Michael Jackson molestation trial defense wraps opening statement
UPI News Service, 03/01/2005
Michael Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, Tuesday said the singer accused of child molestation reads "girly magazines from time to time."
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During his opening statement in a Santa Maria, Calif., courtroom, Meserau said Jackson kept his copies of Hustler and Playboy hidden in a briefcase. His accuser and brother found the magazines, which is why investigators found their fingerprints on them, the attorney said, TheSmokingGun.com reported.
Investigators did not find any of the boys' DNA in Jackson's bedroom, where the molestation allegedly occurred, Meserau said.
Meserau said Jackson was "sucked in" by his accuser's family, whom the lawyer portrayed as dishonest and money hungry.
He also implied Jackson may take the stand during the trial.
District Attorney Tom Sneddon told Santa Barbara jurors Tuesday the case is "about the manipulation of the young boy's adolescence through exposing him to strange sexual behavior."
He countered Meserau's statement about the magazines, accusing Jackson of using them to "stimulate" the then 13-year-old's "emerging sexuality."
Sneddon said the boy's brother will testify he twice witnessed Jackson molesting his younger brother, who he said appeared to be unconscious on the singer's bed.
British television producer Martin Bashir was expected to be the first prosecution witness when the trial resumes Wednesday.
Bashir conducted an interview with Jackson, during which the singer confirmed that young boys slept in his bed during visits to his Neverland Ranch.