Susan Berger is a freelance journalist in Chicago. She has been in the courtroom since the beginning of the Conrad Black trial and writes a blog www.blacksjustice.com.

The courtroom was packed on Monday morning (June 18) for the final arguments. As the jury walked in and took their places, we noted how differently they dressed. The women in particular seemed to dress for the occasion. A couple of them had new hairstyles, wore more makeup and even seemed to sit up a little straighter.

We noticed too the absence of a juror. Not just any juror, but the one we all thought might be the foreman. A blond woman, maybe in her late 30's, she religiously took notes and often tilted her chair to totally face the witness. No explanation was given for her absence. She is the third to leave since the trial began. There are now 15 jurors, and 12 will deliberate. None know if they are alternates.

In the gallery, we saw Conrad's son James for the first time and he sat with his sister Alana and brother Jonathan and Barbara Amiel Black. George Jonas, Barbara's ex-husband, was there as well. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald took a seat in the first row, close to the prosecution table.

Also seated in the spectator section were Donalda and Dick Robarts of Windsor, Ont. I wrote about the Robarts back in May, when they came to see the trial. Dick Robarts, who thinks of Conrad almost as a friend and hero, said he had to come back for the closing addresses.

"We are not here because someone made a mistake, or was late on a disclosure," said prosecutor Julie Ruder as she began her closing argument. "We are here because five men [the four defendants and prosecution witness David Radler] systematically stole $60 million from the shareholders of Hollinger International."

From the moment Ruder started to speak, she had the jury captivated. No one yawned. No one fidgeted. For the next six hours or so, Ruder connected the dots. She put together 13 weeks of testimony and laid out the case by discussing each count and each defendant. Using charts, quotes from the transcripts and head shots of the witnesses, she neatly wrapped up the package and tied the bow.

"Don't fall for the cover story," she told the jury. "The crime is they stole from the shareholders. That's why I am saying make it matter. Find them guilty." Conrad sat motionless through the testimony, his gaze never wavering from the jury. Barbara listened intently too, sometimes jotting down notes. Alana seemed to grow paler as the day wore on and did not smile at all. James Black looked as though at times he wanted to jump out of his seat. His knee bounced continually as Ruder spoke.

When the day ended, it was hard for even those who totally believe in the defendants' innocence not to have doubts.

"I am terrified," Dick Robarts said, when asked how he thought it all went. Ruder and her team left the courtroom with expressions of deep satisfaction. I saw Jonathan Black give his dad a consoling pat on the shoulder.

It didn't take long on Tuesday to see how quickly things can change.

Eddie Greenspan began the defence closing – Ed Genson would finish. Greenspan talked a lot about the presumption of innocence. As would all of the lawyers, he thanked the jury for being so attentive. In what I am told by my Canadian colleagues is somewhat uncharacteristic, Greenspan also apologized to the jury.

"If I have been too tough and too aggressive, it was only because of my anxiety that no stone be left unturned to prove the innocence of Conrad Black," he said. Conrad's demeanor changed. After lunch he changed places so he would be directly opposite and in full view of the jury. Barbara sat with her hand on her chin, her pen in her hand, leaning forward. During the first break, Conrad was smiling and looked pleased.

As the day wore on, the prosecution team looked ashen and worried.

Although Greenspan made very effective points, his presentation did not captivate this jury. The one juror who always sleeps was out during the first hour. Several others could be seen yawning.

Everyone perked up a bit when Greenspan spoke about the audit committee. "You cannot convict Conrad Black for actions of the audit committee," he said. "Whether they were Olympic liars or Olympic skimmers."

Greenspan also spent a good amount of time tearing down David Radler's testimony.

"The government wants you to rely on David Radler to convict Conrad Black for having relied on David Radler," Greenspan said. "If Conrad Black takes David Radler's word, it's a crime. If the government takes David Radler's word, it's called justice."

And he warned the jury it is not a crime to be rich.

