Jackson judge allows prior-abuse claims in trial

SANTA MARIA, California - The judge in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial said he would allow prosecutors to introduce testimony on past claims of improper conduct with five other boys, including then-child star Macaulay Culkin, in a major blow to Jackson.

The ruling also permits testimony stemming from a highly publicised 1993 case in which the singer paid some US$23 million ($32.89 million) to settle a civil suit brought by the family of a boy who accused him of sexual abuse.

Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville said he would allow jurors to hear from a total of nine witnesses who prosecutors say would support accusations of past "sexual offences" by Jackson, 46, or what they called his pattern of "grooming" intended victims for abuse.

While the judge permitted such testimony related to five boys -- all aged 10 to 13 -- he denied a request by prosecutors to introduce witnesses pertaining to two other boys.

The prosecution plans to call only one of the five individuals they say Jackson targeted -- the now-adult son of a former Jackson employee who accused the singer of sexual misconduct in 1990.

NBC television has reported that Jackson paid US$2 million to settle those claims out of court.

The judge said jurors can be told about the 1990 and 1993 civil settlements Jackson reached but not the amounts he paid unless raised by the defence.

Neither Culkin, now 24, nor any of the three other alleged victims is expected to take the stand.

Culkin surfaced in the trial earlier this month as one of several boys identified by Jackson's former maid as youngsters in whom the singer had taken a special interest.

The star of the Home Alone films had previously been named as a potential witness for the defence and has repeatedly denied in public that Jackson ever behaved inappropriately toward him.

Defence lawyers had strenuously objected to introducing testimony about past claims of sexual misconduct, arguing that prosecutors were "desperate" and that their case against Jackson had already fallen apart in court. They contended that the additional witnesses bore grudges against Jackson.

"You have what is in effect a very problematic case, and I submit the prosecution knows that," lead defence lawyer Tom Mesereau said.

He added that testimony about past allegations would open the door to the equivalent of a mini-trial involving each of the boys.

Jackson is accused in a 10-count indictment of plying a then-13-year-old boy with alcohol and molesting him while the youngster and his family were staying at the entertainer's Neverland Valley Ranch in early 2003.

Jackson was never charged in connection with the past accusations. However, prosecutors want to convince jurors that the singer has a pattern of behaviour toward young boys -- evidence legal experts say could be devastating to his defence.

After about 90 minutes of sometimes-impassioned arguments on both sides, Melville sided with prosecutors, saying the issue was "of great importance in this case to both sides".

Jackson, who faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all of the counts against him, has pleaded not guilty and repeated in a radio interview on Sunday that the charges against him were "totally fabricated. "

His lawyers have argued that the mother of Jackson's now 15-year-old accuser invented the abuse claims after latching on to the entertainer in a bid to get money from him.

Taking the witness stand on Monday afternoon, comedian George Lopez said he met family members of Jackson's accuser at a time the boy was recovering from cancer. Lopez said he broke off contact when the boy's father became aggressive about asking him for financial support.

- REUTERS