Jackson Jury to Hear Evidence on Mother

Michael Jackson arrived today at the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria, CA. Jurors in Michael Jackson's trial will be allowed to hear evidence that the accuser's mother had made allegations of improper touching against store security guards, the judge ruled Friday. Attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. made the allegations during motions on whether evidence could be admitted about the family's lawsuit against J.C. Penney. The family claimed in a lawsuit that they were beaten by guards and held against their will and that the mother was groped, after Jackson's young accuser left the store with clothes that had not been paid for. Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville said he will allow testimony about the case, especially as it pertains to the mother's credibility. But he said the defense would not be allowed to refer to the boy as a shoplifter. Mesereau said that after the mother received a $150,000 settlement from J.C. Penney and Tower Records, another defendant in the case, she immediately accused her husband of abusing her and filed for divorce. The woman then accused her ex-husband of inappropriately touching her daughter, Mesereau said. The attorney also said the woman testified in the J.C. Penney case that her husband had never hit her, but alleged in her divorce that he had beaten his family for years. That was perjury, Mesereau said. Mesereau also said the mother had her son ask celebrities for money and spent some of the funds on cosmetic surgery. Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen argued that the issue was how the mother acquired the money, not what she spent it on and that the issue was largely irrelevant. "The question is whether a man who admits to sleeping with children was sleeping with this child, and what he did with this child. That's what this case is about," Zonen said. Opening statements in the case are scheduled to begin Monday. Source: AP/ eMJey