Single mother Amina Lawal launched an appeal against an adultery conviction that could see her become the first Nigerian to be stoned to death since the return of Islamic law.
The 31-year-old village housewife has become the best known symbol around the world of the controversy surrounding the reintroduction in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north of the strict Sharia criminal law code.
On Wednesday she was back in the spotlight once again, cradling her baby daughter Wasila in Katsina State's Sharia Appeal Court before a five-strong bench of senior judges decked out in white robes and turbans.
"This case involves life and has been prolonged, so we don't have time for more delays," Katsina's top Islamic legal authority, Grand Khadi Aminu Ibrahim, told the packed courtroom.
"It's good that Amina should know her fate. She will be either stoned or acquitted. It's not right to keep her in suspense for so long," he added.
Under Sharia, a divorced person who has sex before he or she remarries can be found guilty of adultery, and thus face death.
Last year Lawal was denounced by fellow villagers in the Katsina farming community of Kurami after she gave birth to Wasila more than two years after splitting from her husband.
She was convicted in March last year and lost her first appeal in August. Her photo was flashed around the world and her fate inspired Internet campaigns, women's rights protests and candle-lit vigils.
On Wednesday, however, defence counsel Aliyu Musa Yawuri focussed on challenging her conviction under the terms of Sharia, not on fighting the controversial legal system itself.
He argued that the village court which convicted her had not properly explained the offence or its consequences before her alleged confession.
He also said that the baby had been conceived before Sharia law was formally enacted in Katsina State.
Lawal gave birth on January 6 last year, more than two years after her divorce but only six-and-a-half months after Katsina reinstituted Sharia.
The defence also argued that, under Islamic law, the pregnancy could have been the result of a so-called "sleeping embryo".
"Amina gave birth within two years of divorce, so the presumption is that the child belongs to her former husband," he said, arguing that Sharia recognises that an embryo can lie dormant for up to five years.
"Because of these arguments we call on this court to grant the prayers of my client and throw out the death sentence imposed on her by the two lower courts," Yawuri concluded.
The prosecution requested and was given a one hour adjournment to consider its response. It was not clear whether a verdict would be given later Wednesday or whether it could be postponed once more.
Around 35 armed police were deployed around the building, but there was no sign of impending trouble.
Amina sat impassively through most of the proceedings. She was wearing a deep purple headscarf and an elegant green dress given her by her lawyer and friend Hauwa Ibrahim, who was also present along with senior counsel.
But she appeared close to tears when press photographers crowded in, and family members said the young Muslim woman was under severe stress.
"Amina is deeply worried. Sometimes she can't even eat. She's anxious to see the end of this case so that she can marry and have a normal life," said the defendant's uncle, 50-year-old farmer Magaji Liman.
Lawal's case has become an embarrassment for Nigeria's secular federal government and for President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has tried to reassure foreign protesters without offending Nigerian Muslims.
No one has yet been stoned since 12 mainly Muslim northern states seized upon the end of military rule in 1999 to begin invoking Islamic law for the first time since the west African country won independence in 1960.
But some thieves have had their hands amputated, and several others have been sentenced to be stoned for various "sex crimes".
Lawal's appeal has come to be seen by many as a test case, as Nigerian federal officials have said that they can not challenge Sharia unless an individual appeals to the Supreme Court.