As the appeal in the Oscar Pistorius trial in the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp draws nearer, new information reported puts Pistorius in an unfavorable light.
The Guardian interviewed the courtroom sketch artist from Pistorius' trial who claims to be a friend of the double-amputee Olympic sprinter, and he made a startling claim.
Jaco Van Vuuren, who met and befriended Pistorius as a pole vault coach at the University of Pretoria, says he is aware of a piece of information about Pistorius that never was reported or discussed during the original trial.
"The one thing's that not mentioned in court, and we still don't know why it's not been brought up: he was as nervous as hell a week before that happened," Van Vuuren told the Guardian. "He was on the track and I heard this from another Olympian who trained with him. He was as nervous as hell as if something was bound to happen."
Prison officials ensure that Christmas is not a special occasion for Oscar Pistorius
Pistorius avoided a murder charge in the original trial that wrapped up in September, but he was found guilty of culpable homicide and was sentenced to five years at Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria. Under South African law, Pistorius was eligible to receive house arrest after serving one-sixth of the sentence, which was 10 months.
However, now that prosecutors have won the right to appeal the culpable homicide verdict against Pistorius and argue again for a murder conviction, multiple media outlets have reported that it's likely Pistorius no longer will get house arrest after just 10 months.
The prosecution argued that Judge Thokozile Masipa misapplied the term "dolus eventualis" when she convicted Pistorius of culpable homicide. Masipa ruled that while Pistorius should have known that firing a weapon four times into a bathroom could cause a death, Pistorius did not know, and that's why the culpable homicide verdict was used.
A panel of five judges will hear the Pistorius appeal later this year.
Do you think Oscar Pistorius' reported "nervous" behavior a week or so he shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp will have any bearing on his appeals case? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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