Blade Runner free as a bird in two days?

After serving 10 months behind bars for shooting and killing his girlfriend, paralympic athlete and former Constantia Kloof Primary pupil Oscar Pistorius will leave the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria on Friday 21 August.

In September 2014, Judge Thokozile Masipa found Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide (killing her unintentionally but unlawfully) and on 21 October 2014 he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

He will continue to serve his sentence under correctional supervision after serving one-sixth of a five-year sentence behind bars. Public outrage has followed a Parole Board decision to recommend early release from prison.

The world was in shock after the news had broken on 14 February 2013 that Pistorius allegedly had shot and killed his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day.

Pistorius allegedly thought he heard intruders in the house, unaware of the fact that Steenkamp was in the toilet and not next to him in bed. He fired several shots through the bathroom door. The case took months of investigating and speculating, but rumours of a crime of passion kept surfacing.

Legal experts said Pistorius’ early release was a virtual certainty from the day he was sentenced. South Africa’s prisons are overcrowded and underfunded, so parole boards often consider correctional supervision, said Stephan Terblanche, an expert in sentencing and a professor at the University of South Africa.

A Correctional Services representative said the terms of his supervision will not be published, but they typically include some form of house arrest, electronic monitoring, community service, required employment and no alcohol, drugs or firearms.

We know that after his release, Pistorius will serve the rest of his sentence at his uncle’s house in an affluent Pretoria suburb,” he added.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel secured the opportunity to appeal against Pistorius’ conviction of culpable homicide (manslaughter), as the Prosecuting Authority has maintained he should be convicted of murder. On Monday the National Prosecuting Authority presented its written arguments to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

The state’s appeal is set to be heard in November. It is based on a question of law, specifically: Did Judge Thokozile Masipa correctly interpret the principle of dolus eventualis, or intent to kill considering the evidence presented during trial?

No new witnesses will be called and no new evidence will be presented. Instead the judges will make their ruling based on written and oral arguments, and the hundreds of documents and pertinent sections of the transcript from the High Court trial.

This could open the door to re-sentencing.

But regardless of what happens, the drawn-out legal battle will continue to cost Pistorius financially. His lawyers are among South Africa’s best known and most expensive. The sponsorships are gone, and many of his cars and property have been sold as the legal battle continues. This is not just a legal fight for him; it will be a financial fight as well.

In terms of correctional supervision he will not be able to compete as an athlete, but is expected to do some limited training.