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Jackson accuser video OKd

BY TINA SUSMAN | STAFF CORRESPONDENT

May 27, 2005

Michael Jackson Thursday passes through a metal detector before entering the courtroom during a break in his child molestation trial at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif. (AP Photo / May 27, 2005)

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The judge in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial ruled yesterday that prosecutors may show a video of his alleged victim being interviewed by police, setting the stage for a lengthy rebuttal period that may force the boy back onto the witness stand.

Jackson's defense team has focused its case on undermining the credibility of the accuser, who was 13 in 2003 when he claims to have been molested by the pop star. Prosecutors, who began presenting rebuttal witnesses Wednesday after the defense rested its case, hope the video will restore that credibility by disproving defense claims that the boy has changed his story over time.

"It's going to put the case back on track. No longer will it focus on the accuser, but on Michael Jackson" and his alleged crime, said former Connecticut prosecutor Susan Filan, who is attending the trial.

However, it also gives the defense the opportunity to recall the boy to the stand for cross-examination, something that could prove risky to prosecutors depending on his responses.

Prosecutors were expected to show jurors the video today.

That will be followed by the defense's own rebuttal, with the case eventually going to the jury after closing arguments. Jackson, 46, faces nearly 20 years in prison if convicted.

Yesterday's rebuttal witnesses included William Dickerman, a lawyer who once represented Jackson's accusers - a woman and her three children, who claim to have been held captive by Jackson in February and March 2003.

Dickerman was called to rebut another lawyer's statements that the family never demanded the return of birth certificates, passports and other documents belonging to them.

According to Dickerman, he sent about 10 letters to then-Jackson attorney Mark Geragos demanding that the documents be handed over, to no avail.

At least one included a veiled threat of legal action.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. accused Dickerman of making it impossible for Geragos to deliver the items by failing to say where they should be sent.

"You and your client were trying to set up Mr. Jackson for a lawsuit, weren't you?" said Mesereau, who says the false imprisonment and molestation accusations were invented as part of a plot to extort money from Jackson.

Dickerman retorted that he had made everything clear to Geragos. "Is the microphone on? Maybe you're not hearing me," he said to Mesereau after being pressed on the issue.