guilty of culpable homicide and jailed for five years.
He was given an additional three-year sentence, suspended for five years, for firing a gun at a restaurant.
The parole review board was expected to meet on Friday to decide if Pistorius could serve out the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
He was due to be released on August 21, but Justice Minister Michael Masutha said the board acted prematurely when it set that date.
No comments:
Post a Comment