"Conrad is different, different from you and me. He is a rich man. But in America you do not convict people for being rich," Greenspan said.

Ed Genson began before the lunch break. His style is more folksy and conversational than Greenspan's. Prefacing his remarks by saying he does not mean to sound patronizing, he said he has never seen a jury so attentive or one that started court each day so early, at 9 a.m. (Most judges begin at 10 a.m.) “You people are very special," Genson said. “You don't see juries like this." Genson started out strong, pointing at Conrad Black and saying he did not commit fraud. He told the jury that the prosecution has overreached and manipulated the facts.

He told them too, that Black and Radler were not close, ran different parts of the business and were, in fact, nothing alike.

"They were like schizophrenics," Genson said. "Conrad writes like a Victorian author and Radler tells people to get the ---- out of here."

But by the end of the day, Genson was falling apart. He seemed to lose his train of thought, and kept repeating "the fact of the matter is." By 4:15, it was clear he wasn't feeling well and court recessed for the day.

Genson came back stronger on Wednesday.

His voice was softer as he finished and said, "Conrad Black is not guilty. He lived the dream until this nightmare visited him. Being wealthy doesn't make you a bad man … whatever you do, do him justice."

Before Gus Newman began his argument for his client, Jack Boultbee, he asked the judge if they might have two breaks in the morning and two in the afternoon because, he said, the jury seems to get tired.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Sussman interjected and said "For the record, I didn't see the same thing when Ms. Ruder was speaking."

But Judge Amy St. Eve settled that with "I've noticed them being attentive when the lawyers speak – it's the lawyers who are getting tired."

Newman began his remarks on behalf of Boultbee on Wednesday afternoon, splitting the time with his partner Pat Tuite. Newman, who is 80, has been very entertaining during the trial, with lots of witty comments in addition to excellent lawyering. At one point during his closing, the judge said, "Let me know when you get to a good breaking point." And Newman responded, "You mean for lunch only?"

When Newman saw that he would need more time, he said to the judge, "If I go over an hour tomorrow, your honor – yank my legs out from under me." He said he was happy to stop for the day as he would be celebrating his 53rd wedding anniversary that night.

"After 53 years, your wife should yank your legs out from under you," said the judge.

Pat Tuite, who never knew Newman until this trial, told the jury "I hope when I get to be 80, I have brains and stamina like Gus."

Tuite also told me that up until the day the trial began, Newman was recovering from a bout with pneumonia.

"His energy is amazing," Tuite said.

Tuite also captivated the jury – at one point inserting a story about his daughter and her boyfriend to make a point.

"She had lots of boyfriends," Tuite said. "I had to beat them off with a stick." Judge St. Eve piped in and said (to the daughter who Tuite had pointed to in the gallery) "Do you want me to stop him now?"

Michael Schachter, Peter Atkinson's attorney, talked for about five hours on Thursday but did not finish. Schachter, a former prosecutor who worked on the Martha Stewart conviction, is expected to wrap up his comments on Monday.

Schachter is very theatrical and at times reminded me of a grade school teacher. "What's important is what Peter believed (Schachter points to head) what Peter saw (now he points to his eyes) and what Peter heard (points to his ears).

At one point, Schachter carried stacks of transcripts from David Radler's testimony and slammed them on the desk in front of the jury.

"You can read every word of David Radler's testimony on the stand and you will find he never testified that Peter did anything wrong."

In spite of the theatrics, the jury never took their eyes off Schachter – he was very effective.

In telling his story he used big graphic boards with pieces that peel off. Every now and then the sound of Velcro peeling off the board was jolting.

On Wednesday afternoon after court adjourned I spoke with Dick Robarts, who said after hearing Greenspan and Genson he felt much better.

Robarts told me he had a talk with Conrad after hearing from the defence.

"I went up to Conrad," Robarts said. "And I told him to go home and get a good night's sleep and I told him there is nothing to worry about."

Robarts smiled, shook his head and added, "There is too much doubt. He'll walk."

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