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Jurors in the Michael Jackson child sex abuse trial will begin a second week of deliberations, weighing weeks of evidence and testimony that could send the Star to prison for 20 Years. Lawyers say the panel may well spend more than two weeks weighing Mr. Jackson's fate, given the length of the three-month trial and the volume of testimony heard reports New York Times. Before they started deliberations, the jurors heard 140 witnesses testify over three months, and were given 98 pages of instructions. Some who have been following the case said the complexity of the instructions given by Judge Rodney S. Melville of Santa Barbara Superior Court may also be slowing down the jurors.
The 98 pages instructions require the jurors to engage in unnatural mental gymnastics, said Laurie L. Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
The Jury have ten counts to consider relating to the alleged molestation of the 13-year-old. Their verdict must be unanimous and in the event of a hung jury on any one of the charges, the prosecution would have up to 60 days to decide whether to seek a retrial which could begin within two months reports Telegraph.co.uk.
In other news Jackson's Web site carried an announcement Friday night that he had fired his spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, who has been with him throughout the trial.
"MJJ Productions regretfully announces the termination of Raymone Bain and Davis, Bain & Associates. We thank you for your services," was the complete text of the statement at www.mjjsource.com.
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