By Ione Wells
Copyright bbc
If two out of five justices on the Supreme Court panel vote “not guilty”, his lawyers could demand that the full Supreme Court – meaning all 11 justices – review the verdict.
The vote of the final justice to give his verdict, Cristiano Zanin, will therefore be keenly followed.
Bolsonaro has not been in court for any of the sessions of the final phase of the trial.
His lawyers cited health reasons for his decision to follow proceedings from his home in BrasÃlia. He was stabbed in the stomach on the campaign trail in 2018 and has been having recurrent health problems since.
He has been under house arrest since the beginning of August after a police report alleged that he and his son, Eduardo, had tried to interfere in the trial.
His lawyer was present in court but left after Justice Lúcia had declared his client guilty of the attempted coup and armed criminal conspiracy, even before she had finished speaking.
The charges against Bolsonaro did not just relate to events of 8 January 2023.
Prosecutors said he had started to plot to stay in power long before, proposing launching a coup to military commanders and sowing unfounded doubts about the electoral system.
They also said that he knew of a plan to plot to assassinate Lula, his vice-presidential running mate, and a Supreme Court justice.
