Oscar Pistorius: Will State take Oscar appeal to SCA?
Judge Thokozile Masipa dismissed the State’s appeal of Pistorius’s 6-year murder sentence earlier today.
JOHANNESBURG - It's unclear if the State will pursue an application for leave to appeal Oscar Pistorius's prison sentence at the Supreme Court of Appeal after the Johannesburg High Court dismissed the application today.
Judge Thokozile Masipa says the petition had no reasonable prospects of success.
The former athlete was initially convicted of culpable homicide, for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, and sentenced to five years in prison, but the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled he should be convicted of murder, and resentenced.
Last month, Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in jail, which the State says is shockingly lenient.
WATCH: Oscar Pistorius receives six years for Reeva's murder
The State's Gerrie Nel has argued that the court misdirected itself when sentencing the former athlete for murder.
"It is shocking to think that a sentence of six years, from the starting point of 15 years, it's shocking."
Nel says the court was unduly sympathetic to Pistorius and his personal circumstances.
But Judge Masipa dismissed the application.
"I have considered all of the submissions by council; I am not persuaded that there are reasonable prospects of success on appeal."
The State can still petition the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Nel said earlier he couldn't speak to the media on the matter.