SANTA MARIA, California - Michael Jackson's hard-hitting lawyer seemed set to pursue Tuesday his relentless attack on the credibility of the boy who claims he was molested by the star he once saw as a father figure.
Attorney Thomas Mesereau was certain to capitalize on the massive blow he dealt the prosecution when he got Jackson's now 15-year-old accuser to admit he once told his school administrator the entertainer had never improperly touched him.
The admission was just one of the highlights of Monday's cross-examination of the teenager, during which Mesereau repeatedly suggested Jackson's accuser had lied about almost every key aspect of the allegations he made against his client.
The questioning was scheduled to continue on Tuesday, though the attorney likely will be cautious not to stretch it out too long, for fear jurors may feel he is being too harsh on the boy.
Once the defense is done with the cross-examination, the prosecution will get to question the key witness again.
Testimony by the teenager's mother was eagerly awaited, after both his sister and brother testified and admitted they had lied in the past about what exactly happened in 2003.
The defense clearly intends to demonstrate to the jury that the boy was also lying when he claimed Jackson masturbated him at the star's amusement-park Neverland near Santa Maria, California, where the trial is held.
Mesereau pointed out the timeframe the boy initially gave would have the molestation occur before he and his family appeared on a videotape heaping praise on Jackson and dismising any suggestion the star would harm a child.
But on Monday the teenager claimed he was sexually abused after the taping -- which took place the same day social workers interviewed the family about his relationship with the entertainer.
The superstar's camp was evidently delighted with Mesereau's performance. "Mr. Jackson's defense did an excellent job," said Raymone Bain, the spokeswoman for the defendant's famed musical family.
Legal experts agreed Mesereau's broadside was highly damaging to the prosecution's case, though they stressed it was still early in the trial, which could yet go on for months.
"I don't think there was anything good to for the prosecution, I don't think there was anything bad for the defense," legal analyst Andrew Cohen said of Monday's session.
The accuser, Cohen said, came across as "feisty, combative, sullen."
The former cancer patient admitted he got in trouble with just about every teacher at school, and was often disciplined.
But he could not explain why he once claimed Jackson had told him that if men did not masturbate they might rape women, a statement he had also attributed to his grandmother.
He also was at a loss to explain why he and his family had never called for help at a time when they claimed they were being held prisoners at Neverland but were able to go out shopping, and why they came back on two occasions after leaving the ranch.
The boy admitted he saw Jackson as a father figure at the time, and identified a letter he wrote and addressed to "Daddy Michael from your son."
"I started calling him daddy after my dad had left because I didn't have a daddy," he said, adding that his mother had approved of this.
Jackson is charged of 10 counts of sexually molesting the then 13-year-old boy, plying him with alcohol in a bid to seduce him and conspiring to keep the boy and his family prisoner at his sprawling Neverland Ranch.
Jackson, a 46-year-old father of three, could face 20 years behind bars if found guilty.
03/15/2005 09:32 GMT