Court TV Host: As the jury begins deliberating, discuss the trial of Rachelle Waterman, an Alaska teenager accused of conspiring with two ex-boyfriends to have her mother killed. Watch the trial on Court TV Extra, get the latest updates and full coverage on Courttv.com and chat with Courttv.com's Harriet Ryan and Harry Swartz-Turfle, live from Juneau, Alaska, where they are covering the trial.

Court TV Host: Courttv.com's Harriet Ryan is here with us now.

Court TV Host: Welcome, Harriet.

Harriet Ryan: Hello!

Court TV Host: What's the latest?

Harriet Ryan: The jurors are supposed to start deliberations in about 40 minutes. Summations were done yesterday about 1 pm, and the jurors could have started right then and done about 4 hours of deliberations, but they decided they'd rather go home, sleep on what they'd heard and start fresh this morning. I think that means at least a couple jurors think this is going to be a process that takes more than a day.

Court TV Host: By the way, folks, if you want to look at Harriet's most recent story or Harry and Harriet's blog, you can go to http://www.courttv.com/trials/waterman/020606_ctv.html  or http://www.courttv.com/trials/waterman/trialblog.html

Question from JD: Was there any correspondence or communication between the teen and the former boyfriends following the murder?

Harriet Ryan: I don't know of any correspondence between the two exes charged in this case, but she has been writing to other old flames from jail. Kelly Carlson, who was her boyfriend freshman year of high school, testified that he got a letter from her about a week before the trial. He didn't say what was in the letter, but it was somewhat curious as she'd been in jail since November 04 and never reached out to him.

Question from Tia: What is the demeanor of Waterman in the courtroom?

Harry Swartz-Turfle: She's cried several times, and run out of the courtroom heaving. She frequently takes notes, and shares them with her lawyer. She's flushed red at certain embarrassing testimony. Also, those watching on Extra will know this -- she's very aware of the camera, and frequently looks over at it. In short, she's a teenage defendant.

Question from Victoria: Is it true that the girls father is standing by her side? Does he believe she had nothing to do with the killing?

Harry Swartz-Turfle: 'Doc' Waterman has said in the past that he thinks his daughter's involvement is much less than alleged by prosecutors. He sits behind her in court every day, and seems to be supporting her.

Harriet Ryan: He is always cordial to the police and prosecutor -- it's a small community after all -- but during the playing of the police interview tapes, he was shaking his head in disgust and laughing ruefully at the techniques they used on his daughter.

Question from Tia: Was Jason aware that hid "friend" and cohort has had a sexual relationship with Rachelle?

Harriet Ryan: No. Well, not until after the police told him following the murder. Radel said that he had Rachelle didn't go out as boyfriend-girlfriend so much as hook up a few times and that when it didn't work out, he shunted her off in the direction of his "blood brother" and encouraged them both to date.

Harry Swartz-Turfle: Interestingly, he said they stopped their relationship when he opened his computer shop. There's a story there we don't know!

Question from Tia: what is the breakdown of the jury?

Harriet Ryan: Seven women and five men. I'll be blogging more about the individual jurors in a bit, but a good number of jurors have had experience with crime -- either as jurors in previous cases or as victim or as relatives of criminals or defendants.

Harry Swartz-Turfle: There's been a lot of debate whether female jurors will be more or less sympathetic. We'll see.

Question from Tia: If you take one look at the "boyfriend" and you read the blogs you can see how she convinced them to kill.

Question from Tia: she seems so conniving in the letters.

Harriet Ryan: An interesting take. If you read the letter she wrote to Arrant that we have posted, you'll see that she talks about dreaming about marrying him and bearing his children and their white picket-fenced house in the suburbs. I'm not a dream expert, but I do sleep and I highly doubt that she had such a linear and sensical dream. So then why would she put that stuff in an email to a loserly guy who is obsessed with her? Is it because she really liked him or because she wanted to string him along?

Harry Swartz-Turfle: The defense would say that she's a typical dreamy teenager who wanted to be taken away from tiny Craig, Alaska. The prosecution would say she was manipulating Arrant by mirroring *his* dreams.

Question from chrisdebag: Did the jurors show any emotion when Arrant was giving evidence -- I found him really creepy.

