CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- A pathologist will likely testify first when Oscar Pistorius defence team starts calling witnesses at his murder trial next week, the double-amputee athletes lawyer said Tuesday. cheap jerseys from china . Brian Webber told The Associated Press in an email that "it is likely" that the defence will call Prof. Jan Botha as its first witness on Monday, after four weeks of prosecution-led testimony and a weeks adjournment. Pistorius is expected to testify to explain why he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentines Day last year by shooting her multiple times through a toilet door. The Olympic runner says he shot Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was a dangerous intruder who had broken into his bathroom. Prosecutors say the 27-year-old Pistorius killed the 29-year-old model intentionally after an argument in the pre-dawn hours and have charged him with premeditated murder. In South Africa, defendants who indicate they will testify are usually expected to go first but Webber said it was his understanding that prosecutors had agreed to the defences request that Botha give evidence first because of the pathologists personal circumstances. "It is likely that we will call Professor Jan Botha on Monday as he has personal difficulties and I believe that the state has agreed to him giving evidence first," Webber wrote to the AP. Pistorius could go to prison for 25 years to life if convicted of premeditated murder for Steenkamps shooting death. Pistorius testimony will likely be crucial, with the athlete under intense scrutiny to explain why he shot four times through a toilet cubicle door without knowing, in his version, who was on the other side and the location of his girlfriend. Although some legal experts say Pistorius taking the stand is a risk for his defence, they say he has little choice because he has admitted killing Steenkamp unlawfully and therefore needs to explain his reasons. "The only question is whether there was intent and intent is subjective," former state prosecutor and now defence lawyer Marius du Toit said. "That means the accused must come and dispel that." Du Toit, who is following the trial but not involved in it, said Pistorius testimony was "definitely the key." The defence may use the expert forensic testimony of Botha, the pathologist, to combat the prosecutions claim that Steenkamp screamed during the gunshots that killed her and so Pistorius must have known who he was firing at with his 9 mm pistol. Defence lawyer Webber also said that although lawyers for Pistorius and Steenkamps family are still in negotiations over a possible out-of-court settlement for her death, nothing would be decided until after the trial. Representatives of the parties have been in contact since last year. Both sides have declined to give details of any discussions but South African media has speculated that Pistorius might pay Steenkamps family in the region of $200,000 to $300,000. wholesale nfl jerseys . The Trail Blazers lead the first-round series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday in Portland. A basket by Damian Lillard got the Trail Blazers within two points before James Harden stepped back and swished a 3-pointer to make it 103-98 with about three minutes left. cheap jerseys . -- Josh Smith saved his only 3-pointers for when the Detroit Pistons needed them most.MILAN - Mario Gomez scored twice as Fiorentina cruised into the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup with a 3-1 victory over Atalanta on Wednesday, while Inter Milan also progressed after beating nine-man Sampdoria 2-0.Gomez, who has been struggling with injury and form, had only scored once in the previous 10 months. But he got Fiorentina off to the perfect start with a deflected shot in the sixth minute.Juan Cuadrado doubled Fiorentinas lead from the spot in the 12th minute after Guglielmo Stendardo was harshly adjudged to have fouled Gomez, sparking fierce Atalanta protests.Gomez added Fiorentinas third in the 28th minute before Rolando Bianchi scored a consolation goal just before halftime with a curler into the bottom right corner.Fiorentina defender Marcos Alonso was sent off in the 84th after two bookings in three minutes.Fiorentina will next face Roma, while Inter will play either Napoli or Udinese after the clubs two new signings — Lukas Podolski and Xherdan Shaqiri — combined to set it on its wway to victory. cheap nfl jerseys. Inter struggled to break down Sampdoria despite playing most of the match with a numerical advantage. Nenad Krsticic was sent off in the 12th minute after he brought down Mauro Icardi, with the forward adjudged to have been clean through on goal.Icardi could have given Inter the lead shortly before halftime but Sampdoria goalkeeper Sergio Romero saved his penalty after Pawel Wszolek had bundled over Dodo.The deadlock was finally broken in the 71st minute. Podolski did well to hold up the ball in the area before slotting it through to Shaqiri for his first Inter goal on his first start for the club since joining from Bayern Munich.Any hope Sampdoria had of taking the match to extra time all but evaporated six minutes later when Wszolek was sent off for a second booking.Icardi atoned for his earlier penalty failure by sealing the match two minutes from time, firing into an empty net after a poor back pass left Romero in trouble and forced him out of his area. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
