South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock before the defence's final argument in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria August 8, 2014. Pistorius' defence team will wrap up their closing arguments in the murder trial of the athlete on Friday, after which the judge will retire to consider her verdict. Double amputee Pistorius, 27, once a national icon for reaching the pinnacle of sport, is accused of murdering his law graduate and model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria on Valentine's Day last year. REUTERS/Themba Hadebe/Pool (SOUTH AFRICA - Tags: SPORT ATHLETICS CRIME LAW) - RTR41OA8
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Eighteen months ago when he granted Oscar Pistorius bail after the killing of his girlfriend, South African magistrate Desmond Nair noted a number of "improbabilities" in the Olympic and Paralympic star's account of the shooting.
After 41 days of testimony and drama in the Pretoria High Court, Pistorius's freedom hangs on whether the prosecution has made its case well enough to convince judge Thokozile Masipa that such improbabilities cannot be "reasonably possibly true".
