Under South African law, an offender sentenced to five years or less in jail can be released after serving one-sixth of the term. Prosecutors have appealed the trial verdict of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, and will seek a murder conviction again at South Africa’s Supreme Court on Nov. 3. If convicted of murder, Pistorius faces going back to prison for 15 years, the minimum sentence for murder in South Africa, which no longer has the death penalty. Steenkamp’s family have said they are unhappy with Pistorius’s sentence. The International Paralympic Committee said Pistorius would be barred from competition including the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro until he completed his sentence.
