Jackson judge to rule on past sex abuse allegations

Michael Jackson

SANTA MARIA, CALIFORNIA - The judge in the Michael Jackson trial on Friday set a March 28 hearing to decide whether jurors can hear about past sex offence allegations against the singer in what could be a turning point in an already sensational case.

Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville also dismissed a motion for a mistrial brought by the defence as the trial ended its third week of testimony.

With jurors having a day off, lawyers for both sides conferred with the judge on several other key issues -- the admissibility of the pop superstar's finances and how the fingerprints of Jackson's teen accuser got onto pornographic magazines.

Melville ruled that the prosecution, which has alleged Jackson is on the brink of bankruptcy, could subpoena the entertainer's financial records. But he said they would not be opened in the trial unless he heard testimony that made the details relevant.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a then 13-year-old boy at his Neverland ranch in February or March of 2003, and with plying him with alcohol in order to abuse him. He is also charged with conspiring to commit extortion, false imprisonment and child abduction.

The pop star, who was not in court on Friday, has pleaded innocent. He faces more than 20 years in prison if he is convicted on all 10 counts.

Looming in the background are the well-publicized 1993 accusations of molestation made against Jackson by another 13-year-old, which were settled out of court for a reported US$23 million.

Jackson was never criminally charged in the 1993 case but the prosecution has battled for months to be allowed to call the youth involved as a witness in the current case.

Melville said he would hold a March 28 hearing on the issue with both defence and prosecution lawyers, but without the jury, to determine what is seen as one of the most important rulings in the current case.

The boy was mentioned in court on Thursday by a former Neverland housekeeper, who named him as one of a number of children who had "close friendships" with Jackson and who were allowed to run wild at the singer's ranch.

Jackson's defence lawyer on Friday asked for a mistrial because of that testimony. Melville denied the motion, saying: "This isn't the first time the jury has heard that name ... 1993 has been mentioned by other witnesses. "

The jury has already been shown stacks of pornographic magazines seized from Jackson's bedroom. His young accuser, a recovering cancer patient, has testified that Jackson showed him porn both in magazines and on the internet.

The fingerprints of the boy have been found on some of the magazines but the defence maintains they got there during secret grand jury hearings last year.

Both sides agreed on Friday to settle the dispute by calling as a witness one of the prosecutors in the closed-door grand jury hearings for testimony and cross examination.

The trial, which has already heard from Jackson's accuser, his younger brother and older sister, resumes on Monday. Other key testimony in what is expected to be a five-month trial is awaited from the boy's mother and the child psychologist who was the first to hear the boy say he had been groped and masturbated by the entertainer.

- REUTERS