The defense team for gambling developer Milton McGregor reviewed the prosecution’s case against them until six Friday morning before deciding to rest their case, said McGregor attorney Joe Espy on Friday.

“We met with the family, we met with Mr. McGregor,” Espy said. “It was the unanimous decision of the defense team that we believe we need to stop. That is our opinion. We are confident in our opinion.”

Victoryland owner Milton McGregor rested his case today.

McGregor and his eight co-defendants in Alabama’s bingo corruption case all rested their cases this morning. The defense team for lobbyist Tom Coker called one witness yesterday, but that was to be the defense’s only witness. The prosecution called 17 witnesses in the 31 days it took them to lay out their case.

“We believe the government failed in its proof, and so we stopped,” Espy said.

Espy said the tapes — that is, recordings of wiretapped phone calls — and the government’s witnesses failed to prove the government’s case. The prosecution in the case used about 30 fewer taped wiretapped phone calls than McGregor’s team anticipated, and many tapes were not played in full.

“We felt the jury was ready,” Espy said. “We feel we’ve got a fair and impartial–a jury that’s paid attention to the evidence, so we feel confident.”

Joe Espy, an attorney for Victoryland owner Milton McGregor.

Espy said he most likely will present the closing argument on behalf of his client.

According to Susan James, an attorney for Jay Walker, prosecutors are asking for six hours to make their argument, and each of the nine defendants has requested about an hour. The closing arguments are expected to begin on Wednesday.