but emma saddler, a legal commentator, is with me. emma, strong words for this case. he even said that this had been dragged out. you don't believe that? >> strong words against the state saying that they inflicted as much harm as possible. saying they'd endured 20 months of this trial already. indeed, it has been 20 months since the incident took place. but if we cast our minds back to when i first spoke to you, which was in march, the 2nd of march, it feels like a lifetime ago. but bearing in mind that this trial had 37 witnesses. it really is almost record pace for the south african judicial system. >> reporter: what about the fact that the defense and the family are just going to accept this sentence? they could land oscar pistorius with a harsher sentence. >> there was a lot of talk before today about whether or not there would be an appeal, either by the prosecution or the defense. arnold pistorius has now come out and categorically confirmed that they won't be appealing. that's not to say that the prosecution won't appeal. there was a lot of reaction to the fac