Accuser testifies that Jackson molested him
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's teenage accuser said Thursday that the pop star manually stimulated him on two separate occasions -- and tried to get the then-13 year old to do the same to him during overnight sleepovers at Jackson's Neverland Ranch two years ago.
The graphic testimony came on a dramatic day that got a late start.
Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville threatened to revoke the $3 million bail and jail the singer for arriving late to court.
The teenager Thursday testified in Jackson's child molestation trial of sleeping alone with the pop star and being served alcohol by the singer.
The now-15-year-old boy testified he and Jackson were alone under the covers in Jackson's bed after a night of drinking alcohol in the Neverland Ranch arcade when Jackson brought up the subject of masturbation.
"He told me if I don't know how, he will do it for me," he said.
The teenager said Jackson told him that a man who doesn't masturbate could end up raping a girl or becoming disabled. He also testified that Jackson related a story about a boy who didn't masturbate having sex with a dog.
The teenage boy -- who was 13 at the time he alleges the incidents occurred -- said he told Jackson, "I don't really want to."
But he said Jackson proceeded to stimulate him for about five minutes until he ejaculated.
"I felt weird, and I was embarrassed," he testified. "Michael said it was OK. It was natural."
A day or two later, the teen testified, a similar incident happened when they were watching TV on top of the covers, both dressed in pajamas. But on this occasion, the teen said Jackson took his hand and tried to get him to pleasure Jackson.
"He said it's natural. Don't be scared," he testified. However, he said he pulled his hand away and did not gratify Jackson.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon asked the accuser how many times Jackson touched him inappropriately.
"In my memory, it was only twice, but I feel it was more than twice," the teenager said. "But I only remember it twice."
Among the charges Jackson faces are four counts of committing a lewd act on a child, two of which the accuser's younger brother testified he witnessed while his older brother was asleep.
Prosecutors allege that Jackson plied the boy with alcohol in order to molest him.
Thursday marked the second day of testimony by the accuser. Earlier in the day, he said that during a trip to Miami in February 2003, Jackson took him into a room in his hotel suite and gave him white wine in a Diet Coke can, referring to it as "Jesus juice."
"I drank a little bit and told him it tasted ugly," he said. But he testified Jackson urged him to continue drinking it, saying, "it will relax you. I know you're all stressed out."
The accuser said the next day, "I felt my head hurt, and I wanted to lay down."
On the trip home from Miami on Jackson's private jet, the pop star urged him not to tell anyone about the "Jesus juice," took off a watch he was wearing and gave it to him, the teenager said.
"He told me the watch was worth $75,000," he said.
Both he and his younger brother drank wine with Jackson on the flight, he said.
In the weeks after the Miami trip, when the family was staying at Neverland, the teenage accuser said that he and his brother slept with Jackson in his bed and drank alcohol with Jackson "every night that Michael was there." The teenager said he was given hard alcohol -- rum, vodka and whisky -- in addition to wine.
The boy testified that on three occasions, he expressed concern to Jackson that drinking alcohol might be bad for him because he only had one kidney, having lost the other one to cancer.
But Jackson "said it was OK, nothing bad would happen," he testified.
Accuser recalls sleeping with Jackson
Under prosecution questioning, Jackson's accuser admitted denying that anything inappropriate had happened with Jackson when social workers came to investigate his family after he and Jackson were shown holding hands in a 2003 television documentary.
In the program produced by British journalist Martin Bashir, Jackson defended his practice of letting children sleep in his bed.
The teenage boy said he told social workers "We slept in his bed, but nothing bad happened." Asked if that statement was true he answered, "At the time, yes."
The teen said it was Jackson who asked him to hold his hand during the filming of the documentary -- an image that would later take a toll on Jackson's public image. He was also asked why he put his head on Jackson's shoulder during the taping.
"I was really close to Michael. He was like my best friend," he testified. "So I just put my head on his shoulder."
He also testified that toward the end of February 2003, he began sleeping alone with Jackson.
The teenager also directly linked Jackson to an effort to send the family to Brazil after the Bashir video aired. The prosecution contends the Brazil trip was part of an orchestrated conspiracy to intimidate the family and keep them quiet as Jackson's camp tried to control the damage to his image.
The teen said he had a conversation with Jackson and his associate, Frank Tyson, about the Brazil trip. He testified that Jackson told him the family was going there on a vacation and that he would join them a week later.
He also said Tyson "was angry because my mom didn't want to go."
His younger brother and sister have testified that Jackson's associates arranged the trip -- including obtaining passports for the family -- while they were being held against their will at a Los Angeles hotel. But they did not link the trip preparations to Jackson.
Asked if the family had been free to leave the hotel, the accuser replied, "No, I don't think so." When asked why, he said Tyson and another Jackson associate, Vinnie Amen, kept the key cards to their rooms.
Late arrival
Thursday's trial proceedings got off to a late start when Jackson failed to arrive on time for the scheduled 8:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET) start.
Defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. told Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney S. 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. The judge threatened to revoke Jackson's $3 million bail and jail him for the remainder of the trial if he didn't show up within an hour.
Jackson missed Melville's deadline by three minutes. Appearing disheveled and wearing pajama bottoms and sandals, Jackson walked slowly into the courthouse. A bodyguard and Jackson's father supported the singer at his elbows.
Jackson spent about a hour Thursday morning at the Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital before leaving for the courthouse, said Wende Cappetta, a hospital vice president.
Once the trial resumed, Melville, who appeared calmer, apologized to jurors for the delay and informed them that he had to order Jackson to court. But he told them not to "make inferences" about Jackson's innocence or guilt based on that fact.
The jurors seemed unfazed about the delay, smiling and talking as they entered the courtroom.
Thursday afternoon, Melville revoked the bench warrant he issued earlier in the day. Melville's decision meant Jackson's $3 million bail would be continued and the singer would not be jailed.
Jackson sat still during Thursday's testimony, showing little reaction. He occasionally pushed his long hair from in front of his eyes or rested his chin on his hands.
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.
Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
An angry Judge Rodney S. Melville threatened to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of world famous pop singer Michael Jackson if he failed to appear at the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in California Thursday Jan. 10, 2005.  Jackson is under indictment there on seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. Jackson, held briefly under the threat of jail by authorities on Nov. 20, 2003 when charges brought against him were formalized, gained his freedom later that day by posting a $3 million bail.

