WEST PALM BEACH (Court TV) — Wearing a baby blue blouse and a determined expression, Nathaniel Brazill's mother gingerly stepped up to the stand and testified in her son's defense just an hour before the boy's lawyers wrapped up their brief case.

Polly Powell looked directly at the jurors with intense eyes as she recounted her activities on May 26, 2000, the day her 14-year-old son returned to school with a gun after being suspended and killed one of his favorite teachers, Barry Grunow, 35, on the threshold of his classroom.

Brazill's mother described his activities before going to school in the morning and recounted how school officials had notified her of the suspension. But defense lawyer Robert Udell asked her no further questions. It was one of the many surprises during the defense's short but eventful case — one that began with a bombshell but ended with little more than a whimper.

The lawyer shocked observers by calling Nathaniel Brazill as his first witness Tuesday afternoon after insisting all along that the boy would testify last. Brazill himself compounded the surprise: though charged with first-degree murder and facing life in prison without parole for killing Grunow, he testified stoically despite obvious attempts by Udell to elicit emotional answers.

"He wasn't as emotive as we would have liked him to be but that's the way he is," a circumspect Udell said outside the courthouse after resting his case. "It's a year later. He's grown and he's cried many, many times."

The defense claims that Brazill was in love with a girl at school and distraught that he would not get the chance to say goodbye to her before parting for the summer. The boy's lawyers maintain he was trying to scare Grunow into letting him see the girl when the gun went off accidentally.

After the boy's version of the shooting was put to the test during cross-examination Wednesday morning, the defense called a series of witnesses to testify about his reputation for truthfulness and nonviolence and to confirm aspects of his story.

Former teachers, family members and community officials all took the stand and portrayed Brazill as an exemplary boy who not only caused no problems, but went out of his way to solve those of others.

"He was a peacemaker in the classroom. He was one I could rely on to help keep the tone in the classroom a moderate and caring one. He would be a mediator," said Sharon Purce, who taught Brazill in sixth grade and maintained a close relationship with him afterward.

Kevin Hinds, the school guidance counselor who caught Brazill throwing the water balloon that led to his suspension, returned to the stand after also testifying for the prosecution. He told the court that the defendant had been nominated by his teachers to be a school mediator — a distinction generally offered to mature, responsible and nonviolent students — just days before the shooting.

Both Brazill's aunt and grandmother supported the boy's claim that before returning to school alone he tried to get a family member to go with him in order to talk with school officials.

The defense also tried to get witnesses to attest to Brazill's reputation for truthfulness, perhaps trying to shore up some contradictory statements he had made on the stand.

"He was a person who's word you could rely upon?" Udell asked Carol Nicholls, Brazill's music teacher in fourth and fifth grade.

"Absolutely," she answered without hesitation.

"Any doubt about that?"

"None."

But prosecutors Shiner and Barbara Burns chipped away at those statements during cross-examination.

To every witness that testified about Brazill's honesty, they asked whether the boy's actions before the shooting — stealing a gun from a family friend, hiding it from his mother, showing it to other kids and taking it to school — seemed deceitful.

The last defense witness was pizzaman Vehti Troni, who did not answer subpoenas and had to be rushed into the courtroom by authorities at the last minute. Udell had not planned to use him as a final witness, but was forced to by the circumstances.

The Albanian man's appearance on the stand turned out to be more comical than dramatic, as, speaking loudly through an interpreter, he recounted his inability to communicate with Brazill when giving the boy a ride home after the suspension.

"He said 'pizzaman, pizzaman,' but I didn't really understand," Troni testified. "I answered him in Albanian and I said in Albanian 'yeah, I'm going that way.'"

Although confirming Brazill's testimony that the boy had hitched a ride with him, Troni didn't seem to be able to provide any strong testimony regarding Brazill's demeanor that day. Although he said Brazill appeared normal, he also noted that he hadn't paid much attention to him during the short ride.

The lawyer's haggard face showing signs of a hectic few days, Udell said after court that the defense was hampered by circumstances beyond his control.

"A lot of witnesses backed out on us. A lot of people were Nathaniel's friends a year ago. And as the case came to trial, nobody was Nathaniel's friend. Quite honestly, I find it disgusting," the lawyer stated.

Udell also said that he thought there were grounds for appeal if the jury's verdict is unfavorable to his client. Specifically, the lawyer mentioned Circuit Court Judge Richard Wennet's refusal to acquit Brazill of felony murder — a charge for killings that occur during the commission of other felonies — as an appellate issue.

Udell had argued unsuccessfully Tuesday that Brazill could not be found to have killed Grunow while burgling the school because he was not charged with burglary.

Wennet will meet with attorneys from both sides tomorrow to discuss jury instructions and whether the panel should be able to consider lesser charges than first-degree murder. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.

The trial is being aired live on Court TV.