Convicted of killing his girlfriend. Plus, the race to find a cure. Why ebola researchers are not only fighting the disease but also a lack of funds. Seems ridiculous youre having this. Why are you crowd funding . 13 because we need the money fast. And coming up for you, he dressed everyone from hollywood stars to the political elite. Fashion icon Oscar De La Renta, dead at the age of 82. But we start with Oscar Pistorius who will shortly find out if hell go to prison or receive some other sentence. Yeah, this is a very big moment for Oscar Pistorius, of course, for many in south africa, weve got a shot here for you of the relatives of the victim in this case, reeva steenkamp, everyone slowly making their way inside the courthouse. Theyve been quite puntal this entire proceedings but as today is the big day of the sentencing there is additional attention on the courtroom. The judge, judge masipa found the track star guilty of the negligent killing of his girlfriend and now will deliver the sentence. The defense is arguing for house arrest and Community Service and the prosecution wants him sent to prison for at least ten years. We cut to an outside shot in pretoria where many more are watching and waiting for this verdict. This is the big day and cnn correspondent diana magnay joins us live from outside the courthouse in pretoria. It has been a long seven months, hasnt it . The big question now, diana, is whether judge masipa rules that Oscar Pistorius goes to jail and for how long or if she decides he does Community Service or perhaps house arrest. Quite a rank of possibilities there, diana. Reporter well, its such a huge range and prosecution and the defense have now done their part. Gerrie nel arguing for at least a tenyear sentence saying in his summary that pistorius used his disability when he chose to and saying that this was negligence bordering on intent. Harry rue, the defense advocate arguing that he should be brought within the borders of justice and want to bring in kelly phelps at this point to talk about that. I think a lot of people in this country feel if he doesnt go to jail the state would have been far too lenient on him but is there a punitive element to Community Service . Theres absolutely a punitive element to Community Service. First of all, there are the conditions that can be attached to it so, in other words, the state gets a large degree of control over every moment of the offenders life. Similarly to how they would in prison but theres ways of making sure that punitive element is executed in a way that still contributes to society rather than taking away from society, so this concept of Community Supervision being a light sentence, a get out of jail free option is a misnomer in terms of the options available to the judge as to how exactly she can cross that specific sentence. And rest torestorative justi, thats where the whole concept stems from after apartheid, a decision was taken in this country that there had been enough violence, enough hatred and that the state should lead by example and essentially focus rather on healing the wounds of the past and moving forward to a better future. And those are the same principles that are Restorative Justice approach in a criminal trial seeks to achieve and very importantly in Restorative Justice, the victim has a much more central role in the process of what justice looks like and what the sentence looks like which is a common criticism we hear of conventional trials that essentially the voice of the victim has been silenced by the state. And if he does go to jail which is a very real possibility one of the arguments that his defense put forward was that he would be in danger. There are criminal elements, a gang culture in jail that would take him out. The same is true, though, if he was out in the community doing Community Service, no . Yes, hes a very visible offender, more than any other offender in this country and would be in danger either in prison or out of prison. The major difference outside of prison he has some ability to control his environment and to put safety mechanisms and Safety Measures in place whereas in prison, of course, he is entirely at the hands of the state and what measures they choose to put in place in order to protect him. And whether those are effective enough or not which is something we heard so much about during this week of sentencing. Whether the parameters for people with disabilities in prison are what the letter of the law dictates and theyre clearly not. No, they clearly arent and unfortunately, the same is true outside of prison. Theres a lot more that the state could do in this country authorized to make all spheres of life in this country more accessible and more humane for disabled persons and arguably if they had met that mandate, if they had provided those opportunities for disabled persons to move freely in their environment inside of prison we wouldnt be having this debate right now so this debate stems from the state a failure to adapt prisons in order to make them truly accessible to disabled persons. You know this system. I mean, there is this is an extraordinary event seeing as its the first televised criminal case. But do you think that it will make a difference that this does shine a spotlight on the prison system, on the situation of disabled people and that things might change as a result . Well, i would hope that. I have to say its a little disheartening to see how state role placers have responded to the issue of disability. Weve seen the commissioner of Correctional Services essentially completely downplay the problems inside prisons for disabled persons and weve also seen gerrie nel make a core part of his argument the fact that disability should be entirely discarded. I think, kelly, we just have seen pistorius, Oscar Pistorius go into the courtroom for his sentencing. The end of so many months of waiting for the steenkamp family, for oscar himself. And for the whole of south africa so it is up to judge masipa to issue her sentencing. Were expecting her to speak for an hour or so as she did with the verdict before we hear what her final decision is. Rosemary, errol, back to sfwhu as you send it back to us were looking at these live pictures of him going into the courtroom to hear his fate. S sentencing. This has been a long seven months as weve explained and watching the various people line up there to go into the courthouse. We saw barry roux, the defense lawyer, gerrie nel, the prosecutor lined up to go through security and watching there as Oscar Pistorius works his way into the courtroom and this i mean you can imagine for him hes basically confronting the possibility of scale for ten years although, you know, as many pointed out that is unlikely he would go to jail for that length of time. But look at the gamut of options here. The other end he could be on house arrest. He could go home with his uncle today and be under house arrest, perhaps do Community Service, so we dont know at this point. It is totally up to judge masipa to see what she decides she will weigh up the options here and decide in possibly the next, well, 30 minutes although were expecting her to talk sometime but certainly this is expected to be wrapped up in the next two hours or so so there were seeing Oscar Pistorius go into the courtroom and we should in the next less than 30 minutes now we will take you to Court Proceedings there to the start of the sentencing. Errol. Absolutely right, rosemary. In the meantime, lets get you caught up on other global stories. Fashion designer Oscar De La Renta died at the age of 82 born in the Dominican Republic he became known as the sultan of suave for dressing some of the most highprofile figures among them Oprah Winfrey and every u. S. First lady since jacqueline kennedy. Laura bush released a statement calling him a dear friend. His most recent creation is the gown amal clooney wore when she married george clooney. If you can believe it we have a bit of positive ebola news to bring to you now. Nigeria joins senegal in declared officially ebolafree. The countrys aggressive space and effective tracking of people who came into contact with ebola victims really helped stop the spread. Nigeria had 19 confirmed casing including 8 deaths. There have been no new cases for 42 days. So far, the virus has killed more than 4500 people across west africa. In the meantime, the u. S. Is tightening safety procedures for Health Workers treating ebola patients. The new guidelines for the centers for Disease Control and prevention call for protective clothing and face shields that cover all skin. Previously part of the neck and other areas could be exposed. A supervisor will now monitor workers putting and taking off items after two nurses contracted the virus after treating Thomas Duncan at a hospital in texas. He later died. Well, japans fuji film is st stepping use on a medicine for use in ebola. Its been used as an emergency treatment on several patients in europe. We report on the race to find an ebola cure. Reporter often fatal, no vaccine, no surefire cure yet. Professor eric almond sapphires lab. Race is on to outwit ebola. We need to do in weeks to month what is used to take us years to do. Reporter because time is running out. 4500 dead worldwide and 8 recent cases on u. S. Soil. At her lab one of the few in the world researchers work with ebola antibodies. This is from the human survivor. Reporter sent from around the world. Theyre injected here into two hightech machines that frankly this looks to a layperson like a big giant mess. Intimidating but highly advanced equipment like this. Reporter through this web of complex steps come purified proteins, a critical Building Block for a cure sent back out to a worldwide system. Its a constantly moving target. Sapphire is mapping it constantly mutating. If you do not have a map, you are blind, completely blind. Yeah, in fighting that virus. Reporter thats why she used battle terminology. We solve the structures of the proteins of the virus thats like enemy intelligence and understand what the pieces are, how they work and how to fight them. Reporter because this is a war and it is exhausting. Theyre up until midnight back at dawn. Sapphire a lab helped develop the drug zmapp. More antibodies are coming in as doctors search for an even better drug. Across san diego biotech laboratories researchers are pushing any idea that might work. Thomas duncan and ashoka mukpo were given another drug discovered at u. C. San diegos school of medicine and this experimental tube is being used right now in germany to treat a ugandan doctor with ebola. The idea is these tiny fibers literally filter the ebola virus out of the blood. They dont know if any of