DENVER -- A jury of eight women and four men finished its first day of deliberations Wednesday without deciding the fate of Willie D. Clark in the killing of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams early New Year’s Day 2007.

Jurors got the case at 8:30 a.m. and left for the day at 4:50 p.m. They will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The panel is mulling 35 pages of jury instructions and 11 days of complex and, at times, contradictory evidence.

A key instruction from the judge: to find Clark guilty of murder, jurors don’t have to decide that he actually pulled the trigger. However, three witnesses said the gang member confessed to them and a fourth witness said he saw Clark firing a gun at Williams’ limousine.

Yet, jurors can find Clark guilty of the murder as a “complicitor,” someone who “aided, abetted, advised, or encouraged the other person in the commission or planning of the crime,” according to Jury Instruction No. 16.

The jury heard testimony from several people that Clark drove the white Chevrolet Tahoe that prosecutors said was used in the drive-by shooting and a woman said Clark was asking for a “burner” -- or gun -- minutes before the killing.

Earlier in the day, jurors sent Judge Christina Habas two questions about their deliberations. The judge has not made public what the questions were. She conferred with attorneys in chambers before answering the jurors in writing.

Jurors appeared to work steadily through out the day, stopping to lunch on sandwiches in the jury room.

Clark faces 21 counts, and could be sent to prison for life if convicted on one of the two murder counts for the slaying of Darrent Williams.

He is charged with one count of first-degree murder with extreme indifference to human life and another count of first-degree murder after deliberation.

Clark also faces two counts of second-degree assault for the two wounded limousine passengers, Brandon Flowers and Nicole Reindl.

There are also 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder for all the surviving limo passengers, and one count of illegally discharging a firearm.