The jury in the San Fernando Valley trial of pop star Britney Spears deliberated briefly on Friday before taking a break for the weekend. The jurors, eight women and four men, are set to return to a Van Nuys court Monday to continue working on reaching a verdict in the singer’s misdemeanor case.
Unlike most celebrity trials, this one has not had a lot of strange twists and weird drama. At the center of the case is a traffic accident; back in August of 2007 Spears hit a parked car and left the scene. Later, Spears settled with the owner of the parked car, but prosecutors went after her for driving without a California license.
The defense claims the entertainer did not need one because she had a valid Louisiana driver’s license at the time. Spears’ attorney, Michael Flanagan, has argued that Louisiana is really the singer’s permanent place of residence. Jamie Spears, her father, took the stand and backed up that assertion.
However, Los Angeles City Attorney Michael Amerian presented evidence that showed Spears signed a document stating she was a California resident when she filed for divorce in 2006 from ex-husband Kevin Federline. Not only did Spears not testify in her own defense, she hasn’t shown up to court one day so far.
Apparently, Spears was offered a couple of plea deals, but her attorney says they were rejected because she doesn’t want a criminal record.
If convicted, Spears could be forced to pay a fine and be sentenced to as long as six months in jail.