this will work for sure. But with ebola, theres a common call. Try it. When have you a hard to trea together. Reporter the biggest challenge isnt just the disease but money. Shes turned to crowd funding trying to buy another one of these critical machines. It seeps ridiculous youre having to crowd fund. Why are you . We need the money fast. And crowd funding gives people the opportunity to put their phone into what they think is important. Reporter kyung lah, cnn, california. You heard the call for help from ebola researchers. For information on how you can donate to those fighting to try to end this outbreak go to our web site, thats cnn. Com impact. Still to come for you here on cnn, isis fires back. The islamic militants launched more than a dozen near simultaneous attacks. All right. Weve got these live pictures from outside the courthouse in pretoria awaiting Oscar Pistorius sentencing to get under way in pretoria. You saw him arrive. There it is. Thats the taped tape of Oscar Pistorius arriving there at the courthouse. There are so many people there. It was packed. People lined up to get through security. The proceedings are expected to begin just over 15 minutes from now and, of course, we will take you inside the courtroom when that sentencing begins but weve just seen that live picture again at the front of the courthouse and inside there, a lot of people. This is the day of reckoning for Oscar Pistorius. Hes waited seven months, his trial has gone on and on and now on this day, we will hear from judge masipa. She will give her ruling and she will happened down her sentence to Oscar Pistorius. It could be ten years in prison although unlikely but anywhere from that down to house arrest at his uncles home and perhaps Community Service. So we will wait to hear that. It could take two hours or so. Could be shorter than that. We will take you there at the start of this sentenceing. As we wait for that lets bring you this. Iraqs Peshmerga Forces have been working against isis. Jim sciutto has the details. Reporter this small syrian city has become central to the u. S. Led war on isis. With kurdish fighters struggling to defend kobani, today u. S. Warplanes dropping not just bombs but air dropping weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to kurdish rebels. First such air lift in syria since the start of the campaign. The effort follows dozens of air strikes that have made kobani the number one target in syria or iraq. Justifying the focus on a town the administration once dismissed as inconsequential, u. S. Officials say it is isis that has made kobani a priority. Kobani matters to us because it matters to them. Because they keep flowing resources in an effort to take that town. It matters to them. Reporter traveling in indonesia secretary of state john kerry said it is a humanitarian mission. It would be irresponsible of us as well as morally very difficult to turn your back on a Community Fighting isil as hard as it is. Reporter the aid to kurdish rebels defending kobani is pitting nato allies turkey and the u. S. Against each other. Hours after president obama informed the turkish president of the air drop in a telephone conversation, the turkish president called arming the kurds there inappropriate. The turkish government considers the rebels terrorists. We talked with turkish authorities, i did, the president did who make it very, very clear this is thought a shift of policy by the United States. It is a crisis moment, an emergency. Reporter today, however, an opening as turkeys foreign minister announced his country would let kurdish militants from iraq to cross turkish territory into syria to reinforce those fighters in kobani. Translator we want to eliminate all kinds of threats in the region and see the military and medical aid outfitted by Iraqi Kurdish brothers and airdropped by the United States to all groups defending kobani from that perspective. Reporter despite the campaign, isis carried out 15 near simultaneous attacks across iraq targeting in particular kurdish areas, they used a combination of militarystyle assaults and suicide terror attacks showing the unique threat and power of isis. Jim sciutto, cnn, washington. We will take a very short break now but next on cnn for the first time protests and government leaders are set to meet face to face in hong kong but is either side ready to deal . Well take a look. Back in a moment. Im only in my 60s. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. Then i got a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if youre eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. Call now and find out about an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. 