Musk's defamation trial may head to the jury

Elon Musk's defamation trial could be in the hands of the jury by the end of Thursday, after the billionaire and the diver (who is suing him), sparred over the meaning and impact of a "pedo guy" tweet.

British cave explorer Vernon Unsworth testified on Wednesday. He felt "branded a pedophile", despite Musk's assertion that his "pedo guy" tweet was not meant to be taken literally.

Unsworth's appearance in a packed federal courtroom in Los Angeles came hours after Musk, the Chief Executive of electric carmaker Tesla Inc. and founder of rocket company SpaceX, concluded two days of testimony seeking to cut down his tweets as offhand comments.

But Unsworth, his voice cracking with emotion, said Musk's remarks about him on Twitter left him feeling "humiliated, ashamed, dirtied."

"Effectively, from day one, I was given a life sentence without parole. It hurts to talk about it," said Unsworth, who is seeking unspecified damages in his lawsuit against Musk.

Neither Unsworth or Musk are expected to testify on Thursday. However, the trial is expected to wrap up on Thursday with video testimony from Unsworth's wife, with whom he has separated, and an Internet expert for the impact of Musk's tweets.

The spat began after Unsworth helped coordinate last year's rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand. Later, in a CNN interview, Unsworth mocked Musk's offer of a mini-submersible as a "P.R. stunt" and said Musk could "stick his submarine where it hurts."

Musk, 48, who had travelled to the rescue site to deliver the mini-sub that was never used, took to Twitter to lash out at Unsworth after the interview.

Musk said that the term "pedo guy" was a common epithet in South Africa, where he grew up, and insisted in court that he did not believe Unsworth was a pedophile.

Musk capped his two-day appearance by acknowledging that his net worth- mostly from stock holdings in SpaceX and Tesla, was about $20 billion.

"People think I have a lot of cash. I actually don’t," he said.

To win his lawsuit, Unsworth is required to prove that Musk was negligent in publishing a false tweet that clearly identified him and caused him harm.

Although the case does not involve Tesla, Musk's Twitter habits have long been under close scrutiny, with the company's investors and regulators expressing concerns about his tweets.

With 29.9 million followers, Musk's social media account is a major source of publicity for the Palo Alto, California-based Tesla, which itself does not advertise.