WATCH: Scenes from court as state gets ready for Oscar appeal

Pistorius was sentenced to five years following his conviction on culpable homicide for the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s day, 2013, but the State is seeking to have him convicted on the more serious charge of murder.

Pistorius was last month released on parole from the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria and is serving out his sentence under correctional supervision at his uncle’s luxurious Waterkloof mansion, east of the city.

He had served only one year, in line with South African legislation which stipulates that offenders serve a sixth of their sentences.

If, however, the State succeeds in its appeal and he is convicted of murder, the minimum jail term is 15 years.

State prosecutors are expected to try and convince the five appeal court judges that Pistorius intentionally meant to shoot whoever was behind his bathroom door when he fired the four shots that killed Steenkamp.

However, in court papers already filed, Pistorius’s advocate Barry Roux argues that challenging the original verdict would be unfair as the case had been subjected to intense public scrutiny “which could only contaminate and confuse objectivity and reliability of witnesses and the proceedings”.

Roux also argued that Pistorius’s financial ability to pay for a new trial was “non-existent”.