Well, for every former Jackson staff member that spoke up for the prosecution in the ongoing Jacko trial, the singer's defence team are now wheeling in other Neverland employees to speak in their client's favour. The staff member bit of Jacko's defence is designed to dismiss both the testimonies given by those former employees who said they had witnessed the singer behaving inappropriately with teenage boys, as well as the allegations that the Arvizo family were held at the ranch against their will in the weeks after the screening of the Martin Bashir documentary.
First up, Francin Contreras, who worked at Neverland as a maid in 1991-93, took to the witness stand to diss Adrian McManus, another former maid who has claimed she saw Jackson indecently touch then-child actor Macaulay Culkin. Contreras said McManus was a liar and a thief, claiming she had stolen items from Jackson. She added that despite McManus' supposed disgust at Jackson's behaviour, she never said anything about it at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile Violet Silva, a former Neverland security chief and the current safety co-ordinator there, told the court that she had never seen Jackson behaving inappropriately towards children. She added that Jackson's current accuser, Gavin Arvizo, was "pretty destructive" during his stay at Neverland, supposedly running riot around Jackson's home with his brother Starr. Silva also stressed that the Arvizo family had never been prevented from leaving the ranch during their stay there.
Ranch manager Joe Marcus meanwhile reported that the Arvizo family "were excited to be at Neverland", adding that they were always anxious to get back to Jacko's ranch whenever he took them out shopping.
The defence will continue their case today, with those celebrity witnesses surely due to take to the witness stand anytime soon. There is still some confusion as to whether Macaulay Culkin will appear during the trial. He was reportedly resisting requests to testify, but then there were reports that he would in fact appear. But latest rumours suggest the former child star is again reluctant to speak at the trial, concerned at the ferociousness of some of the cross-examination that has been going on during the trial so far.