Richard Monroe Jr. claims the rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, hit him with a brass-knuckle microphone after he jumped onstage and put his hand on the performer's shoulder.

Broadus sat a few feet away as Monroe described waking up naked, robbed, and in a pool of blood after the beatdown by other performers and the rapper's security detail. A videotape of the incident that occurred at the White River Amphitheater near Seattle was also shown to jurors Friday.

Broadus' attorneys said the video doesn't show the blow to the back of the head that Monroe claims the rapper delivered, nor evidence that the rapper should be forced to pay any damages.

They told jurors during the trial's opening moments Friday that Broadus' security guards had mere seconds to react when Monroe — who stands 6-feet-3 inches tall and weighs nearly 300 pounds — came on stage unexpectedly.

Three years ago, Smith was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for raping a Filipino woman after a night of drinking.

The emotional case soon turned into a political tug-of-war between the government — keen on maintaining smooth relations with its key ally — and nationalist, left-wing and women's rights activists eager to showcase that the Philippines can do without U.S. protection.

Smith spent only about three weeks in a Philippine jail before U.S. officials obtained custody, arguing that the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two countries allowed them to hold the Marine until his legal appeal was resolved.

The U.S. Embassy statement did not say when Smith left the country or where he was headed and the embassy spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for details.

"This has been a difficult and emotional case for all involved, especially their families and loved ones. We hope that the parties can now move on with their lives," the statement said.

The court on Monday said it will leave in place a ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that the law was unconstitutional because it prohibited political, religious and other messages in addition to commercial solicitations.

Virginia was the only state to ban noncommerical spam e-mail.

The decision also cements the reversal of the conviction of Jeremy Jaynes, who once was considered one of the world's most prolific spammers. Jaynes bombarded Internet users with millions of pieces of spam, all of it commercial.

In 2004, Jaynes became the first person in the U.S. to be convicted of a felony for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail. He was sentenced to nine years but is currently serving time in federal prison on an unrelated conviction for securities fraud.

The case is Virginia v. Jaynes, 08-765.

In January, a smaller three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that said the Interior Department could not collect royalties from eight deepwater leases held by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in the Gulf of Mexico. The leases were obtained between 1996 and 2000 by Kerr-McGee Corp., which Anadarko later acquired.

Government lawyers are now asking for an "en banc" review of the case, bringing it before the entire New Orleans-based 5th Circuit. A court spokesman said the circuit has 17 active judges.

At issue is interpretation of a 1995 federal law designed to provide a break from royalties at a time when oil and natural gas prices were extremely low. The law waived all royalty payments until a specific amount of oil and gas was produced.

The Interior Department has contended it had the authority to lift the royalty relief once prices reached a certain level. The law became particularly prickly as oil prices rose and oil companies began posting huge profits.