Oscar Pistorius News: Olympian Applies For Bail, To Be Sentenced In 2016

Oscar Pistorius will apply for bail on Tuesday morning after South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal convicted the Olympian of murder in the death of Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius had been convicted of culpable homicide last year, and the new ruling carries a sentence of at least 15 years in prison.

Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison on Oct. 21, 2014, but he was released after a year and was relegated to house arrest for the remainder of his sentence. The double-amputee has been under correctional supervision at his uncle’s house in a suburb of Pretoria.

"The bail application hearing for Oscar Pistorius has been set down for tomorrow at 9.30 am (0730 GMT) at the Pretoria High Court," the justice department said on Monday.

Pistorius wasn’t in court when the latest verdict was handed down on Thursday, but he will be present on Tuesday. The sentencing hearing likely won’t occur until the second quarter of 2016, and a court will decide on Tuesday whether or not Pistorius will spend the next few months in prison. Pistorius has been living in luxury since he was released from prison, staying in a three-story mansion.

While in prison, Pistorius had his own cell and was kept separate from the rest of the population. But the 29-year-old is terrified of going back behind bars, according to friend and boxer Kevin Lerena, who fears that Pistorius might “do something stupid.”

“I don’t want to go back to jail. It’s a terrible place, so disgusting you can’t imagine,” Lerena quoted Pistorius as saying.

Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day 2013, claiming he thought an intruder entered his house when he fired his gun at the bathroom door in his home. But Judge Eric Leach overturned the culpable homicide ruling, claiming it was murder, no matter whom Pistorius thought he was shooting.

Pistorius could elect to appeal the new ruling, though an appeal isn’t expected. He might get less than the minimum 15-year sentence because of “exceptional circumstances,” including his disability and this being his first offense.