Johannesburg : Paralympics runner Oscar Pistorius has filed papers contending that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) had exceeded its jurisdiction by questioning the trial court’s factual findings, which eventually declared him guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
According to the paper filed by the lawyer of the 29-year-old, the SCA had no legal authority to interfere with either the trial court’s legal or factual finding of putative private defence.
Pistorius’ lawyer believes that the SCA had discriminated his client on the grounds of his disability and his feelings of vulnerability, which is prohibited by Section 9(4) of the Constitution, News24 reported.
Lawyer insisted that the SCA should not have reconsidered the trial court’s factual finding especially after knowing that Pistorius genuinely believed that his and Steenkamp’s lives were in danger.
Earlier in December, Pistorius was found guilty of murder after South Africa’s SCA overturned his previous conviction for culpable homicide in the killing of his model girlfriend.
Pistorius, who is known as the Blade Runner, was released on parole and placed under house arrest at his uncle’s house after serving almost a year in prison of his five-year sentence. He now faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence for murdering his girlfriend in 2013. (ANI)