JUDGE GIVES COSBY TRIAL OVER TO JURY; COMEDIAN-FATHER ATTENDS FINAL DAY OF CASE ARGUMENTS.

Byline: Linda Deutsch Associated Press 

The murder case against Mikail Markhasev went to the jury Monday after Bill Cosby listened to a prosecutor describe the defendant as the killer of Cosby's son, Ennis, and the defense said police got the wrong man.

Deputy District Attorney Anne Ingalls alluded in her closing argument to the presence of Cosby in the front row of the courtroom for the first time since the trial began.

``When this all happened we were shocked about who was killed,'' said Ingalls, ``the son of Mr. and Mrs. Cosby, someone we all grew up with.''

Also shocking, she said, was the randomness of the crime.

``If we were to pull over with a flat tire, do we have a bull's-eye on our back for a predator?'' she asked.

The case was submitted to jurors late in the day after the prosecutor presented a rebuttal dismissing the defense closing arguments.

``For all the items they brought up, you should say, So what?'' Ingalls said.

In order to accept the defense position, jurors would have to conclude that every person testifying in the prosecution case was lying, she said.

``That in itself is incredible, unbelievable,'' Ingalls said.

Before she sat down, Ingalls again played an obscenity-laced recording of a call in which Markhasev expressed anxiety to a friend about talking by phone and adamantly denied any knowledge of the Cosby case.

The jury met for 45 minutes before retiring. Deliberations were to resume today.

Judge David Perez spent nearly an hour reading complex instructions to the jury. Having already ruled out a defense bid to give jurors an option of second-degree murder, the judge instructed them on the charge of first-degree murder in the commission of an attempted robbery.

The crime carries a mandatory punishment of life in prison without possibility of parole.

In the defense's closing argument, attorney Harriet Hawkins urged jurors ``not to consider the media coverage and the celebrity of Ennis Cosby's family. . . . It's not just your gut reaction. You have to look at the evidence and questions raised by the evidence.''

Bill Cosby sat with his arm around his wife, Camille. They were flanked by daughters Erika and Erinn, who sat next to Markhasev's mother, grandmother and cousin.

Two more rows were filled with Cosby family and friends who attended the trial daily. Bill Cosby stayed away until Monday, saying he wished for jurisprudence to take its course and that the family wanted the proceeding to remain dignified.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Mikail Markhasev, the suspect in Ennis Cosby's slaying, arrives at the courthouse Monday.

Fred Prouser/Associated Press