Closing arguments wrap for Los Gatos mom accused of teen parties; jury now deliberating
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Closing arguments in Shannon O'Connor's trial are now complete after the defense had their chance to speak to the jury Monday morning.
After a 16-week trial, jurors must now must decide whether Shannon O'Connor is guilty of 63 counts of furnishing alcohol to children, child endangerment and other crimes.
They are crimes a long-time family friend of O'Connor's told me off camera at the courthouse Monday do not fit the woman she knew.
She says her friend is not the woman prosecutors portrayed during this trial or their two-day-long closing argument.
"She's become infamous across this country as the Los Gatos Party mom," Legal Analyst Steven Clark said. "So, she has a built-in bias against her and it's important for the defense to humanize her."
RELATED: Victims say Los Gatos mom accused in drunken teen sex party scandal is a 'dangerous predator'
That's exactly what O'Connor's attorney Stephen Prekoski attempted to do during his closing arguments.
Prosecutors say she is charged with crimes back in 2021, but the teens testified their involvement with O'Connor dated back to 2019 - when some of them were as young as 11 years old.
During this time, the prosecution argued O'Connor's actions and inactions were a gross departure from the way an ordinary careful person would act.
Parties were held at her home, local parks and even hotels.
Videos shown in court showed the teens drunk beyond comprehension, alcohol stocked in the fridge and O'Connor there present for it all.
VIDEO: 'Pure con artist': South Bay mom accused in teen sex parties extradited from Idaho
Prekoski chose to defend only against counts involving non-consensual sexual acts among the teens, annoying and molesting a child charges, dissuading a witness and child endangerment.
Prekoski said he was not there to suggest his client was innocent of all crimes.
But he challenged the jury to find the evidence to suggest O'Connor ever coerced the teens to ignore consent, put them in situations of great bodily harm, or experienced sexual arousal from teens' actions - as the prosecution claimed.
The big question for this jury is really going to be how do they react to these sex offenses?" Clark said. "Are they going to say that she aided and abetted their commission or was this something that took place when she did not approve of that or condone it in any way?"
O'Connor faces decades in prison.
MORE: SJ assistant principal arrested for communicating with boy for sex, part of child exploitation sting
The teens allege she hosted parties, at which she offered alcohol and encouraged them to perform sexual acts with each other.
O'Connor has not spoken in court, opting not to testify publicly, rather than making her comments through the media before her attorney's final comments in front of the jury.
"If the defense can convince this jury that she's only guilty of these misdemeanors, she is going to receive credit for time served and will get out of jail very quickly. But if she's convicted of the felony counts in total, she's going to be spending additional time in state prison and have to register as a sex offender."
There has been nothing about this case that has been speedy and Clark says there's no reason to think deliberation or a verdict will be either.
But now after four months of trial and five years in court, we wait for the jury's decision.
If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
