If Pistorius is not granted bail he faces months and

perhaps years in pre-trail detention.
Prosecutors are expected to say the global celebrity is a flight risk -- something he has denied and Magistrate Desmond Nair has appeared to question.
"Pistorius does not pose a flight risk, which is evident having regard to his international stature and exposure," his family said in a statement.
Thursday may reveal whether the Paralympic champion will also use disability as a grounds to argue for his freedom.
He runs on carbon-fibre blades, which inspired his nickname, after being born without the fibulas in both of his legs which were amputated below the knee when he was a baby.

"He's spent years telling the world he is able. What enables him to be able-bodied? Technology. Now if he finds himself without technology, is he able?" asked criminologist Laurie Pieters, who is not involved with the case.

Defence lawyers refused to comment on their tactics, saying the mystery around their arguments was intentional.
Experts speculated that Wednesday's events could have a significant bearing on the trial itself.
"This is a disaster for the trial and raises questions," said Frans Cronje of the South African Institute of Race Relations.
"They (the police) have been put on trial."
On Wednesday, defence lawyer Barry Roux cast doubt on key witnesses who suggested a row between the couple before the shooting.

A woman who lives in the same highly secured complex as Pistorius "heard talking that sounded like non-stop fighting from two to three in the morning," hours before she was killed, Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said.
Another witness reported hearing gunshots, screams and then more shots, police said.
"Then he heard a female screaming two-three times, then more gunshots," Botha said.
But Roux disputed these accounts, as police said one witness was at least 300 metres (nearly 1,000 feet) from the house and the other had misheard the number of gunshots fired.