WAUKESHA, Wis. — The gloves came off. During a day of heated closing arguments in the Mark Chmura sexual assault trial, both the district attorney and the defense lawyer came out swinging, denouncing each other to the jury and lofting personal accusations at one another in the middle of the Waukesha County Courthouse.

District Attorney Paul Bucher landed the first punch by urging the jury not to be swayed by the hype surrounding this high-profile case. He was slow coming into the ring, taking a half hour to thank the jury for their time and patience, for putting their lives on hold and trekking an hour and a half from neighboring Rock County to listen and scrutinize over 12 days of testimony. Then he supplied a Power Point presentation, outlining the central themes and issues surrounding the case.

"I'm going to be brief," Bucher told the jurors, who were sitting ramrod straight and blankfaced. "I'm not going to insult you by going over all the evidence. There's only one person responsible for us being here today, and that's Mark Chmura."

Chmura is charged with third-degree sexual assault and enticement of a minor for the events that allegedly occurred at an after-prom party April 9, 2000. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. His case seemed to strengthen significantly over the past few days since the defense began its presentation on Wednesday. But on Saturday, as the jury was poised to begin deliberating, he listened to Bucher tell a packed house that Chmura is a sex offender who preys on young girls.

"They [Chmura and the alleged victim, 18-year-old Allison] weren't collecting prayer cards in that bathroom," Bucher screeched, raising the tenor of his voice and making wild facial expressions. "The witnesses' statements were all consistent on one thing: there is an out-of-control teenage drinking party that the defendant and his cohort Mr. [Robert] Gessert allowed to occur and contributed to it. The evidence in this case is here for you to consider."

As Bucher sat down, defense lawyer Gerald Boyle approached the lectern in front of the jury and launched into a decidedly different closing argument. He didn't thank the jurors for their time, nor did he present them a set of instructions on how they are to decide the case, as Bucher had. He tossed allegations and personal attacks at Bucher. And he did one thing he had been reluctant to do since the beginning of the trial: he called Allison a liar.

Regarding Bucher and this case, he said: "What kind of baloney was this? And I'm going to go on the attack. I think [Bucher's] conduct with Michael Kleber was absolutely reprehensible."

It didn't stop there. Boyle worked himself into a frenzy with a stern lecture to the jury on the facts of the case. Boyle presented three posterboard displays explaining why the ex-Green Bay Packer should be acquitted on both charges. He first presented a timeline of events, showing inconsistencies regarding the timing of Allison's account.

Next came an explanation of his cross-examination of Allison. When questioned by Bucher, Allison broke into tears, recounting the alleged events in the bathroom that night.

"She was faking those tears," Boyle said. "She never cried when I asked her those tough questions. She got mad at me."

"It is my belief," Boyle told the jury, "that she didn't hate him at all. It is my belief that she was a lot like Michael Kleber, that she wanted to hang with Mark Chmura." Kleber, the defense's star witness, had been teased by his friends for idolizing Chmura and shadowing the football player during the party.

"She's a fraud," Boyle said matter-of-factly. "And I hate to have to say that."

Boyle's final presentation was a laundry list of inconsistencies he had found in Allison's testimony. His parting words to the jurors were, "I hope none of you are mad at me."

Earlier in the day, before the closings began, Assistant District Attorney Dennis Krueger was rigorously cross-examined by Boyle about violating a court order instructing him not to watch trial coverage or talk to witnesses because he was listed as a witness himself by both the state and the defense. He was reported to have been hanging around in the courthouse media room, watching live Court TV coverage on the monitor there. He admitted to doing so. And when his testimony was over, he was back in the media room watching testimony for the remainder of the afternoon.

Finally, at about 7 p.m. Saturday, Judge Mark Gempeler read the jury a long list of instructions, selected two alternates, and then sent the remaining 12 to the jury room to begin deliberations.