Guilty or not guilty? That's the question jurors must answer in the trial of East Cleveland's mayor, Brandon King, and former councilman Ernest Smith.
The defense rested its case on Tuesday. Watch what attorneys had to say below:
RELATED: Defense rests in trial of East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King
After four days of testimony, deliberations began Wednesday afternoon, but not before all sides pleaded their case one last time to the jury.
The mayor is accused of authorizing more than $76,000 in city contracts and payments to businesses owned by King or his family. The mayor is also accused of improperly providing a city car and a fuel card to Smith.
"Instead of serving the public, they end up serving themselves," Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Rogalski said about the defendants.
King's attorney, Charles Tyler, disputed the facts presented in the case.
"My client—Mayor King—is a true leader who cared more about the people of the City of East Cleveland than he cared about his personal decisions," Tyler said.
During closing arguements, Tyler insisted there was no evidence King was involved in the purchase of supplies from a family-owned business and said that tens of thousands of dollars in rent payments from the city's domestic violence program to another another family business weren't from a city department but instead from an independent agency that didn't get a dime of city money.
"There is no public contract that we're dealing with. We're dealing with political theater that starts over in East Cleveland and ends up in the courtroom.
Smith's attorney, Michael Lisk, denied that the former councilman had misused a city car and gas card, which investigators claim Smith used for personal purposes. However, his attorney stated that there is no evidence to support this.
"He got a fleet card at some point. He uses it for city business. How is that illegal?" Lisk said.
Prosecutors argue that the case boils down to a disregard for and disdain of the law, contending that public servants can't make their own rules.
"You, as jurors can say, 'Mr. Smith, Mr. King, you are not above the law," Rogalski said.
King, who is suspended from office pending the outcome of the case, faces 12 counts, including felony theft in office and having an unlawful interest in a public contract. Smith faces five counts, including felony theft and theft in office.
