Oscar Pistorius to Appeal Murder Conviction, Granted Bail Under House Arrest

Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was granted bail on Tuesday and is set to appeal his murder verdict to the highest court in South Africa.

Pistorius was found guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by a state appeals court last week, with the initial verdict of manslaughter amended. But at his bail hearing, the lawyer of the Olympian, Barry Roux, confirmed they are willing to take the case to the constitutional court, per Sky Sports News HQ.

As Sky News’ Alex Crawford reported, this is the most significant court in the country:

Crawford also explained the circumstances surrounding the appeal and the likelihood of the murder verdict being re-amended:

The bail amount was set at 10,000 rand ($700, £450) after it was claimed by the defence Pistorius had no money, per Claire Phipps of the Guardian.

According to Crawford, Pistorius will return to the courts on April 18, 2016 to shed further light on the case to be put forward to the constitutional court. She also noted the cost of taking the appeal this far will cost the 29-year-old millions.

Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

Pistorius had bail granted at the hearing, although he's not permitted to stray further than 20 kilometres from his uncle's home, where he has been serving his house arrest term. He has also had his passport confiscated.

Pistorius killed Steenkamp on Feb. 14, 2013, shooting her four times through the door of the toilet in their Pretoria home. He had recently been under house arrest, having served one year of a five-year jail term.

The six-time Paralympic gold medallist was initially found guilty of culpable homicide, equivalent to manslaughter, having maintained that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder. However, the state appeals court recently ruled the concept of “dolus eventualis” was not correctly applied and convicted Pistorius of murder, for which he will be sentenced next year.