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Remember, all Medicare Supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free decision guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. Well, we are waiting for the Oscar Pistorius sentencing to get under way in pretoria, south africa. We are taking this live picture from out the front of the courthouse. He arrived at court just a short time ago. There are the picture there is from just a little while ago. Now, the judge should begin delivering her ruling in a matter of minutes and we will, of course, take you live inside the courtroom when that sentencing gets under way. There are crowds there. There a they are inside the courtroom now and the court itself and we, of course, will go there when this all gets under way. Meantime, important events set to take place in hong kong. We are less than three hour as way from the start of scheduled talks between the government there and student leaders. The protests for democratic reforms are now in their fourth week. Will these talks finally help end whats been a violent standoff . Manisha tank joins us to discuss this. When there was more of a Police Crackdown on some of the encampments now youre surrounded by at least 240 people injured. There is a dangerous element to where this could go if the demonstrations continue. What should we be looking for ahead of todays talks . I know all the people where you are will be watching and listening very closely. Reporter they will be, errol. Youre right. There have been more than 240 injuries since this Civil Disobedience Campaign gained traction from late september and over the weekend there were at least 26 arrests. That was in the district different from us. You have residences and businesses in close proximity and busy thoroughfares. The police tried to remove barricades and protesters who made life getting back to normal difficult there. They did get them to disperse but protesters came back and there were more clashes and thats what perhaps some people dont want to see here. Here weve seen this tent city spring up over the last couple of weeks. This is add muir tri on hong kong island. Most of the buildings around here are commercial buildings. One owner has actually taken out an injunction to get people to remove the barricades and allow them get in and out of the building and give legal reason why they should be removed from the roadways. All of this dust juxtapose around the talks. People are not hopeful saying they wont move. The standoff will continue until their key demand for universal suffrage is met for those 2017 elections. So far as talks go they will go on between the students, their representative and senior officials in the Hong Kong Government and though that debate will be polarized there are some who hope there will be room for compromise but definitely people who will be watching it. It will be televised and primetime viewing between 6 and 8 p. M. Manisha tank around 3 27 in the afternoon in hong kong ahead of these important talks. Well reconnect with you as soon as they get under way for a bit of reaction from hong kong. Thanks. Coming up next on cnn live pictures from pretoria, south africa where the Oscar Pistorius sentencing should begin in just a few minutes. We will, of course, take you inside that courtroom when it gets under way. boys screaming totinos pizza rolls. Ready so fast,. Its scary remain seated until i ask you to rise. The accused in this matter has been found guilty of the following counts, one, one count of culpable homicide, two, one count of contravention of section 120 subsection 3 b of the firearms control act. 60 of 2000. Now remains for him to sentence him. At the outset it needs to be emphasized although im sitting with two assessors in this matter, the decision on sentence is mine and mine alone. To reach an appropriate sentence this court is duty bound to consider the nature and the seriousness of the offenses that the accused has been found guilty of. To pass on sentences of the accused as well as the interest of society. I am also duty bound to take into consideration the main purpose of punishment namely retribution, deterrence, prevention and rehabilitation. All these must be accorded due weight in any sentence. 2000 volume 2, sacr 248 in brackets sch includes brackets, the following et, paragraph 30, sentence something about achieving the right balance or in more high flown terms proper the elements at play are the crime, the offender, the interests of society with different prevention, retribution, reformation and deterrence. Invariably there are overlaps that render the process unscientific, even in proper exercise of the judicial function allows reasonable people to arrive at different conclusions, close quote. Finding an appropriate sentence is a challenge faced by criminal courts daily as sentencing is not a perfect exercise. What complicates this even more is that there may be more than one appropriate sentence in a particular case. Ss guide to sentencing in south africa, second edition states that an appropriate sentence as determined by a trial judge need not be the only appropriate sentence. On page 146, paragraph 3. 1, line 5, the author states the following, i quote, in the light of the fact that the presiding officer is endowed with a wide discretion in the imposition of the sentence, appropriateness tends to be subjective, subjective judgment according to the views of the sentencing officer, close quote. In footnote 110, the author cites s versus madison, 1996 volume 2, sacr, 378w in brackets at 380, a to b in this regard. Also cited in the footnote is smith versus queen, 1987 in brackets 34, close brackets, capital c, capital c, capital c. In brackets 3d close brackets, 97 at 109. I quote sentencing at the best of times is an imprecise and imperfect procedure and there will always be a substantial range of appropriate sentences, close quote. This was cited in svries, 1996 volume 2 sacr 638 in brackets, capital nnm close brackets at 6 f to g. I deal with the evidence