HARRISBURG — The public corruption trial of a former Pennsylvania lawmaker and three of his former aides wrapped up its first week Friday with the first witness for the prosecution still being cross-examined by defense attorneys.

The length of former House Democratic aide Mike Manzo's testimony makes it likely the case will take longer than the month originally estimated.

He is the first of 20 to 30 witnesses that prosecutors expect to call. And all four defendants — former House Demo-cratic whip Mike Veon and three of his one-time aides — have the right to put on their own case.

The first week of trial has featured a few dramatic moments — at one point, a defense attorney suggested a mistrial might be appropriate. There also were low points — long stretches in which e-mail and other evidence was examined in detail, for example.

"I don't think we anticipated some of the length of questioning, some of the length of objections, the procedures in the courtroom that basically are taking hours and hours of time," said Senior Deputy Attorney General E. Marc Costanzo.

On Friday, Manzo provided new details about the panicked response within the House Democratic caucus after news surfaced in 2007 that millions of dollars in bonuses had been quietly handed out to legislative staffers.

Manzo said he participated in a meeting with caucus lawyers about destroying evidence and that he erased information on his own work computer.

"I deleted a lot of things, yeah," he said.

Manzo described how House Democrats marshaled volunteers, computer equipment, blast e-mails and other resources in their ultimately successful drive to regain majority status in the General Assembly.

"I knew what we were doing was wrong," he told the jury.

Veon and his former aides are on trial for theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest.

They were arrested in 2008 as part of the attorney general's office's wide-ranging investigation into how the Legislature's personnel and public resources were used to wage political campaigns and other purposes.

Veon's defense attorney Dan Raynak said afterward that other witnesses will "echo the theme and the sentiments of Mr. Manzo" on the issue of destruction of evidence.

Manzo, who pleaded guilty to related charges last month as part of a deal to cooperate with the prosecution, at times appeared confused.