Defense Begins in Jackson Trial

Two young Australian men who prosecutors contend were sexually abused by Michael Jackson testified Thursday that the pop star never touched them inappropriately.

The testimony came as the singer began his defense against child molestation charges. The two men said they slept in the same bed with Jackson dozens of times when they were boys, and nothing sexual ever happened.

The testimony was aimed to counteract prosecution witnesses who said they saw Jackson kiss or fondle the boys, and to corroborate the pop star’s contention that his regular practice of sharing his bed with children was innocent.

The defense case started after Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville denied Jackson’s request to throw out all charges for lack of evidence.

First up for the defense was Wade Robson, who said he met Jackson at age 5 after winning a Melbourne dance competition and later traveled to the United States and stayed overnight at his Neverland ranch numerous times, often sharing a bed with the singer.

“Mr. Robson, did Michael Jackson ever molest you at any time?” defense attorney Thomas A. Mesereau Jr. asked.

“Absolutely not,” replied Robson, who has choreographed for Britney Spears and the band ‘N Sync, and once hosted a dance competition series on MTV.

Earlier in the trial, a former Jackson housekeeper testified that she once went into Jackson’s bedroom and found him in a shower with a boy she believed was Robson. Their underwear was on the bathroom floor, she said.

Robson, now 22, said he and Jackson never showered together. He said he visited Neverland more than 20 times, staying as long as a week or more and sleeping in Jackson’s bed nearly every time. He said he and Jackson played together like children, riding golf carts around the ranch, holding pillow fights and once throwing stones at a napping lion to see if they could make it roar.

He said Jackson occasionally kissed him on the cheek, but said Jackson often greeted children and adults with kisses and he thought nothing of it. He insisted that Jackson is attracted to women. As for the allegations that Jackson molested him, Robson said, “I think it’s ridiculous.”

Jackson, winner of 13 Grammy awards and one of the world’s most recognizable stars, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor four times in 2003, plying the boy with alcohol, attempted molestation and conspiracy to imprison the alleged victim and the boy’s family. He is free on $3-million bail.

The 46-year-old singer nodded at Robson when he took the witness stand and flashed him a thumb’s-up sign during a court recess. It was a change in tone for Jackson, who sat still and stared blankly through much of the prosecution’s nine weeks of testimony.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Ronald Zonen, in a polite but confrontational tone, asked Robson whether it was appropriate for an 8-year-old boy to sleep in bed with a man in his 30s.

“I don’t see any problem with it,” he said.

The prosecutor then brought out sexually explicit books and magazines detectives found in Jackson’s home and asked Robson to review them. One of the publications depicted nude boys, while another showed men engaged in graphic homosexual acts.

“Would you be concerned about a person who possesses books like that crawling in bed with a 10-year-old boy?” Zonen asked.

“Yes, I guess so,” he answered.

Under further questioning from Mesereau, Robson said Jackson never showed him pornographic material and he was not aware that the pop star owned anything like that until Zonen produced the publications in court.

Zonen and Mesereau spent about 30 minutes asking Robson to review and interpret the sexually explicit material found in Jackson’s home.

“I never thought I’d be in a room with people watching me do this,” he said as the courtroom erupted in laughter.

Next up for the defense was Brett Barnes, 23, who said he met Jackson at age 5 when the singer visited Australia during a tour. He said Jackson sent him and his family to California in 1991 when he was 9.

In the years to follow, Barnes traveled the world with Jackson, often sleeping in his bed in hotel rooms and at the singer’s Neverland ranch.

He, too, said Jackson never sexually molested him.

“I can tell you right now if he had I wouldn’t be here right now,” said Barnes, who said he left his job as a roulette dealer in Melbourne in order to testify for Jackson.

Under cross-examination by Zonen, Barnes often said he could not remember dates or events, including the age at which he stopped sleeping with Jackson, or why they stopped sleeping together.

“It would be pure speculation,” he said.

“Is there another 35-year-old man you slept with when you were 10 years old?” Zonen asked.

“My uncle,” he replied.

Zonen also asked Barnes to identify several photographs taken of him as a boy with Jackson, including one where Jackson appears to be wearing only underwear.

The bulk of the morning was spent on the defense’s unsuccessful efforts to have the case dismissed for what Jackson lawyer Robert Sanger described as “a total failure of proof.”

“One has to wonder, would this case have gone anywhere were it not for the fact that Michael Jackson were the defendant,” Sanger said.

Santa Barbara County Dist. Atty. Tom Sneddon used the opportunity to defend his case. He said plenty of evidence shows that Jackson conspired against his accuser and the boy’s family, concerned that they might further damage his reputation after the broadcast of a damaging British documentary that disclosed his habit of sharing his bed with boys.

He also said the alleged victim was a believable witness and noted testimony that the boy was reluctant to tell detectives about the molestation, evidence that he said lends credibility to the allegations.

“The jury ought to be given the opportunity to decide for themselves,” he said.

Judge Melville agreed.