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Kevin Brown verdict may be next week

Jurors deliberating sex allegations against Ewart Brown’s doctor son may not deliver verdicts until next week, it emerged this afternoon.Kevin Brown, a 40-year-old physician, is accused of sexually abusing 11 female patients when he gave them inappropriate breast or pelvic examinations at his South Los Angeles practice.His alleged victims a 15-year-old girl and an undercover cop who participated in a police sting in 2008 that led to his arrest. He denies 30 felony counts, ranging from sexual exploitation to forcible rape. He could face life in prison if convicted.The jury in the case was sent out to consider verdicts yesterday afternoon, following a trial lasting almost three weeks. According to Los Angeles Superior Court spokeswoman Patricia Kelly, a verdict is unlikely to come until next week.Ms Kelly explained the “sheer volume” of charges being considered means a verdict may take some time as each count needs to be considered individually.She explained that in Los Angeles, jurors are generally allowed to go home at the end of each court day and over the weekends.That differs from Bermuda where jurors are usually kept in the jury room until they reach a verdict. Only in rare cases are they allowed to leave the court precincts, and then they are sequestered overnight in a hotel.According to the Los Angeles Times, prosecutor Ann Marie Wise told the jury during her closing speech that Kevin Brown used his practice as "his personal playground," where anyone who came in "was his prey”.However, the paper reported, defence attorney Edi Faal called the accusations outright lies. Mr Faal said the authorities had a vendetta against Kevin Brown because he had previously been acquitted in two other sexual assault cases.He also alleged bias because one of the alleged victims was the niece of an Los Angeles Police Department officer.Kevin Brown has been supported by his father, Bermuda’s former Premier, who has been present in court during the trial.