in mitigation and aggravation. Mitigation of sentence and aggravating second sentences. The defense called four witnesses namely dr. Martinbeck, mr. M. J. Maringga to give evidence in mitigation. On the other end the state called mrs. Kay martin to represent the family of the deceased and mr. M. Zeti in commission of the department of Correctional Services. The doctor is a sipsychologist o is an expert and met the accused for the first time on 23rd february 2013. When he was referred to her by a colleague for grief therapy. Although the sessions that she had with the accused were initially ended grief counseling, eventually the doctor had to conduct trauma therapy since february 2013 she has had many consultations with the accused. The accused presented with acute stress reaction, subsequently he was diagnosed with prominent symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder as well as depression. On many occasions the sessions had to be rescheduled because the accused was too emotionally drained to commence with therapy. Dr. Hobsonbeck wanted the court to take into account the following in sentencing the accuse accused, the accused had lost his love relationship with a deceased, he had lost his moral and professional reputation. He had lost his friends and he had lost his career. Mr m. J. Is a probation officer in the employ of the Correctional Services department. He compiled a report in terms of section 276 capital a, 1a of the criminal procedure act, 51 of 1977, and recommended that this court consider correctional supervision as a sentence option in terms of section 2761h of the criminal procedure act. If such a sentence were to be imposed the accused would be placed under house arrest for the duration of his sentence which is three Year Imprisonment sorry, i rephrase this. If such a sentence were to be imposed, the accused would be placed under house arrest for the duration of his sentence in brackets which is three years in terms of this section, closed brackets. He would then do 16 hours in a month of Community Service entailing general work at the Transvaal Museum in pretoria. Also recommended was that he be obliged to attend various programs aimed at assisting inmates to deal with identified problem areas. Mr. Maringa gave evidence that he would be suitable for a supervision sentence. He highlighted the acudds achievements as a professional athlete, affiliated to a number of professional and sports bodies both in south africa and abroad. He noted the accused had been involved in various projects that were aimed at lifting the standard of living of the poor and the fiscally disabled. According to mr. Maringa, the accused in this matter would benefit from correctal supervision as a sentence option in that i quote in the process of condensating he will get an opportunity to restructure and modifying and modify his offending behavior within the Community Context where there is sufficient resources to produce the expected outcome, closed quote. Mr. Ma ringa submitted it would be easy to monitor the accused as he currently stays with his uncle at his home in operatory. Mr. P. J. Deed von sale was the manager of the accused with regards to his professional career in athletics. He highlighted the accused career as an athlete and as someone who was involved in charity work worldwide to uplift others. His evidence was that prior to the incident of 14, february, 2013, the accused was, i quote, commonly perceived as a global icon due to his achievements in the London Olympic and paralympic games, closed quote. The accused gave his time and money to various deserving causes and had opportunities to advance his career in the process. According to him all those opportunities had now been taken away from the accused. Mrs. A. Farhere, a probation officer compiled a presentencing report happennded in as an exhi eeee. She set out the background of the accused personal circumstances and the suitability of a correctional supervision sentence in terms of section 2761h of the criminal procedure act in respect of the accused. A portion of her report dealt with prisons in this country who have conditions in Correctional Service centers and how the sentence weigh in her view in adequately equipped to cater for the needs of the accused. Mrs. Kim martin is the oldest cousin of the deceased. The evidence dealt with the deceased as a person, the family of the deceased, her own family and the born between the two families. Although she was 12 years old she and the deceased grew up together and spent a lot of time together. She described the deceased as someone who loved people, who loved mixing with people and hosting, she was very good in front of the camera and landed her first job in johannesburg in fashion tv. She was a happy person. The family was important to the deceased. She was said that she could not take her parents with her to johannesburg where she lived and worked. She, however, spent every december with them in port elizabeth. In 2011, stroke 2012, she had her parents financially when their medical aid lapsed she reinstated it and continued to pay towards it. She met the accused only once in cape town on the 2nd, january, 2013 in the company of the deceased. A little over a month later she land that the accused had killed the deceased. She recalled how on the morning of 14, february, 2013, she and her husband