Pistorius again arrived before 7 a.M. Local time today, via a different entrance to the courthouse than was used before his first appearance at his bail hearing. Television cameras huddled to get a shot of the Olympic runner in the back seat of the white-and-blue police car.

Reporters lined up hours before the hearing to get seats in the courtroom and police planned to shut down some roads around the busy court building. People walking by carried newspapers with bold headlines about Pistorius' court affidavit, which was the first time he had publicly explained his version of the events that unfolded in the early hours of last Thursday morning at his villa in a gated community. Steenkamp's shooting death and Pistorius' arrest and murder charge stunned South Africa, where he is a national hero. It also sent shock waves across the world, which knows Pistorius as a disabled sports icon known as the Blade Runner and an inspiring story of someone who overcame adversity and the amputation of his lower legs as a baby to become an Olympic athlete. In the 11-page court affidavit, the Paralympic champion said he did not have his prosthetic legs on and felt "extremely vulnerable" in the predawn hours of Feb. 14 when he thought that Steenkamp was an intruder in a toilet cubicle inside his bathroom. He said he was on his stumps when he fired into the door and then realized his tragic error when he backed away to his "pitch dark" bedroom and realized the model and law graduate, whom he had been dating for a few months, was not in bed. The state alleges the shooting was premeditated and that Pistorius took time to put on his prosthetic legs and walk seven meters (20 feet) to the toilet before opening fire. Forensic reports may be able to establish the truth by studying the angle and height of the bullet holes in the toilet door. (AP) AH AH 02201312 NNNN