The jury resumed deliberations today in the child molestation case against pop star Michael Jackson.
Sheriff's vans brought the eight women and four men of the jury to the courthouse in Santa Maria, California, where Jackson fans and members of the news media waited in anticipation of a verdict.
The jury, which put in about two hours after getting the case on Friday afternoon, completed its first full day of deliberations yesterday.
The jury has followed the trial schedule of a six-hour day including three 10-minute breaks but no lunch break.
Jackson supporters yesterday held signs declaring "Only love. No crime. He's innocent. Leave him alone," "We shall overcome" and "Peter Pan rules." One woman was spotted with a sign showing Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackson.
Little more than an hour into yesterday's session, jurors told the judge they had a question. The query and its resolution were not publicly disclosed, drawing a protest from news organisations.
Media pool co-ordinator Peter Shaplen said Judge Rodney Melville met with lawyers in his chambers to discuss the question and how it would be answered, but Melville did not plan to reveal any details to the public.
The procedure was considered unusual. Normally, questions from the jury are a public record since they are submitted in writing by the jury foreperson.
A lawyer for news organisations filed motions seeking a transcript of yesterday's closed proceedings, immediate access to any questions from the jury, and to any proceedings concerning those questions.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting then 13-year-old cancer survivor Gavin Arvizo in 2003, plying him with wine and conspiring to hold his family captive to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary about the entertainer. If convicted on the molestation counts, Jackson could get several years in prison.
The singer's fans were outnumbered yesterday by an international throng of reporters, photographers and TV crews anticipating any hint of a development.
At one point, Joe Jackson was mobbed by cameras as he arrived at the courthouse, but his son was not present.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, no relation, showed up at the Santa Maria courthouse, and said Michael Jackson was emotionally strong, despite a recurring back problem that sent him to hospital over the weekend.
Jackson expects to be acquitted "if the jury uses reasonable doubt," the reverend said