Attorneys on both sides of the Jesse James Hollywood case presented opening statements Friday, letting the jury and the public know what to expect in the weeks to come.

Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Brian Hill’s courtroom was packed, as family and the public arrived to watch the proceedings for one of the most high-profile local cases in recent history.

Hollywood, now 29, is accused of kidnapping and masterminding the murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz in August 2000. Both were residents of the San Fernando Valley, but the murder happened here at the Lizard’s Mouth trail during Fiesta. The crime inspired the 2007 film Alpha Dog.

Hollywood has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murder charges. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Four of his associates have been convicted, including Ryan Hoyt, who shot Markowitz and has been sentenced to death.

Likening Hollywood’s involvement in Markowitz’s kidnapping and murder to “an offensive coordinator at a football game,” Deputy District Attorney Joshua Lynn outlined the prosecution’s theory of how events leading to the slaying played out.

“This case is about Nicholas Markowitz and how Jesse James Hollywood, over a $1,200 debt from (Markowitz’s) stepbrother, had him executed while he ate dinner,” Lynn said.

Using poster boards, photos and a time line, the prosecution told the jury that Hollywood was guilty of two major crimes: kidnapping for the purpose of extortion, and although Hollywood wasn’t present for the act, the murder of Markowitz.

In 2000, Lynn said, Markowitz was a “conflicted 15-year-old” who looked up to his older half-brother, Ben, whom the prosecution called a “thug” and a “badass.” Ben Markowitz was an associate of Hollywood, whom the prosecution said was a big-time drug dealer in the valley. Lynn said Hollywood’s father, Jack, also was a drug dealer.

After a failed attempt to collect payment for drugs in San Diego, Ben Markowitz was saddled with a $1,200 debt he owed to Hollywood, Lynn said. He refused to pay, and the conflict escalated to the point where Ben Markowitz broke windows at Hollywood’s home.

Meanwhile, Lynn said, Nick Markowitz was struggling with a marijuana habit and a poor relationship with his parents. By chance on Aug. 6, Hollywood and his “crew” — Jesse Rugge and William Skidmore — spotted Nick Markowitz near a park in West Hills and captured the teen, roughing him up and throwing into a cargo van Hollywood had borrowed to move out of his home. The purpose, Lynn said, was to somehow use Nick to get to Ben.

“This wasn’t particularly well planned-out,” Lynn said. The group ran errands, picked up another individual and headed to Santa Barbara for Fiesta.

Once in Santa Barbara, at the house of a friend of a friend, Markowitz was taken to a back room while Hollywood and his cohorts decided what to do, Lynn said. According to the prosecution, Hollywood was said to have been “storming around.” Throughout the next day, Markowitz was handed off to Rugge, who lived half of the time in the area.

Meanwhile, according to Lynn, Hollywood returned to Los Angeles, where he consulted his attorney on the penalty for kidnapping for ransom and learned he could get life in prison if convicted.

On Aug. 8, 2000, Rugge reserved room 341 at the Lemon Tree Inn, 2819 State St., presumably to party with friends. Markowitz was along for the ride.

That same day, Hollywood — still in the Los Angeles area, according to the prosecution — showed up at the home of a friend, Casey Sheehan. Hollywood convinced Sheehan to lend him his mother’s red Honda Civic. Hollywood left for about a half-hour, Lynn said, and returned without the car. Then he, girlfriend Michelle Lesher and Sheehan went to dinner at an Outback Steakhouse for Lesher’s birthday.

The Honda, the prosecution said, was given to Hoyt, along with a TEC-9 “assault” pistol.

It was Hoyt who carried out Hollywood’s instructions, according to the prosecution, which pointed out that he wouldn’t have known to do what he did unless told by Hollywood.

Hoyt drove to the Lemon Tree Inn, recruited Graham Pressley of Santa Barbara and drove to Lizard’s Mouth, west of the top of Highway 154, where they dug a shallow grave. They went back to the hotel, picked up Markowitz and Rugge, and returned to Lizard’s Mouth, where Markowitz was beaten over the head with a shovel, shot and buried in the shallow grave. He was found about four days later by hikers.

In the next couple of weeks, it became obvious what had happened and Hollywood fled, Lynn said. He was finally captured more than four years later in Brazil.

“Hold me to my proof,” Lynn said. “It will be overwhelming.”

The defense had its own version of what happened. Defense attorney James Blatt urged the jury instead to consider the background on the situation.

For one thing, the defense said, the dispute between Ben Markowitz and Hollywood not only was about the $1,200, but also the result of a long-simmering resentment between the two. Ben Markowitz, Blatt said, was jealous of Hollywood. Far from being the volatile person the prosecution described, Hollywood was a “meticulous,” “fastidious” and “well-organized” 20-year-old who managed to make a modest living from petty drug sales.

The defense also contended that Hollywood knew nothing of the crime that he is accused of having masterminded. Hoyt, said Blatt, who characterized him as somewhat of a loose cannon and a liar, along with Rugge and Pressley made the decision to execute Nick Markowitz. Hoyt had the semi-automatic gun long before the crime, Blatt said. There was no indication that Hollywood instructed Hoyt to kill Markowitz, he said.

“You will never hear that from anyone in this case at any time,” said Blatt, who also pointed out that Hoyt had a negative relationship with Ben Markowitz.

“Hollywood was shocked” when he found out about what had been done to Markowitz the night he went to Outback, Blatt said. Hollywood began to distance himself from his associates and fled — not out of guilt, but fear. As for the kidnapping, Hollywood did it in the heat of the moment, said Blatt, adding that there is no evidence of ransom or extortion.

The defense also pointed out that the kidnapping ordeal ended shortly after Markowitz was taken to Santa Barbara.

“He had many opportunities to leave,” Blatt said of Markowitz, but he chose not to.

“You are about to take a journey on an interesting, exciting and tragic case,” Blatt told the jurors, pointing out that there was reasonable doubt that Hollywood instructed Hoyt to murder the teenager.

On Monday, the attorneys will resume their arguments with evidence and testimony from a long line of witnesses. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.

— Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.