heard the news over their car radio that the accused had shot and killed his girlfriend. In vain she had prayed and hoped she would not be deceased. Both her family and the deceased family were devastated by the death of the deceased. The death of the deceased left both parents bereft. The deceased dead had been suffering from ill health even before the incident. After the death of the deceased his health took a turn for the worst as he suffered a stroke. The acting National Commissioner of Correctional Services joined the department of Correctional Services 35 years ago and has worked in various capacities and in Different Centers throughout the country. During that period he has seen a lot of improvement and a lot of progress in the Correctional Service department. He also has had an opportunity to visit correctional facilities in other countries and felt that Correctional Services centers in this country was Corrections Services the Correctional Services department in this country was competitively amongst the best. He was certain that Correctional Services centers in this country would be able to deal with every kind of need from individual inmates. I now deal with the personal circumstances of the accused. The accused is 27 years old. A double amputee, single with no dependents. He currently stays with his uncle in the house in pretoria and athlete by profession, he is currently not employed and has no income. He also has no property as he sold his properties during the course of the trial. He has no previous convictions. His parents were divorced when he was 6 years old. He was then raised by his mother who passed away when he was 15 years old. The accused was born with a congenital abnormality at the age of 11 months, the accused had a bilateral below knee amputation. The physical changes in the accused stumps following the amputation at an early age and the difficulties in walking experienced by the accused were described in the evidence of professor damon. His evidence confirmed that the accuseds physical disability was a big challenge. The evidence was to the same effect from the doctor. I quote from an extract when the doctor observed the accused during one of his consultations with him. I quote, he walked with his left knee bent. His hip externalally rotated and the stump tipped inwards. Brackets, to get to the weight on the outside of the stump, close brackets. When he put weight on the left stump, the knee buckled. Because of the bent left knee his left leg was shorter than his right. He walked with difficulty without holding on. At that time he was in my consulting room. He could not walk on the industrial carpeting. When trying to stand without holding on, he had difficulty standing and was moving all the time. The biggest stride he could take betting weight on the left stump while holding on to something measured 23 sent meters. While holding on to something and bearing weight on his right stump the max stride he could take was 33 centimeters. The left leg actually buckled when he put weight on it. When standing or walking he was bending his back forwards, closed quote. Arguing that the accused was seriously vulnerable and that prison would not be able to cater for the mental and physical needs of the accuse d, counsel for the defense submitted that a suitable sentence in this matter would be a noncustodial sentence of Community Service of three years as suggested by mrs. Farhere and mr. Maringa. He added this court could amend the conditions as it deemed fit. While taking note of the evidence of mr. Maringa, i was not impressed by at all by mrs. Farhere as a witness. Though an aspect in this matter her evidence did not inspire any confidence in this court. Her method of investigation in respect of prison conditions and her use of outdated information concerning prisons in particular was disappointing and had a negative impact on her credibility as a witness. Counsel for the state correctly described mrs. Farheres evidence as sketchy, outdated, uninformed, generalized negatively biased with prisons in this country. I found her evidence per fuptsry and unhelpful. Something quite disturbing from someone with 28 years of experience. On the other hand, mr. Mudisa, from the Correctional Services impressed me. He came across as a candid and willing witness who wanted to assist this court. He testified that prisons in this country were not perfect but were progressive and professional. I have no hesitation in accepting his evidence as true and reliable. He answered questions honestly and did to the hesitate to make concessions where such concessions were warranted. Mr. Mudisa did not paint a picture of a problemfree department but i got the impression that the department of Correctional Services had made strides and was moving with the times. I have no doubt that if prisons in this country were below the required standard the ever vigilant human rights body this country would not hesitate to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation. If the accused in this matter were to be given a custodial sentence, it would not be the first time that the Correctional Services department was confronted with an inmate with disabilities. His evidence was that on admission, each inmate went through a Health Assessment procedure within six hours. This was followed by a sentencing plan within 21 days of