Testimony in Jackson case ends with accuser's tape

SANTA MARIA, California - Testimony came to an abrupt and dramatic end in Michael Jackson's sex abuse trial on Friday after jurors watched a videotape in which the boy at the center of the case told police for the first time he was given wine and masturbated by the pop star.

Jackson's lawyers, who just hours earlier vowed to call at least four witnesses - including the boy and his mother - in response to the tape huddled instead with the 46-year-old entertainer in a corner of the courtroom when it was over.

Lead defence attorney Tom Mesereau then made a surprise announcement Jackson's team would rest, bringing an unexpected end to the evidence phase of the trial and clearing the way for closing arguments next week.

"You have heard all the evidence you're going to hear in the case," Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville told the eight-woman, four-man jury before excusing them until Wednesday.

The interview with Jackson's accuser was recorded in July 2003 but prosecutors waited until the final day of testimony in the four-month trial to play it for jurors, who saw the clearly uncomfortable 13-year-old boy near tears as he was questioned by two police detectives.

When asked by Det. Sergeant Steve Robel if Jackson had ever touched him in an inappropriate way, the young teen sat silently for some 15 seconds before describing a night at Neverland that began with heavy drinking and ended with the singer masturbating him.

"He put his hand in my pants," the boy said in a near whisper. "He started masturbating me. I told him I didn't want to do that. He kept saying he wants to teach me ... he said that it's OK, that there's nothing wrong with it, that it's natural."

'TOM MESEREAU'S WORST NIGHTMARE'

The teenager said he slept in a bed with Jackson every night after the family returned from a trip to Florida with the superstar in February 2003 and that every night his younger brother was not in the bedroom, Jackson masturbated him.

The recovering cancer patient said Jackson masturbated him four or five times in total, each time following bouts of drinking.

Legal experts said the tape was a devastating blow to Jackson, whose attorneys claim the boy was goaded into fabricating the molestation claim by his mother in order to extort money from the pop icon.

"Michael Jackson is right now at his greatest peril that he has been in throughout the entire trial," former San Francisco prosecutor Jim Hammer said. "In Tom Mesereau's worst nightmare he never wanted the trial to end like this, with that boy's voice ringing in the jury's ears."

Several jurors appeared moved by the video. When the courtroom lights went on after it was shown, one female juror appeared to have red eyes and another was clutching a tissue.

Jackson has pleaded not guilty to charges of molesting the boy, then 13, at Neverland, plying the young cancer patient with alcohol in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.

He faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

On Tuesday, when court proceedings resume after Monday's Memorial Day holiday, attorneys will start discussing with the judge what instructions should be given to the jurors.

Closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday, with the jury possibly beginning deliberations by the end of the week.

- REUTERS