Aug. 17--Prosecutors in the Oscar Pistorius case filed papers at South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday, looking to have his culpable homicide conviction upgraded to murder.
The move comes four days before the double-amputee Olympic runner is expected to be released from prison into house arrest after serving 10 months of the five-year sentence he received for killing girlfriend Reva Steenkamp.
Pistorius could face a minimum of 15 years in prison if a new panel of judges sees fit to change his conviction from the equivalent of manslaughter to murder.
A November hearing is scheduled, with Pistorius' team having until Sept. 17 to file a response.
In the meantime, Pistorius will likely be staying in his uncle's mansion under house arrest.
According to CNN, Pistorius' sentence came under a specific section of the Criminal Procedure Act that says a prisoner can be placed on corrective supervision at the one-sixth mark of a sentence due to overcrowding and underfunding of prisons.
It was announced in June that Pistorius would receive such treatment starting Friday because of good behavior.
"He's behaving himself very well," acting National Commissioner of Correctional Services Zach Modise told the Associated Press in June. "He hasn't given us any problems."
