A verdict in the final appeal of the tax fraud conviction against former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected from Italy's highest court on Thursday, Italian media reported.
Berlusconi's lawyers were presenting the case for an acquittal on the second day of proceedings at the Court of Cassation in Rome, dpa reported.
"The discussions can start today and we can then adjourn to tomorrow," presiding judge Antonio Esposito said on Wednesday.
The five judges must decide whether to uphold the verdict, return the case to a lower court or acquit Berlusconi.
Berlusconi was sentenced in October to four years in prison - likely to be cut to one year under an 2006 amnesty law - and a five-year ban on holding public office for fraudulent offshore accounting by his family's media firm, Mediaset.
If the Court of Cassation confirms the verdict, it would be the 76-year-old politician and tycoon's first criminal conviction to be upheld out of more than 30 judicial proceedings he has faced.