Yesterday, jurors in the case against U.S. Senator Ted Stevens heard closing arguments.  They should begin deliberations today.  The Anchorage Daily News has a in-depth article detailing the closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense.  The last word came from prosecutor Brenda Morris, who cross-examined Stevens last week:

Look beyond his title of senator, said Brenda Morris, the lead Justice Department prosecutor on the case, as she concluded the government’s closing arguments.

“I ask you to do something that very few people have done,” Morris said, recalling Stevens’ sometimes snarling responses to her cross examination. “Stand up to him. Behind all that growling, and all those snappy comebacks and that righteous indignation, he’s just a man. He should stand up and take responsibility like everyone who comes into the courtroom. Make him responsible.”

Stevens was eloquent on the stand when he spoke of his own accomplishments, Morris said. But when he was asked about the renovations, she said, “he started stuttering and sputtering. Because he can’t answer that because what he was telling you nonsense.”

More than the other two lawyers, Morris tried to connect personally with the jury, asking them to think what it would be like to talk about the case in a friend’s kitchen.

“Don’t leave your common sense at the door,” she said.

Recalling all the times Stevens said that he was surprised to find items left by Allen, Morris said: “Maybe since the defendant lives so close to the North Pole, maybe Santa and his elves came down and did this work and completed it. He had no idea.”