The prosecution’s case ended with a series of motions to allow items into evidence that the jury has already seen.
On Thursday, the defense is expected to ask for an acquittal and Judge Melville will hear that motion before the defense begins its case.
The defense will include a ‘mini-trial’ for each of the alligations made in the 1108 ruling, allowing testimory of 'prior bad acts', which included ex-employees and one of the alledged prior victims.
However, many of the witnesses that testified to seeing inappropriate sexual behavior in the early 1990s on the part of Jackson and pre-adolescent boys presented problems to the DA.
Their credibility was undermined due to payments they received by selling their stories to tabloid media outlets or lawsuits that they had initiated and lost.
One 1990s accuser who testified admitted to receiving a settlement from Jackson and his mother admitted to selling her story to a tabloid for $20,000.
Jackson’s ex-wife Deborah Rowe testified that many people within Jackson’s circle were ‘opportunistic vultures’ while others were nothing more than ‘money-hungry charlatans’.
The conspiracy charge took a major blow when Rowe testified last week that she had not been coached and her responses in the Jackson rebuttal piece were not scripted.
This contradicted Sneddon’s opening statements that Rowe would testify that she had been told what to say.
The conspiracy charge was initially shaken when the accuser’s mother took the stand and admitted lying under oath regarding another lawsuit and further disconnected with the jury by her uncontrollable behavior, including addressing the jury directly and pleading with them not to judge her and the story of her family to disappear in a hot air balloon.
The accuser under cross examination became combative, and admitted to being a troublemaker in school and not wanting to leave Neverland because he was having so much fun.
Source: AP/Reuters/eMJey