Michael Jackson case goes to the jury after closing arguments

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- The case ended Friday as it had begun 14 weeks earlier, with videotapes being played in a dimly lit courtroom. And the last faces jurors saw on the big screen were those of Michael Jackson and his accuser.

Before the case was put in their hands, jurors were told to believe one or the other. Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. called the boy a cunning liar. Prosecutor Ron Zonen painted Jackson as a pedophile who lured the boy into a sex trap.

Jurors spent about two hours deliberating before going home for the weekend.

They got the case on a day marked by an impassioned plea by Mesereau for Jackson's acquittal. He said the pop star is not the "monster" that prosecutors have portrayed, and he said the accuser and his family fabricated the molestation allegations to take advantage of Jackson.

"They are trying to profit from Michael Jackson. They think they have pulled it off. They are just waiting for one thing -- your verdict."

He added: "If you look in your hearts do you believe Michael Jackson is evil in that way? Is it even possible? It really is not."

During his rebuttal, Zonen sought to answer the defense attorney's question.

"Why would Mr. Jackson do it? Because he could," Zonen said. "This child was in love with him. This child would do anything he said."

Soon after, a grim-looking Jackson left the courthouse and walked slowly to his entourage's waiting vehicles in front of the courthouse. He drove off without comment.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003. He allegedly plied the boy with wine and conspired to hold his family captive to get them to rebut the documentary "Living With Michael Jackson."

He could face several years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Judge Rodney S. Melville told Jackson he could stay at Neverland during deliberations.

but attorneys would have to stay within 10 minutes of the courthouse in case the jury had questions that needed to be addressed.

Mesereau earlier mounted a fierce attack on the accuser and his mother, brother and sister. He said that "what they are trying to do to Michael Jackson is so harmful, so brutal, so devastating ... if you have any reasonable doubt about the double-talk, the lies, it's over. You must acquit Michael Jackson."

Mesereau spoke about the American system of justice and said, "We have the best system in the world and ladies and gentlemen I'm begging you to honor the system. ... You must acquit him."

He accused prosecutors of trying to "dirty up Michael" because they lack the evidence to prove their case.

"The witnesses are preposterous, the perjury is everywhere," Mesereau declared. "None of it works. The only thing they've had is to throw dirt all over the place and hope it sticks."

Afterward, prosecutor Zonen, who had given his closing Thursday, offered a brief rebuttal. As he prepared to speak, Janet and LaToya Jackson left their front-row seats and walked out of the courtroom. Bain said they did not want to see their brother vilified.

Zonen reminded jurors of past allegations from other boys against Jackson and said such testimony was necessary "to see the total picture."

Zonen alleged that Jackson had been "in love" with a boy who received a large monetary settlement from him in 1993. He said testimony about Jackson sleeping in bed with other boys could not be easily explained, and he added that the current accuser is a "clone" of the boy in the 1993 case.

On Thursday, Zonen ridiculed the idea the boy's mother could have made up the entire molestation story and prompted her children to lie in order to make money with a future lawsuit against Jackson.

"It's unmitigated rubbish," he said.