admission. He stated that the Correctional Services center in pretoria, the administration dealt with just over 100 inmates with disabilities daily and he was certain if a custodial sentence were to be imposed in respect of the accused there would be no problems in catering for his feeds. None of this was controverted. Im satisfied that the correctal Services Department is equipped to deal with inmates who have special needs. Counsel for the state submitted that the duty of this court was to impose an appropriate sentence after evaluating all of the evidence and the submissions of counsel. Whatever the form of punishment in brackets including incarceration, closed brackets, the duty of the administrators in the Correctional Services department was to execute the punishment properly. I agree. It would be unreasonable to expect this court to use up the functions of the department of Correctional Services when sentence had been imposed. What is certain is that in performing its duties, the department of Correctional Services is guided by the constituti constitution. Should it fail to perform its duties in accordance with the constituti constitution, courts would interview as their duty bound to do so. If any inmate were to feel that he was not being treated fairly and just ly where he incarceratd he has a right to approach this court to seek redress. Many inmates do so and theyve never been turned away by these courts. In my view there is no reason why if the accuse wrd to find himself in a similar position, he would be treated differently. From the evidence led during the course and during the course of argume argument, in mitigation it became clear that the concern was not just about the disability of the accused as someone without legs, but it was also about the fact that he needed treatment not only for his physical disability but also to deal with a trauma and the depression that he suffers from. Mr. Mudis showed the court it was a medical team whose job it was to attend to inmates who needed medical attention. There were, however, instances where inmates were sent to outside clinics for medical care. In instances where an inmate preferred to use the services of his or her own doctors, he or she was allowed to do so. There was therefore no reason to think that the accused might be forced either to terminate any of the treatment that he was currently receiving or that he might be forced to terminate his relationship with his own doctors. The department of Correctional Services deals with a number of inmates with a variety of disabilities and vulnerabilities and from the evidence it seemed that it is coping reasonably well. I have no reason to believe that the accused would present the department of Correctional Services with an insurmountable challenge. As counsel for the state correctly pointed out, if an inmate with a special need wanted a bench in his shower. And you are watching cnns coverage of the Oscar Pistorius sentencing. Should hear that sentence in the next 90 minutes or so. For those of you in the United States, early start begins after the break. Thats right. U. S. Viewers, you have a great day. For everyone else our live coverage from pretoria continues. Just by way of example it cannot be disputed that a pregnant woman belongs to one of the most vulnerable groups of people. Although pregnancy cannot be termed a disability it can be not be denied once freedom and ability physically to do as one wills. Yet a pregnant woman will be sentenced to jail if such a sentence is warranted. I might add that it would be a sad day for this country if an impression were to be created that there was one law for the poor and disadvantaged and another for the rich and famous. I know this was not the submission by counsel for the accused as he specifically pointed out that the court had to weigh all the relevant factors before deciding on the appropriate sentence. There was, however, a feeling of unease on my part as i listened to one witness after another placing what i thought was an overemphasis on the accused vulnerable. Yes, the accused is vulnerable, but hes also an he also has excellent coping skills. Thanks to his mother he rarely saw himself as disabled and excelled as a top athlete, respected worldwide against big odds even going on to compete against ablebodied persons. For some reason that picture remains obscured in the background. In my judgment to get to the real picture the correct approach would be to balance the two. There is also the question of the accused contribution to society. Theres no doubt that the accused contribution to society has been enormous as he gave his time and money to various charities and institutions. He also helped change the general publics perception. Perceptions of disabled people and inspired disabled young people in particular as he grew and excelled in his career. This impact on others worldwide cannot be ignored, but it ought to be put into perspective. As state counsel pointed out if a sportsman was approached, it would not be clever not to be involved as such involvement enhances ones career. The seriousness. You are watching live coverage of the sentencing hearing for Oscar Pistorius. The judge masipa is issuing her sentence right now. She made it clear she does think the south africa prison system can handle Oscar Pistorius and his physical disability. He was born without