This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

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

The article has changed 14 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Oscar Pistorius: Lawyers make closing arguments in sentencing hearing – live Oscar Pistorius: Lawyers make closing arguments in sentencing hearing – live
(35 minutes later)
11.14am BST
11:14
“We don’t have to be psychologists” to see Pistorius is a broken man, Roux tells Masipa:
He desperately does not want to hide behind fame … He wants to be treated like someone unknown, someone who has done wrong and must be punished.
11.08am BST
11:08
Pistorius replaces his prostheses as Roux tells the court:
I don’t want to overplay vulnerability, that’s not what I want to do. I don’t want to overplay disability. But the time has come that we must just look with different eyes, at least with unbiased eyes.
It doesn’t mean because he’s vulnerable that he can do what he likes. That’s not what we say.
But when we’re entering the field of sentencing, look at that man’s conduct … Please let’s understand … who is this man that you must sentence?
11.03am BST
11:03
Pistorius removes prostheses
Roux calls Pistorius forward. He tells the court this will be embarrassing for his client.
He asks a weeping Pistorius to remove his prostheses and stand on his stumps in front of the court. He does so slowly, then walks haltingly. He appears to be in pain and struggles to retain his balance. He holds on to a desk for support.
His doctor moves forward to support him as he stumbles.
Roux points to him, saying this is the man who was frightened by a noise at 3am. This is who is being sentenced.
10.58am BST
10:58
Roux moves on to the televising of the trial.
No other accused has ever had to endure this level of publicity, misinformation and character assassination.
It was not a decision that benefited Pistorius, he says, and opened him up to a trial by public opinion and a “media frenzy”.
The perception persists that the death of Steenkamp was gender-related, Roux tells the judge:
This case has nothing to do with gender violence.
The refusal by so many people to accept the facts of the case means Pistorius will never regain his status in society.
10.55am BST
10:55
Roux points out that Pistorius’ original planned release from prison – approved by the parole board – was delayed after a government minister intervened. This has not happened to anyone else, he says. Why wait until that last minute to intervene? That decision could have been made weeks earlier.
He says Pistorius has also spent many months under “correctional supervision” (that is, house arrest at his uncle’s home).
10.51am BST
10:51
Roux says the isolation of confinement “can amount to torture” but the defence won’t say Pistorius’ treatment was such.
He says Pistorius completed all his rehabilitation programmes – including one called Anger In, Anger Out – “with excellence”.
He says Pistorius has taken responsibility for what he has done.
10.49am BST
10:49
“He wants to put back,” Roux tells the court, detailing Pistorius’ charity work and a potential job leading an early childhood development programme. (This is the job offer from his uncle Arnold Pistorius we heard about earlier this week.)
Roux says Pistorius has already spent 12 months in jail and that life in prison for a disabled person is hard:
You do everything in your cell … You’re segregated, you don’t go to dining room to eat with the other guys, you eat in your room because you’re at risk.It’s punishment, we understand that … but it does not mean it’s easier for him.
10.45am BST
10:45
Court resumes
Roux is continuing with his closing argument for the defence. He is reconfirming the findings from Scholtz’s report: anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder. He says the PTSD is because of the shooting.
Scholtz said Pistorius should be hospitalised, he reminds the judge.
10.41am BST
10:41
During the break, reporters in court say Pistorius has changed his clothes, from a suit to a hoodie and shorts – it’s possible the defence is going to discuss his prostheses.
#OscarPistorius Ditches suit for hoodie during court recess. But the familiar head in hands look is unchanged pic.twitter.com/MAEHmUXD7h
10.37am BST10.37am BST
10:3710:37
During the break, reporters in court say Pistorius has changed his clothes, from a suit to a hoodie and shorts – possibly the defence is going to discuss his prostheses.During the break, reporters in court say Pistorius has changed his clothes, from a suit to a hoodie and shorts – possibly the defence is going to discuss his prostheses.
10.20am BST10.20am BST
10:2010:20
The court has taken a short adjournment.The court has taken a short adjournment.
