DENVER -- Jurors in the Ward Churchill trial heard differing views Wednesday of how thousands of Plains Indians died from small pox in the 1800's.

Churchill wrote a controversial paper that concluded they were intentionally infected.

The virus decimated many tribes because they had no natural immunities to small pox.

It's widely agreed that Native Americans were exposed to the virus by Europeans as they moved west.

Most history books conclude that the exposure was accidental, but there is a strong "oral tradition" among many Indians that the deaths were the result of genocide.

The investigative panel determined that Churchill twisted facts and evidence to support his conclusions.

Churchill supporters believe that traditional history ignores the viewpoints of non-Europeans.

Churchill was fired two years ago on allegations of plagiarism and other misconduct after his essay comparing some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi caused a furor.

Churchill was a tenured professor of ethnic studies at CU. Attorney David Lane said in the trial's opening statements that Churchill was the target of a "howling mob" that had the school searching for a pretext to fire him.