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PRETORIA, South Africa - The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius, set to open Monday, marks the start of a dramatic new chapter in the life of the double-amputee athlete who ran at the Olympics and became a global star before he shot his girlfriend to death. Patrick Willis Jersey . Prosecutors charged the 27-year-old Pistorius with murder in Reeva Steenkamps death and say it was with premeditation. They say they will seek a life sentence if Pistorius is convicted, the sternest punishment available in South Africa. South Africa no longer has the death penalty. The intense public interest in the Pistorius trial is shown by the launching Sunday night of a 24-hour cable channel devoted to covering the court case. If convicted on the murder charge, Pistorius could be sent to prison for at least 25 years before the chance of parole, the minimum time someone must serve if given a life sentence in South Africa. He would be older than 50 before he could be released. The state says Pistorius intentionally killed Steenkamp at his home in the pre-dawn hours of Valentines Day last year by shooting her through a toilet door after an argument. Pistorius denies murder and says he killed his girlfriend by mistake when he fired four times through the door thinking there was a dangerous nighttime intruder on the other side. A lesser sentence is possible if Pistorius is found guilty of murder but without premeditation. He also could be convicted of culpable homicide, South Africas version of manslaughter in which someone is killed through negligence. Pistorius claims he was acting in self-defence against what he believed at the time was a threat to his life. As well as murder, Pistorius faces a second charge of illegal possession of ammunition for bullets found at his Pretoria house that he allegedly didnt have proper licensing for. Prosecutors say he also will be indicted Monday with two more gun charges relating to him allegedly shooting in public on two separate occasions before Steenkamps killing. The serving of an updated indictment to Pistorius in court is expected to be the first move at the trial at Pretorias high court. He has not yet been formally served with the papers that include all four charges against him, although his lawyers have had the papers and details of the additional gun charges since last year, prosecutors say. The gun charges reportedly relate to him allegedly shooting out the sunroof of a car in one incident and another when he allegedly fired a gun inside a restaurant, apparently by mistake. Those incidents happened in the court jurisdiction of the city of Johannesburg, not where Steenkamp was killed in Pretoria, and prosecutors applied to have the two charges included and heard at his murder trial. Female judge Thokozile Masipa will ultimately pronounce the champion runner innocent or guilty and will decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury. Parts of the trial will be broadcast on live television, both in South Africa and across the world, and hundreds of reporters are expected to descend on North Gauteng High Court in the South African capital for the start of the trial. The 24-hour cable channel devoted solely to the trial will continue until the case is finished. The trial will deal with the bloody killing of a 29-year-old model and law graduate, but also the issue of gun ownership and South Africas problem of violent crime, which Pistorius says was the reason why he kept his licensed 9 mm handgun under his bed. Pistorius says his fear of crime was why he fired four shots through the door, hitting Steenkamp three times — in the head, elbow and hip. Prosecutors maintain he was simply angry with her after an argument. Members of Pistorius family will likely attend the trial, as they did on his previous court hearings. His uncle, Arnold Pistorius, sister Aimee and brother Carl are all also listed as state witnesses. "We love Oscar, and believe in him, and will be standing by him throughout the coming trial," Arnold Pistorius said in a statement over the weekend. For the first time, members of Steenkamps family will also be in the courtroom according to a family statement that her mother June and others would be at the trial. The parents and close relatives of Steenkamp did not attend any of Pistorius previous court appearances. "All we are looking for is closure and to know that our daughter did not suffer on that tragic Valentines Day," Steenkamps parents said in a statement this month and days before the one-year anniversary of the shooting that stunned South Africa. Chris Doleman Jersey . And like the near entirety of last season, Jonathan Bernier and Torontos goaltending tandem is up to the task. Solomon Thomas Jersey .K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-larry-schreiber-jersey-large-1308d.html .Under the agreement announced Monday, the Cuban defector is guaranteed $68.5 million over six seasons.Tomas gets a $14 million signing bonus that is payable within 30 days of the deals approval by Major League Baseball, and then salaries of $2 million next year, $4 million in 2016, $6 million in 2017 and $10 million in 2018.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Trail Blazers will continue to press on without LaMarcus Aldridge Thursday night when the Boston Celtics pay a visit to the Moda Center. The All-Star forward injured his left hand in Portlands win on Monday over the Sacramento Kings. Head coach Terry Stotts told oregonlive.com that Aldridge had an MRI, but tests were inconclusive, so another is scheduled for this week. For whatever reason, they needed to do another one, Stotts said. The team missed their best player on Wednesday in a 118-113 road loss to the Phoenix Suns. The Blazers couldnt overcome a monster night from the Suns three-man point guard wrecking ball. Eric Bledsoe had a career-high 33 points, 10 rebounds and six assists; Isaiah Thomas finished with 27 off the bench and Goran Dragic added 16. Nicolas Batum paced Portland with 27 points -- 10 of those coming in the fourth -- and Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews scored 22 apiece in the setback. Dorell Wright and Chris Kaman scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, for Portland We did a great job fighting back and giving ourselves a chance down the stretch, Lillard said. They made some big plays at the end of the game and they did what they needed to do to pull it out. The Blazers trailed by 25 in the second quarter and fought back. A 15-point lead vanished in the frame, and Batums 3-pointer at 4:05 gave Portland its first lead since the opening quarter. Batum hit a deep 3-ball two minutes later to increase Portlands lead to five before Dragic hit a corner 3 and Bledsoe converted a three-point play to put Phoenix back in front. Thoomas Robinson and Markieff Morris then traded runners and Bledsoe made four free throws in the final 10. Steve DeBerg Jersey. 9 seconds to secure the win. The Blazers host Washington on Saturday before heading east for four games to end the month. The Celtics have dropped three straight, including the opener of this six-game western odyssey. Boston fell to the Los Angeles Clippers, 102-93, on Monday. Boston fell for the fifth time in its last six games despite getting 59 points from its bench. Brandon Bass paced the Celtics with 17 points and Marcus Thornton chipped in 15 while shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Marcus Smart scored 14 with four triples and seven assists, and Evan Turner contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Celtics trailed by 23 in the third quarter, but responded. Thorntons 3 with 3:50 to go made it a one-possession game, but Los Angeles tightened up its defense the rest of the way. The Clippers scored eight of the next nine points, and the Celtics shot just 1-of-5 from the field after the Thornton triple. Chris Pauls 3 with 48 seconds left punctuated the win. We cant be down by that much, said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. We took a lot of contested shots in the first half, and thats not good. We were better in the second half. We closed it to three, but we missed a couple of good looks down the stretch. Boston will visit the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves on this trek. The Blazers bested the Celtics on Nov. 23 in Boston and have taken four straight in this series. The two teams have split the previous six meetings in Portland. ' ' '

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