Prosecution suffers a setback in Jackson Trial

The prosecution suffered a major setback when the judge hearing the Michael Jackson molestation trial on Thursday barred prosecutors from calling an expert on domestic violence they hoped would explain the apparently erratic behavior of the accuser’s mother for jurors.

In what is seen as a tactical victory for the defense of Michael Jackson’s defense team Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville agreed that the testimony of a third boy is “relevant” to the pop star’s accuser’s credibility. In other victories for the defense, Melville turned down the prosecution’s bid to have a domestic violence expert testify how years of an abusive marriage could have affected the prior testimony of the accuser’s mother.

The judge also barred testimony from Jackson’s former travel coordinator, Cynthia Montgomery. She is already embroiled in a legal dispute with Jackson over alleged hidden videotaping of the pop star aboard his jet prior to his surrender to police in November 2003.

Additionally, Melville barred the testimony of a former Jackson security guard about an alleged incident involving the pop star, a young boy and a jar of Vaseline. The defense called it “salacious innuendo,” and the judge agreed.

The rulings dampened the spirits of the prosecution which is in the final stages of presenting its case to the jury of eight women and four men.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient in February or March 2003. He also is accused of conspiring to hold the boy’s family captive to get them to make a rebuttal video following the airing of a damaging TV documentary in which the boy appeared with Jackson. In the documentary, the singer said he let children sleep in his bed, but that it was non-sexual.

The testimony of the mother of Jackson’s teenage accuser is key to establishing that her family was imprisoned at Neverland, one of the 10 criminal charges against the 46-year-old entertainer. Jackson, who has pleaded innocent, faces more than two decades in prison if convicted. Defense lawyers have painted the accuser’s mother as a schemer who preyed on celebrities and turned on Jackson, a benefactor for her son at a time when he was recovering from cancer.

But as a blow to defense case the judge allowed Kassim Abdool, testify about finding two pairs of wet bathing trunks on the floor of a restroom, shortly after seeing Jackson and a young boy leave there for the main residence, wearing towels.

Prosecutors said Abdool would allege he went to the shower area and saw two pairs of swim trunks. The testimony ruled out by the judge included Abdool’s claim that he saw the star appearing to be in an aroused state.
The judge also decided to allow the testimony of Chris Carter, a former Jackson guard who was recently arrested on robbery charges in Las Vegas.

Court was adjourned for Friday. The prosecution is expected to rest its case some time next week.