A concession of defeat by your lawyer never is a good sign.
But that's what Oscar Pistorius' legal representative said to his counterpart as microphones picked up their conversation after court had adjourned for the day in the appeal of his culpable homicide conviction, according to The Daily Mail.
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The prosecution in Pistorius' murder trial of his 2013 killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp is seeking to overturn the culpable homicide sentence Judge Thokozile Masipa handed to him in October of last year. Her sentence resulted in a five-year prison term for the former double-amputee Olympic sprinter.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is hoping to secure a murder charge with the South Africa Court of Appeals. Defense lawyer Barry Roux may or may not be resigned to the fact that Nel has a pretty good case.
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"Barry Roux and Mr. Nel (were) chatting in Afrikaans and the silver-haired defense lawyer was heard to tell his rival, "Maar dat ek gaan verloor is feite," meaning, "but that I am going to lose is a fact," The Daily Mail reported.
The context of Roux's quote is unclear, The Daily Mail conceded, but added that it is consistent with the opinions of "legal experts" after hearing the line of questioning and comments that the five-member panel of appeal judges have asked during the proceedings that suggest it is sympathetic to the prosecution's cause.
At the heart of the appeal is whether Masipa applied the term "dolus eventualis," awareness of a likely outcome -- or whether Pistorius was aware that firing four shots into the door of the upstairs bathroom in his Pretoria, South Africa home would result in the killing of a person behind the door.
"[Judge Masipa's] analysis of dolus eventualis seems to me to be wrong," Judge Eric Leach told the court bluntly.
"When he fired the bullets, did he know there was somebody behind the door? We're talking about intent."
If convicted of murder in the appeal, Pistorius, who is currently out of jail and under house arrest after serving more than one-sixth of his five-year sentence, would face a minimum, 15-year sentence.
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