10.17am BST10.17am BST
10:1710:17
Roux now turns to the report by Prof Jonathan Scholtz, a clinical psychologist who testified for the state on Monday. Scholtz said Pistorius’ conditions – depression, anxiety, PTSD - had worsened.Roux now turns to the report by Prof Jonathan Scholtz, a clinical psychologist who testified for the state on Monday. Scholtz said Pistorius’ conditions – depression, anxiety, PTSD - had worsened.
Why would he be biased, Roux asks.Why would he be biased, Roux asks.
He is dismissive of one state witness, prison nurse Charlotte Mashabane who said Pistorius acted aggressively towards her. A man in pain would demand his medication, Roux says – he would do the same.He is dismissive of one state witness, prison nurse Charlotte Mashabane who said Pistorius acted aggressively towards her. A man in pain would demand his medication, Roux says – he would do the same.
10.14am BST10.14am BST
10:1410:14
In mitigation, Roux says, he wants the court to consider that Pistorius is “vilified”, “in pain constantly”, consumed by “self-loathing”.In mitigation, Roux says, he wants the court to consider that Pistorius is “vilified”, “in pain constantly”, consumed by “self-loathing”.
He is someone who changed perceptions of disability.He is someone who changed perceptions of disability.
He is a first-time offender and is remorseful. He lost a “person he genuinely loved … he must live with that for the rest of his life”.He is a first-time offender and is remorseful. He lost a “person he genuinely loved … he must live with that for the rest of his life”.
9.57am BST9.57am BST
09:5709:57
Roux reminds the court that Pistorius’ mental and physical vulnerabilities were taken into account in his first sentencing.Roux reminds the court that Pistorius’ mental and physical vulnerabilities were taken into account in his first sentencing.
Pistorius has punished himself and will punish himself for the rest of his life, far more than any court can, he says.Pistorius has punished himself and will punish himself for the rest of his life, far more than any court can, he says.
9.50am BST9.50am BST
09:5009:50
Barry Roux’s tactic here, it appears, is to point out all the ways in which the supreme court of appeal – while overturning the culpable homicide verdict in favour of one of murder – did not deviate from Judge Masipa’s original ruling.Barry Roux’s tactic here, it appears, is to point out all the ways in which the supreme court of appeal – while overturning the culpable homicide verdict in favour of one of murder – did not deviate from Judge Masipa’s original ruling.
The difference, he argues, is on a point of law. The facts as established in Masipa’s ruling still stand: Pistorius did not intend to kill Steenkamp. He was afraid, anxious and vulnerable.The difference, he argues, is on a point of law. The facts as established in Masipa’s ruling still stand: Pistorius did not intend to kill Steenkamp. He was afraid, anxious and vulnerable.
That ruling initially led to a sentence of five years, of which Pistorius has already served the 10-month prison portion.That ruling initially led to a sentence of five years, of which Pistorius has already served the 10-month prison portion.
The leap to a 15-year minimum term would be too much, Roux is implying.The leap to a 15-year minimum term would be too much, Roux is implying.
9.43am BST
09:43
Roux: It should not even be in dispute that there are significant compelling circumstances …
He incorrectly in law fired four shots … but it does not mean that he did not want to protect … it does not mean that he did not think it was an intruder.
You cannot ignore that.
9.41am BST
09:41
Roux says much of the evidence from the trial – about screams, Steenkamp’s jeans, the fans on the balcony – is irrelevant. It was introduced to try to make the case that Pistorius “acted with direct intent” to kill Steenkamp. That argument was rejected, he says.
There was no direct intent to kill an intruder either, he says. Pistorius did not aim at chest height. The finding from the supreme court was that he ought to have foreseen that he could kill somebody, not that he directly intended to kill.
9.35am BST
09:35
Roux: He is punished for ever and ever … That is what he is going through because some people refuse to sit back and look at the true facts.
9.34am BST
09:34
Roux says Pistorius “took all possible steps to save the deceased’s life”.
He notes that the supreme court did not overturn findings that Pistorius had anxiety and was driven by fear.
Critics don’t want to see his vulnerability, he adds:
They want to see Oscar Pistorius running to the bathroom with a gold medal round his neck.
9.30am BST
09:30
Sentencing is subjective, Roux says. It can deal with Pistorius’ vulnerability.
He was not “driven by evil intent”. He was afraid. He was trying to protect his girlfriend.
We know where we live. We are fearful. A logical thought process would be: an intruder.
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