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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jun/15/oscar-pistorius-sentencing-live-day-three-reeva-steenkamp
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| Oscar Pistorius: Lawyers make closing arguments in sentencing hearing – live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 9.26am BST | |
| 09:26 | |
| Roux says people felt sorry for Vleis Visagie, the rugby player who killed his own daughter. | |
| But they did not feel sorry for Pistorius, he goes on. | |
| In both cases, we are dealing with a reduced moral blame-worthiness, he tells the judge. | |
| Pistorius was mistaken but he did believe himself to be in danger. The original trial court accepted he heard a sound at 3am. He thought an intruder had come in through the bathroom window. | |
| Roux is reminding the judge that her original findings broadly accepted the Pistorius version of events. The supreme court left these findings “undisturbed”, he says. | |
| 9.21am BST | |
| 09:21 | |
| Roux says Pistorius did not “gamble with Reeva’s life”. | |
| He was afraid. It was not rational. But was he afraid of his girlfriend or an intruder, Roux asks. He reminds Masipa that she ruled he had not meant to kill Steenkamp. | |
| #OscarPistorius now crying again as his lawyer gives final argument #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/X9qmCHWcJZ | |
| 9.16am BST | |
| 09:16 | |
| Roux says this court previously accepted that Pistorius felt himself to be in fear of his life. | |
| He says Masipa’s original judgment was that his actions were “on the border of dolus eventualis” (the principle that he foresaw that firing into the door could cause the death of whoever was behind it) but that he had not foreseen it. | |
| The supreme court ruled that he must have foreseen it. | |
| We are talking about the difference between being on the border and across that border, Roux says. He seems to be suggesting that this is only a small legal nudge, not warranting a sentence uplift from five to 15 years. | |
| 9.11am BST | |
| 09:11 | |
| Roux tells judge she must not allow herself to be “drowned by perceptions”. The supreme court considered only legal aspects, he says, not the facts of the case. | |
| He says, therefore, that this sentencing should rely on the same facts as the original sentencing (which resulted in a five-year term, of which Pistorius has served 10 months in prison). | |
| #OscarPistorius Roux; 'Nothing in SCA judgement saying there was an argument, she ran to cubicle, that he wanted to shoot her!' | |
| 9.07am BST | |
| 09:07 | |
| Roux says the court must feel unease with anyone saying Pistorius must go to jail for 15 years. He was on his stumps. He thought his girlfriend was in the bedroom. | |
| It cannot be. It cannot be. | |
| #OscarPistorius Roux says "do you send that person 15 years to jail?"MV | |
| Updated | |
| at 9.08am BST | |
| 9.04am BST | |
| 09:04 | |
| Roux: How must it feel when you shoot your own girlfriend? | |
| What do I want to happen this man, Roux asks. | |
| He mentions rugby player Vleis Visagie, who accidentally shot and killed his daughter. He was not prosecuted. | |
| Roux says he is not asking here for a non-prosecution. | |
| You can make a mistake … You shoot at a person under a mistaken belief. | |
| How must you feel when you fire those shots that you should not have, and it’s your own girlfriend? | |
| What do we do? We criticise. | |
| 9.01am BST | |
| 09:01 | |
| There can never be an appropriate sentence in the eyes of those who think there was an argument, Steenkamp ran to the toilet and he killed her, Roux says. They are not the objective facts. | |
| He says when it comes to sentencing, you cannot decide a punishment based on “fanciful doubt”. | |
| How can I add years, how can I ask for a more severe sentence, if the very real possibility is that he didn’t do it? | |
| 8.58am BST | |
| 08:58 | |
| There is a third enemy, Roux says: an inability to set aside the negative emotions caused by the misperceptions and look at the true facts. | |
| He says it’s not about “what people thought” but objective evidence. | |
| 8.56am BST | |
| 08:56 | |
| Roux says he can only have “empathy and sympathy” with Steenkamp’s parents. But he mentions ideas “put in their heads”. | |
| He says a “second enemy … is an unwillingness or an inability … to see the accused in the context of that evening”. | |
| He says many can see only the gold medallist, the strong person winning races. | |
