Four more against Jackson

2005-04-11 10:31

Santa Maria - Michael Jackson's lawyers are bracing for more potentially devastating testimony as prosecutors press on with attempts to show a pattern of child sex abuse in the singer's past.

But court-watchers say Jackson's defence team will redouble its efforts to tear down the character and credibility of the prosecution witnesses, leaving jurors to ponder their motives.

Four witnesses are still expected to testify about alleged sexual molestation of five boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s - cases that have never been proven in court and are denied by some of the alleged victims.

The "King of Pop" is on trial for purportedly groping a 13-year-old boy at his nearby Neverland ranch two years ago, but Judge Rodney Melville has allowed past accusations to be aired in the current trial, as permitted by California law.

Among those expected to take the stand in coming days is the mother of a boy who together with his family won more than $20m in an out-of-court settlement with Jackson in 1994.

The alleged victim said his relationship with the singer ended when his father obtained custody of him in 1993, leaked legal documents show.

The father reportedly reproached his ex-wife for allowing their son to spend time alone with the singer.

An uncle said the young man, now 25, was out of the country "where he cannot be found" and had refused to testify.

"He doesn't want to be the Michael Jackson boy. He doesn't want any involvement," the uncle told NBC television in late March.

"I'm pretty sure that his mother is going to be called to testify and that she's going to give some pretty damaging evidence," the uncle said.

He said his nephew spent at least "50 or 60 nights" with Jackson, at the pop star's ranch, the boy's home and in "hotels in Las Vegas, New York, Paris, Monaco - every night, night after night, alone in a bedroom."

The only alleged victim who agreed to testify in the prior cases choked back tears a week ago as he told jurors that the singer groped him three times between the ages of seven and 10.

The man, now 23, won an out-of-court settlement worth a reported $2m from Jackson in 1994.

His mother, a former Jackson maid, told jurors she once saw another young boy in the shower with Jackson, and that boys regularly slept with the star in his bed.

But Jackson's lawyers moved to shatter the credibility of another former Jackson maid who claimed she saw Jackson fondling three different boys, including "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin, and an ex-security guard who said he saw the entertainer perform oral sex on a 13-year-old, allegedly the boy who won the multimillion dollar settlement in 1994.

Lead lawyer Thomas Mesereau pointed out that the two former employees lost a wrongful job dismissal lawsuit against Jackson and were found to have stolen from him.

And he could later call to the witness stand some of the alleged victims who have denied Jackson ever behaved improperly toward them.

- AFP