KEY DEVELOPMENTS: In closing arguments Thursday, Senior Deputy Attorney General Joe McGettigan told jurors that the ex-Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is a "predatory pedophile" and his accusers deserve justice that would come with a guilty verdict. Defense attorney Joseph Amendola said the case is a result of overzealous investigators coaching witnesses and accusers seeking big payouts from potential civil lawsuits.

The jury later deliberated for more than eight hours before stopping at about 9:30 p.m. Earlier, the jurors asked the judge if they could rehear testimony from two witnesses: Mike McQueary, a onetime graduate assistant who reported seeing Sandusky assault a boy in a campus shower, and Dr. Jonathan Dranov, who testified that McQueary gave him a different account of what he saw. They'll have a chance to listen again to that testimony, and restart deliberations, Friday.

ODDS AND ENDS: The number of charges against Sandusky was reduced from 51 to 48. Judge John Cleland found one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and one count of aggravated indecent assault weren't supported by the evidence. Another charge of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse involving another boy was dismissed because Cleland said it duplicated another count.

WHAT'S NEXT: Jurors will resume their deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday. They will be sequestered until they can reach a decision. Courthouse workers have been put on notice to prepare for working this weekend, if need be. The jury includes nine people with ties to Penn State University.