Harriet Ryan: When he kept insisting that he didn't kill anyone -- that he just assisted and stood buy as the guy he recruited tortured someone to death -- a few jurors looked disgusted. I think Radel at least initially freaked them out more. He's so ginormous.

Question from LawW: Ginormouslet me help. Definition: bigger than enormous, more massive than gigantic.

Question from JD: Regarding her previous ex-boyfriends, were they asked how they feel now about the Waterman teen today?

Harry Swartz-Turfle: No, they weren't. The only reflective moment on the stand came when defense attorney Wells asked what Brian Radel thinks of his blood brother Jason Arrant. (it wasn't good)

Question from Tia: What are the views of the local community there?

Question from chrisdebag: Is the public mood in Alaska against Rachelle or is there sympathy for her, and have there been many murder cases in the state recently?

Harriet Ryan: As you know, the case was moved from the small island of Prince of Wales to Juneau, the capital. I think on POW there are very strong feelings against Rachelle. In Juneau, the case is more of a curiosity.

Court TV Host: Here's a comment also from someone from Prince of Wales Island...

Question from palakika: I'm from Prince of Wales Island and have seen the Waterman family around they seemed like a very normal family with sincere feelings for their daughter, the question everyone on the Island is asking is what went so horribly wrong for her to want her mother dead?

Harry Swartz-Turfle: In his closing yesterday, the defense attorney used that question. The point being, is it easier to believe she would want her Mom dead because of typical mother-daughter tension, or is it easier to believe this "predator" flew off the handle at the prospect of losing his love? I certainly don't have any insight into that private question.

Court TV Host: And some other opinions...

Question from mgough: I am also from POW, it seems to me that most people from here are against her. There seems to be a fear of her getting off.

Question from JD: I believe she manipulated the circumstances and stood by and allowed it to happen.

Question from Tia: It also seemed obvious that she avoided him as much as possible -- which only made him obsess more.

Question from palakika: I think she was using both of them and I hope the jury sees that.

Question from Tia: It seemed Rachelle knew who to prey on.

Harry Swartz-Turfle: What's interesting is that everyone on POW agreed the trial should be moved, because it was impossible for her to get a fair trial there. Now that it's in Juneau, the focus is on the evidence. And the sentiment here seems to be much more ambivalent about the legal question of her guilt.

Question from JD: Has the Defense established any evidence that the alleged rape ever occurred when she was 13?

Harry Swartz-Turfle: No. No assault was never reported at the time. And although Rachelle says she told her Mom at the time, she also said her Mom didn't believe her. Rachelle didn't tell 'Doc' (or anyone else for that matter) at the time, so it's been a fact in contention.

Question from chrisdebag: It seems to be who do you believe-- Arrant or Waterman. There doesn't seem much evidence against her.

Harry Swartz-Turfle: The most damning piece of evidence against her is the videotape of the third interrogation. She admits to knowing about the plot before she left town, she admits to telling arrant her mom would be alone, and she admits to not calling it off.

Harriet Ryan: In his closing, Wells made it seem like in order to acquit Waterman all you have to find it that Arrant is unbelievable. But that's not really 100 percent right, the jury also has to find that the statement on the tape was coerced or browbeat out of her.

Harriet Ryan: Last question, as we have to get to court:

Question from ak: Well, lets start with Rachelle providing a false alibi for Jason after she found out about her mothers murder

Harriet Ryan: Yes, that's a good point. The defense claims that she was in shock and denial and feeling what he called "human guilt" as opposed to legal guilt because she knew that she had been a catalyst for her mother's death if not a conspirator. He compared it to a pregnant teen who simply denies she is pregnant despite her growing belly. He said it was the way teenagers handled stress: Deny, deny, deny.

Harry Swartz-Turfle: As one person pointed out, it may have been a bad metaphor -- a pregnant teenager has actually had sex, and is responsible for the baby. We'll see if jurors hold Rachelle responsible for this.

Question from palakika: Everyone I've talked to thinks she is guilty, her mother and father are very well liked in the community and why else would the killers want her mother dead? Let's say they never met Rachelleher mother would be alive today -- or not -- she might have gotten two other losers to do the job.

Question from Tia: Surely she will not be set free.

Court TV Host: Thanks, Harry and Harriet for being our guests today. I know you've got to get back into the courtroom.

Harry Swartz-Turfle: Thanks, everyone!