12 September 2014, judge Thokozile Masipa delivered a verdict that Pistorius was not guilty of murder, but guilty of the culpable homicide of Steenkamp and reckless endangerment with a firearm at a restaurant. He was released on parole on 19 October 2015 after serving one sixth of his sentence. However, the state appealed the conviction and in December 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the conviction for culpable homicide, finding him guilty of valentine’s day suggestions for him instead. On 6 July 2016 Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for murder.
The bail hearing commenced on 19 February 2013 before Chief Magistrate of Pretoria, Desmond Nair. Both the prosecution and the defence said that Pistorius had fired four shots through a locked toilet door, hitting Steenkamp, who was inside, three times. Detective Hilton Botha claimed that Pistorius was a flight risk and should remain in custody, because he had a house in Italy and offshore bank accounts. Defence lawyer, Barry Roux denied that Pistorius owned a house in Italy.
He also pointed out that Pistorius’ prosthetic legs and his fame meant it was virtually impossible for him to flee without being recognized. Detective Hilton Botha was the first police officer to arrive at the scene of the shooting. On the second day of the hearing, Botha, who was the prosecution’s lead witness at the hearing, gave contradictory evidence and admitted to a number of procedural mistakes at the crime scene. Botha also said the trajectory of the gunshots indicated that they had been fired downward and directly toward the toilet, which conflicted with Pistorius’ statement that he was not wearing his prosthetics at the time. The case took a dramatic turn on 22 February 2013, shortly before the trial began after it was disclosed that Botha was facing charges of attempted murder himself. In 2011, Botha along with two other officers, was accused of firing at a taxi with seven passengers inside during a drunken incident. The case had been dropped but was reinstated on 4 February, 10 days before Pistorius shot Steenkamp.
The trial commenced on 3 March 2014 in the High Court in Pretoria. There was no jury, as the jury system in South Africa was abolished during the apartheid era. Section 35 of the South African Bill of Rights provides that “Every accused person has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right to be tried in a language that the accused person understands “. The opening statement of prosecutor Gerrie Nel noted that the murder case against Pistorius was based largely on circumstantial evidence, as there were no eyewitnesses to the incident. By about 22h00 on 13 February 2013 we were in our bedroom. She was doing her yoga exercises and I was in bed watching television.
At the trial, the defence said that Pistorius woke up because of the heat and humidity. Steenkamp was already awake and asked him if he was having trouble sleeping. Walking around on his stumps, Pistorius opened the balcony door and brought in a fan to try and cool the room down. While doing this, he heard a noise coming from the bathroom.