By Debbie Emery - Breaking Celebrity News Reporter

With a tragic triple murder, an Oscar winner as a witness and allegations of drug-dealing victims and an abusive defendant, the Jennifer Hudson family murder trial has all the ingredients of a John Grisham novel.

Now Breaking Celebrity News can exclusively reveal that the defense may have an extra tough time getting suspect William Balfour released because of the star power sitting in the Chicago courtroom.

“It is a thin case, there is no doubt about it,” Los Angeles defense attorney Dana Cole told Breaking Celebrity News in an exclusive interview. “But because it is thin, the fact that Jennifer Hudson is sitting in the courtroom as a surviving family member could tip the scales in favor of a conviction that would be otherwise hard to achieve.”

As Breaking Celebrity News previously reported, Balfour faces three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and home invasion in the deaths of Jennifer and Julia Hudson's mother Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57; brother Jason Hudson, 29; and Julia's son Julian King, 7, in 2008.

“Much of the evidence relies on gunshot residue that was found on the wheels of Balfour’s car, which is pretty thin as that can come from all sorts of places,” explained Cole. “You can’t forensically tie it to a specific weapon.

“The overriding prosecution argument might be that he had motive to commit the crime, as there had been family problems before,” he went on to add.

In that regard, having the former American Idol contestant openly weeping in court and bashing Balfour could be a major advantage for the prosecution. They've been credited with playing a smart move by getting Hudson to testify first, allowing her to then sit in the courtroom throughout the trial in full view of the jury.

The Dreamgirls star