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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius will likely know his trial date when he appears in court next Monday, August 19, on murder charges for shooting dead his girlfriend, a family spokeswoman said.
The 26-year-old double amputee athlete known as the “Blade Runner” will return to court on the day slain model Reeva Steenkamp would have turned 30.
“We don’t foresee long proceedings … Chances are very high that a trial date will be set,” family spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess told Agence France-Presse.
Prosecutors said Tuesday, August 13, they have finalized their case against the sprinter.
“We have finalized the indictment, which contains a full list of the charges,” said Bulelwa Makeke, the National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman. “It will be served on Monday.”
A one-day appearance was expected and “shouldn’t be long,” Makeke told AFP later.
In a statement police confirmed they had also completed the murder investigation.
Pistorius is charged with fatally shooting Steenkamp in the early hours of February 14 through a locked bathroom door in his upmarket Pretoria home.
The star athlete claims he mistook her for an intruder, but prosecutors argue it was premeditated murder, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
Pistorius’s lawyers want the charge reduced to culpable homicide. His attorney Kenneth Oldwage told AFP he would meet with prosecutor Gerrie Nel to discuss the trial date before the appearance.
Steenkamp, a model and law graduate who had been dating Pistorius for just a few months, suffered gunshot wounds to her head, elbow and hip.
British television channel Sky News broadcast graphic leaked images of the blood-spattered bathroom where she was killed.
Police expect Monday’s procedural hearing to be postponed after the indictment is served.
By then the prosecution and defense may also have finalized a start date for the trial, which is supposed to take place early next year.
The Johannesburg-born Paralympic champion who runs on prosthetic limbs that look like blades became an inspirational hero to millions as the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied competitors at the London Olympics last year.
His family said in June he had started training again for “mental and emotional equilibrium” after taking a break.
He is free pending trial on bail of one million rand ($100,000, 78,000 euros). – Rappler.com
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