Oscar Pistorius now knows when his fate will be decided.
The South African State's appeal against the double amputee sprinter's culpable homicide conviction before the South Africa Court of Appeals has been set for Nov. 3 -- almost a month after the Parole Review Board will determine whether Pistorius is eligible to be released to house arrest, enca.com is reporting.
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Pistorius is serving a five-year sentence at Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria after being convicted of a charge equivalent of manslaughter for the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early morning hours of Valentine's Day, 2013.
He fired four shots through the upstairs bathroom door in his home, killing Steenkamp, who was in the bathroom Pistorius said he thought an intruder had locked himself in.
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Prosecutors are hoping to get the verdict changed to a murder charge. They will argue to the court that in firing through the door when he believed someone to be inside meant Pistorius intended to kill, regardless of who was locked in the bathroom, Reuters reported.
In his original trial, Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that prosecutors failed to prove that Pistorius intended to kill when he fired the gun into the bathroom door.
A murder conviction would result in a minimum of 15 years. Pistorius' defense team will argue that the 2012 Olympian is a victim of double jeopardy -- being tried twice for the same defense -- because the prosecution isn't introducing new testimony and that the appeal is unfair to Pistorius because he cannot pay for further legal representation.
Pistorius was to be released to house arrest on Aug. 21, but justice minister Michael Masutha blocked his exit, questioning whether the review board followed proper procedure in granting his release.
The board will convene in two weeks to rule on Pistorius' parole, enca.com reports.
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