Judge Melville, apparently frustrated with Jackson who had in two earlier instances caused delays in his court room, issued the warrant just 5 minutes after noting the singer’s conspicuous absence at the scheduled 8:30 a.m. proceedings.  Jackson's defense lawyer, Tom Mersereau Jr., advised the judge that Jackson awoke earlier that morning with severe back pain and was under treatment at an area hospital at the time. The judge moved to give the celebrity one hour to appear or face arrest for contempt of court.

As word of the warrant threat traveled to the large news presence gathered outside, a media countdown began.  During the countdown, live televised reports recounted how Jackson had arrived for court 20 minutes late on his own arraignment for these charges, only to be met by a stern lecture from Judge Melville for that transgression.  There was also another occasion where Jackson, while recovering from flu symptoms, delayed the trial's jury selection for a week until he was well enough to return. The glaringly clear message sent by the judge was: bad back or not, Jackson was to appear in court! And fast! Only the televised scene of Jackson's expectant defense lawyer Mersereau with his assistant Susan Yu, both busy on cells phones while tensely waiting curbside beside the court house for the Jackson motorcade, seemed to undermine a feeling that Jackson would make it in time to avoid having his bail revoked.

As the deadline came and passed without Jackson’s arrival, live reports were busy with speculation on the superstar persona of Michael Jackson then taking on newer aspects of super-bizarre. But Jackson’s flair for tardiness showed itself with an arrival that was a mere 3 minutes after the judge was being forced to make good on his threat. Dressed in a blue blazer over a light weight undershirt, the star's recent departure from the hospital was evident by the pajama bottom pants and open-heeled bedroom slippers he wore into the court room.

Jackson had the assistance of his father and a body guard at each side to keep him steady as he gingerly walked into the Santa Maria court house. He listed slightly to the right and kept a fixed, distant face that was surrounded by uncombed strands of his long hair. The summons issued by the judge forced Jackson from his hospital bed to show the world he was not above the law. 

In private chambers, Judge Melville met with both the prosecution lawyer, Tom Sneddon, and Jackson’s defense lawyer to verify the defendant’s claims of back pain. After re-taking the bench in the court room, the judge announced to the jury they would proceed with the docket as planned.  Mr. Jackson narrowly escaped prison, and the trial would continue where it left off on the previous day with direct testimony from the now 15 year old boy who accuses him.