Jackson's ex-wife says she willingly defended him

SANTA MARIA - Michael Jackson's former wife wiped away tears today as she testified that the pop icon called her for help after the broadcast of a damaging British documentary in 2003 and that she agreed in the hope of seeing their family reunited.

But Debbie Rowe said that contrary to prosecution assertions she was not bullied into giving an interview about her famous ex-husband and refused to follow a script.

Rowe, the mother of two of Jackson's three children, smiled at the singer as she took the witness stand and identified herself as "Deborah Rowe-Jackson."

Prosecutors called Rowe to the witness stand as evidence that Jackson and his camp panicked after the broadcast of the documentary, which showed him holding hands with a 13-year-old boy who would later accuse him of molestation, and began a heavy-handed campaign to salvage the singer's reputation.

It was during that time, they claim, that Jackson and associates held his young accuser's family prisoner at his Neverland Valley Ranch and forced them to participate in a so-called rebuttal tape.

Prosecutors say Rowe, who was married to Jackson from 1997 to 1999, was similarly coerced into defending the entertainer.

Rowe, a former nurse for Jackson's dermatologist, bore Jackson's two oldest children, son Prince Michael and daughter Paris. She surrendered her parental rights in 2001 but prosecutors say she recovered them last year after filing suit.

Jackson has a third child, Prince Michael II.

Rowe, who came to court in a black pinstriped suit with shoulder-length blond hair, said that prior to the broadcast of "Living with Michael Jackson" in February 2003 she had not seen the superstar since their divorce four years earlier.

"(Jackson) told me there was a video coming out and it was full of lies and would I help. And I said, as always, yes," Rowe told a packed courtroom, her voice breaking with emotion. She said she asked to visit their two children, whom she had not seen in about two years, and Jackson agreed.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a boy, then 13, at Neverland, plying the youth with alcohol in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit false imprisonment, child abduction and extortion. He faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors have said that Rowe was promised visitation rights with her children in exchange for defending Jackson, but she stopped short of making that claim. Rowe said that when Jackson called, she hoped "to be reintroduced to them and to be reacquainted with their dad."

Asked why by Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen, Rowe dabbed at a tear and said: "He's my friend."

Rowe said she was not paid for the nine-hour interview and could not take part until her divorce lawyer obtained a waiver of a confidentiality agreement with the pop star.

Though prosecutors have said that taped interviews with Rowe and the family of Jackson's accuser were "highly scripted," Rowe denied that she was coached, saying she did not want to be later accused of giving rehearsed answers.

"As Mr Jackson knows, no-one can tell me what to say, " Rowe said. "I tend to speak my own mind. "

But Rowe said she lied throughout the interview, specifically when praising Jackson's parenting skills. Court adjourned for the day before she could elaborate.

Though Rowe's testimony appeared at times to fall short of what prosecutors had promised, she was the strongest witness so far to link Jackson directly to the efforts to repair his image - which is crucial to proving the conspiracy charges against him.

Rowe also painted a strange portrait of her marriage to Jackson, saying that the two never shared a home and that when their union dissolved she was granted only 8 hours every 45 days with her children.

She said she eventually gave up those visits because they were so tightly controlled by Jackson's nannies that "it wasn't a quality relationship. "

- REUTERS