LORD Gareth Williams, QC, said the Sunday Times had failed to prove that Mr Reynolds had lied to the Dail and deliberately misled his colleagues.
Instead, Lord Williams argued in his closing speech, Mr Reynolds's actions during the row over the extradition of the paedophile priest, Brendan Smyth, proved that he "had nothing to hide".
For example, Lord Williams said the evidence showed Mr Reynolds had asked for an immediate report from the then Attorney General, Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons, outlining the significance of the Duggan case.
"Why are we playing children's games here," he asked. "We are doing it because the Sunday Times haven't got the guts to say we were wrong.
Lord Williams reminded the jury that Mr Reynolds had attempted to show Mr Fitzsimons letter to the Tanaiste, Mr Dick Spring, before he "brought the government down", but he refused to read it. "Why should Mr Reynolds say look at the letter, if he is a deceiver," he asked.
Lord Williams suggested to the jury that one of the reasons why Mr Spring may have chosen not to give evidence at the trial was because "he may now have realised that one way or another he was party to a great wrong".
After recalling that Mr Reynolds also sent two drafts of his Dail speech for Mr Fitzsimons to consider before he delivered it on November 15th, 1994, Lord Williams asked the jury: "If Albert Reynolds wanted to deceive the Dail, why send a copy of his speech to his own Attorney General to comment on? It is a stupid as a burglar ringing up a bank manager saying `I am coming around, will you be there'?"
Describing the events leading to the downfall of the Reynolds government, Lord Williams told the jury that Fianna Fail ministers were tired because they were working "stupid hours" which led to the confusion.
"I am talking about human beings trying to make decisions when they were worn out ... any conclusion that there wasn't confusion would be perverse," he said.