So, all eyes fell on the defence at the Michael Jackson trial yesterday, the prosecution having rounded up their case on Wednesday. The defence's request to have the charges against Jacko dismissed on the basis that the prosecution's case was a bit rubbish (I'm using the legal term there obviously) was turned down by Judge Rodney Melville on the basis that we'd been promised celebrity witnesses in this trial so there was no way he was cutting the proceedings short when we are still to hear testimonies from Liza Minnelli, Liz Taylor and Jay Leno. Well, I think that's what he was implying when he kicked off the day's proceedings by telling the court that "The request to dismiss the charges is denied".
And so Jackson's defence lawyers took the floor and called their first witness, presumably hoping that, unlike some of the prosecution's witnesses, none of their people scored any own goals. First up was 22 year old Australian choreographer and dancer Wade Robson who, the prosecution claim, was molested by Jackson when he stayed at Neverland as a teenager in the early nineties. Robson told the courts that he had slept in Jackson's bedroom on three or four of his 20 visits to Neverland, but said that nothing dodgy ever happened. The questioning ran thus:
Jacko defence lawyer Tom Mesereau: "Did Mr Jackson ever molest you at any time".
Robson: "Absolutely not".
Mesereau: "Did Mr Jackson ever touch you in a sexual way".
Robson: "No, never".
Prosecution lawyer Ron Zonen tried to convince Robson that Jackson may have molested him while he was asleep, saying: "What you're really telling us is that nothing ever happened while you were awake." But Robson responded: "I'm telling you nothing ever happened".
Speeding through, the defence also called 23 year old Brett Barnes, another person that the prosecution claim Jackson molested during stays at Neverland in the early nineties. Recognising that witnesses had testified that they had seen Jackson touching him inappropriately, Barnes told the court: "I'm very mad about it. It's not true and they put my name through the dirt. I'm really not happy about it."
The case continues - rumours are now circulating that Macaulay Culkin, the most famous of the Neverland guests Jacko is accused of molesting, might now testify in Jackson's defence. The former child star was reportedly resisting requests to go to court to defend the singer, despite publicly denying anything inappropriate ever happened during his teenage friendship with Jacko.
Elsewhere in Jacko news, Fox News claim that the Bank Of America has sold the $270 million debt Jackson has with them to hedge fund Fortress Investments. This, Fox News celebrity reporter Roger Friedman says, increases the likelihood that Jackson's creditors might look to seize his stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing should he default on a payment. Jacko's people continue to deny rumours of acute financial issues in the Jackson camp, it will be interesting to see if this debt sale story is true and, if so, if it will effect Jackson's overall business interests.