South African Court Grants Oscar Pistorius Bail

(ATR) Oscar Pistorius will remain free on bail while he awaits sentencing for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

South African judgeAubrey Ledwaba granted the Paralympian bail on Tuesday.

Pistorius will be free to leave his uncle's home, where he has stayed under house arrest, and can travel up to 12 miles between the hours of 7 a.m. and noon.He will be required to seek written permission to leave the house at any other time, and must pay a $686 bail, Ledwaba said.

The Olympian will still have to wear an electronic monitoring device.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day 2013, claiming he thought she was an intruder.

Last Thursday,South Africa's Court of Appeal upgraded Pistorius' sentence to murder from culpable homicide.He now faces a minimum term of 15 years in prison.

Justices decided that the legal rule of dolus eventualis, or direct intention -- whether Pistorius knew he might kill somebody as a result of his actions -- was incorrectly applied in the original verdict.

CNN reports Pistorius' lawyers are planning to appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court. The hearing could take months.

In court on Tuesday, prosecutors argued Pistorius could flee to Italy or Mozambique."We feel strongly about the fact that he needs monitoring, and should not leave the house at any time," state prosecutor Gerrie Nel said.

Pistorius was released from prison on Oct. 19. At the time, the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Supervision and Parole Board said the double amputee would serve the remainder of his five-year sentence under house arrest.

Lawyers for the double-amputee insisted on Tuesday that Pistorius is not a flight risk.

Written byNicole Bennett

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