By Michael Pavitt |
South Africa’s Constitutional Court have refused to hear an appeal from Oscar Pistorius against his 13-year sentence for murder.
“The Constitutional Court has considered the applications for condonation and leave to appeal,” a statement read, according to Times Live.
“It has concluded that the application for condonation should be granted‚ but the application for leave to appeal should be dismissed as it does not engage this Court’s jurisdiction.”
The decision appears to have brought an end to Pistorius’ hopes of challenging his sentence, the subject of numerous court appeals in recent years.
The six-time Paralympic gold medalist was initially found guilty of manslaughter after he claimed he shot Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door after mistaking her for a burglar in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013.
The Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in 2015 and found him guilty of murder.
Pistroius was then handed a six-year jail term which was petitioned directly by the State to the Supreme Court of Appeal for being too lenient.
Pistorius’ legal team then filed papers to the Constitutional Court in December after the Supreme Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 13-years the month before.
Pistorius and his legal team argued that the Supreme Court breached his right to a fair trial‚ because it “impermissibly disregarded or ignored material factual findings” the Pretoria High Court made.
According to the Times South Africa, their papers state the court only had the right to interfere if it concludes‚ on the basis of those facts‚ “that there was still a misdirection sufficient to vitiate the sentence”.
If that occurred, they believed meant the appellate court could be exceeding its powers and breaching the rights to a fair trial.
The rejection of the appeal looks set to bring an end to five years of legal proceedings around the case.
Pistorius made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic blades.
He was hurt in a prison brawl last year.
The injury came after allegedly being involved in a fight over the use of a public phone.
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.