Jackson Shows Up For Court In Pajamas

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http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/10/ja...ial/index.html

Jackson trial under way
Accuser returns to stand after judge threatened to jail singer
Thursday, March 10, 2005 Posted: 2:04 PM EST (1904 GMT)

SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's child molestation trial began more than 90 minutes late Thursday after the pop star flirted with possible jail by failing to show up on time.

When court resumed, the teenage boy who says Jackson molested him two years ago retook the stand for a second day of testimony.

After Jackson failed to arrive at the Santa Maria, California, courthouse for the scheduled 8:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET) start, defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. explained to Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville that his client was at a hospital for treatment of a "serious back problem."

But Melville, who last month had to delay jury selection by a week after Jackson was briefly hospitalized with the flu, refused to accept the excuse. He threatened to revoke Jackson's $3 million and jail him for the remainder of the trial if he didn't show up within an hour.

Jackson eventually made it to the courthouse, although he missed Melville's deadline by three minutes. Looking somewhat disheveled, with uncombed hair, Jackson was wearing pajama bottoms and sandals. He walked slowly, with a bodyguard and his father, Joseph, holding him at the elbows.

Once the trial resumed, Melville apologized to jurors for the delay and informed them that he had to order Jackson to court. But he admonished them not to "make inferences" about Jackson's innocence or guilt based on that fact.

"I'm not expressing an opinion about the case," the judge said.

Jackson's delayed appearance came on a possible pivotal day of testimony, with the boy accusing him of child molestation expected to detail what he says happened between the two of them two years ago at Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

The boy, now 15, was on the stand for an hour Wednesday afternoon, but court adjourned for the day before he provided any testimony about the molestation he says happened at Jackson's hands.

On Wednesday, Jackson's accuser had testified that he was "kind of hypnotized" by Jackson after meeting him while undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer and thought "he was the coolest guy in the world."

Jackson, 46, was indicted in April by a state grand jury on 10 felony counts for incidents that allegedly occurred in February and March 2003.

The charges include four counts of committing a lewd act on a child; one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion; one count of attempting to commit a lewd act on a child; and four counts of administering an intoxicating agent to assist in the commission of a felony.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.