Two weeks after the start of the Michael Jackson trial, prosecutors have still not made clear the number the alleged molestation occurred.
Thursday, after Mr. Jackson showed up an hour late due to being in the hospital with “severe back painâ€, the young accuser continued his testimony.
The accuser testified that Mr.Jackson twice molested him in Mr. Jackson's bed as he and the singer wore pairs of his pajamas, and that the first incident occurred under a blanket. The accuser said he believed there were more incidents, but that he couldn't remember them.
The 15-year-old boy and his 14-year-old brother have each described two alleged incidents in which the singer allegedly touched the accuser inappropriately. But differences in the boys' accounts have made it difficult to tell whether they were describing four separate alleged molestations, or conflicting versions of two incidents.
The accuser's brother has testified that on two occasions he was walking up the stairs to Jackson's bedroom when he saw Mr.Jackson touching himself and the accuser. In both cases the accuser appeared to be asleep and both Jackson and the accuser were wearing underwear, the brother said.
The brother said he saw vodka during the second incident, which the accuser did not mention.
Adding to the number of possible incidents, the brother was asked in cross-examination by the defense if he told sheriff's investigators that during the second incident he was in the room curled up on a little couch pretending to sleep.
When Mr. Jackson’s attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. asked if his account of the second molestation had changed since he gave that account, the boy interjected that there were actually three incidents, and that he had misstated what happened because he was nervous.
"It is still really hard to figure out if the brother is corroborating these incidents," said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, who says the question of how many molestations allegedly occurred remains a "huge issue."
If there are only two incidents, prosecutors must explain why the boys' accounts differ on what Mr. Jackson and the accuser were wearing, whether the alleged victim was conscious, and how alcohol may have been involved.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. alleged the accuser was making up the story.
"Only after you met with Larry Feldman you started talking about inappropriate touching," said Mesereau, referring to a lawyer who handled another boy's allegations against Mr. Jackson in 1993 that ended with a civil settlement.
Mesereau also attacked the boy's testimony that he did not feel that Mr. Jackson had done much for him when he had cancer.
"I didn't see him much," the boy said. "He was my best friend in the world and my best friend was trying to avoid me when I had cancer."
Mesereau, however, said Mr. Jackson called the boy three times a week for conversations of two to three hours, gave him gifts, invited him and his family to stay at Neverland for weeks at a time, had them stay at a Florida resort and had them chauffeured in limousines and a Rolls-Royce.
"Did your family go back and forth and stay at Neverland for free?" Mesereau asked.
"Everybody stays at Neverland for free," the boy answered defensively.
He was asked whether he knew that Mr. Jackson conducted a blood drive for him at Neverland.
"I heard something about a blood drive but I don't remember," he said.
"Can you look this jury in the eye and say that Michael did nothing for you when you had cancer?" Mesereau asked angrily.
Cross examination of the young accuser will resume Monday, while Friday is reserved to handle pending motions.
Mr. Jackson will not be present on Friday.
Source: Associated Press/ MJJForum / eMJey