KEY DEVELOPMENTS: Jerry Sandusky's defense team rested when many trial observers thought the ex-Penn State assistant football coach was going to testify. It was a sudden end to seven days of testimony that saw prosecutors bring all eight known accusers to the witness stand. The defense relied on a steady stream of its own witnesses, including former Penn State coaching colleagues and young men who said Sandusky improved their lives through his charity, to blunt the graphic testimony.

ODDS AND ENDS: Defense lawyer Joe Amendola has never been shy when it comes to talking about the Sandusky case, speaking for nearly three hours in the frigid cold last December to a throng of reporters bearing notepads, audio recorders and video cameras. But since Judge John Cleland issued a gag order in the case earlier this year, he's been more reticent. Asked repeatedly on Wednesday if his client would testify, he demurred: "I can't talk about the case. The judge would throw me in the clink."

WHAT'S NEXT: Closing arguments will begin Thursday morning, and it's likely the jury will begin deliberating later in the day. The judge, who has kept the trial moving at a rapid clip, will read instructions to the jurors and then sequester them until they can reach a decision. Courthouse workers have been put on notice to prepare for working this weekend, if need be.