The fate of media baron Conrad Black and three other men now lies in the hands of jurors as deliberations began Wednesday in his 15-week fraud trial.

Exiting the courthouse in Chicago, Black spoke French in dismissing the prosecution's portrayal of him as a scheming liar, calling the accusation "pure fiction."

Black's Canadian defence lawyer Edward Greenspan pronounced himself unimpressed by reports that the federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's office has a "win" rate of 96 per cent.

"I'm sure they have a win rate, but even Roger Clemens loses the odd baseball game," he said. "I'm not impressed by whatever 'win rate' they have. This is a separate trial, a unique trial. It turns on its own set of facts and relies on its own witnesses. So I'm hoping that their win rate goes down a bit."

His client faces a total of 13 charges, including fraud, obstruction of justice and racketeering stemming from the alleged skimming of US$60 million from the shareholders of Hollinger International. Some of the charges also involve fraudulent misuse of company funds on perks like trips, apartments and swank parties.

In comparison to other high-profile white-collar crime trials, "none of those cases had David Radler. This case did," Greenspan said.

Radler, a long-time business partner of Black, was a key prosecution witness whom Greenspan pummelled during cross-examination.

CTV legal analyst Steven Skurka told The Canadian Press he thought the government made a major mistake Tuesday in trying to downplay Radler's importance.

"He's the only one who connected the dots to Conrad Black being directly implicated in the scheme, so to say that the one person who can directly implicate the principal defendant in a fraud case is irrelevant is astounding."

Greenspan said he wouldn't comment on any evidentiary issues until after the jury delivers its verdict.

Over the nearly-15-week trial, the jury heard from about 50 witnesses -- although Black and the other defendants decline to testify. The jury had to sit through some dry, technical testimony about complex corporate and tax law issues.

Greenspan did say he thought the jury paid attention. "I was amazed how interested the jurors were, how they took notes and how I believe they understand it," he said.

No one from the prosecutor's office spoke to the media. Their policy is to not speak until the verdict is delivered.

How it works

The jury will meet in a large room near the courtroom and will have access to documents entered as evidence at the trial and to all witness testimony.

According to U.S. law, jurors must reach a unanimous vote for either a guilty verdict or an acquittal on each count filed against each defendant.

Judge Amy St. Eve wrapped up the courtroom portion of the trial by relaying 77 pages of instructions to jurors.

The instructions outlined the laws that apply to the case and will provide guidance about how to approach certain witnesses and evidence.

• Read the instructions to jury (PDF file)

Besides the 13 charges against Black, there are 11 against former Hollinger International executive Jack Boultbee, 10 against Peter Atkinson and eight against former company lawyer Mark Kipnis. The prosecutors dropped one tax evasion charge against Kipnis just before St. Eve began her instructions.

When a verdict might be expected is an open question.

CTV's David Akin told Newsnet from Chicago that one rule of thumb is one day of deliberations for every week of testimony.

"That said, a lot of the legal analysts watching this trial say because the jury is ready to go, because they've been taking notes, it may not be that long."

Greenspan suggested that the jury would probably like to be done before the July 4 holiday, which occurs next Wednesday.

The jury will sit Monday through Thursday until a verdict is delivered, although they will sit this Friday. Black and the others have been instructed to not stray more than 15 minutes from the courthouse until that happens.

With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme and files from The Canadian Press