| The real facts become concealed … It was not the man winning gold medals that must be judged … It was a 1.5m person, standing on his stumps, three o’clock in the morning when it was dark. | |
| 8.54am BST | 8.54am BST |
| 08:54 | 08:54 |
| Roux: There are serious enemies, so to speak, in this matter. | Roux: There are serious enemies, so to speak, in this matter. |
| There is a perception created that [Pistorius] wanted to kill the deceased … Was it really true that he wanted to kill her? | There is a perception created that [Pistorius] wanted to kill the deceased … Was it really true that he wanted to kill her? |
| Is it not perhaps a different picture? | Is it not perhaps a different picture? |
| 8.53am BST | 8.53am BST |
| 08:53 | 08:53 |
| The defence and state have now called all their witnesses and we will move on to closing arguments. | The defence and state have now called all their witnesses and we will move on to closing arguments. |
| Barry Roux for the defence is up first. He says his team compared Masipa’s original judgment and compared it with that handed down by the supreme court “in order to try to present to you a complete picture”. | Barry Roux for the defence is up first. He says his team compared Masipa’s original judgment and compared it with that handed down by the supreme court “in order to try to present to you a complete picture”. |
| 8.50am BST | 8.50am BST |
| 08:50 | 08:50 |
| Roux pushes Martin: did she know about the Valentine’s card Steenkamp made for Pistorius? Only from court, she tells him. | Roux pushes Martin: did she know about the Valentine’s card Steenkamp made for Pistorius? Only from court, she tells him. |
| Her questioning is now over. | Her questioning is now over. |
| 8.48am BST | 8.48am BST |
| 08:48 | 08:48 |
| Roux now reads from an interview in 2013 given by Steenkamp’s friend Gina Myers in which she says Reeva was happy in her relationship. | Roux now reads from an interview in 2013 given by Steenkamp’s friend Gina Myers in which she says Reeva was happy in her relationship. |
| Martin says she cannot speak for Myers. She says she doesn’t know what Roux expects her to say. She says she thinks her cousin was fond of Pistorius but did not love him. | Martin says she cannot speak for Myers. She says she doesn’t know what Roux expects her to say. She says she thinks her cousin was fond of Pistorius but did not love him. |
| Myers, incidentally, is tweeting at the moment; she does not appear to support this line of questioning: | Myers, incidentally, is tweeting at the moment; she does not appear to support this line of questioning: |
| This is honestly one of the most frustrating feelings in the world. | This is honestly one of the most frustrating feelings in the world. |
| 8.45am BST | 8.45am BST |
| 08:45 | 08:45 |
| Barry Roux is up for the defence. He says he was very careful and respectful with Barry Steenkamp yesterday and feels sorry for the family. | Barry Roux is up for the defence. He says he was very careful and respectful with Barry Steenkamp yesterday and feels sorry for the family. |
| But he says the time has come to challenge some of what has been heard. He says the family story has changed. | But he says the time has come to challenge some of what has been heard. He says the family story has changed. |
| He reads reports from friends of Steenkamp’s who described a good relationship between her and Pistorius. One said Steenkamp had said she loved him and would marry him if he asked her. | He reads reports from friends of Steenkamp’s who described a good relationship between her and Pistorius. One said Steenkamp had said she loved him and would marry him if he asked her. |
| Martin says this was not what her cousin told her. They were close, she says: | Martin says this was not what her cousin told her. They were close, she says: |
| Reeva had the opportunity to tell me she loved Oscar and she never did. | Reeva had the opportunity to tell me she loved Oscar and she never did. |
| 8.43am BST | 8.43am BST |
| 08:43 | 08:43 |
| Martin: We just wanted the truth. People say we got the truth, but we didn’t. Oscar’s version changed so many times … | Martin: We just wanted the truth. People say we got the truth, but we didn’t. Oscar’s version changed so many times … |
| He never apologised for shooting Reeva. I don’t feel the truth came out. | He never apologised for shooting Reeva. I don’t feel the truth came out. |
| Nel says he has no further questions for Martin. | Nel says he has no further questions for Martin. |