by Patrick Moser and Gersende Rambourg
SANTA MARIA, California - Michael Jackson's child sex trial took another dramatic twist Monday when he shuffled into court late and disheveled, before breaking down in tears and being led to the bathroom.
The superstar, whose publicist said he suffering "excruciating" and "intolerable" back pain, apparently sobbed into a tissue at the defendant's bench before the delayed hearing finally got underway 45 minutes late.
"I'm in pain, in pain," the frail pop singer -- who was accompanied to court by a doctor wearing surgical scrubs to explain his condition to the trial judge -- told reporters at the end of the day.
Clad in a blue-violet jacket, his hair uncombed, Jackson arrived just as the proceedings were due to begin and hobbled slowly into the courtroom with the help of his brother Jackie and an aide.
A doctor from a local hospital dressed in surgical scrubs joined Jackson's lawyer Thomas Mesereau and prosecutor Tom Sneddon in the judge's chambers for a meeting that lasted about 10 minutes.
The visibly trembling singer, holding a paper handkerchief in front of his mouth and dabbing his upper lip, appeared to be sobbing. Seconds later, he was helped out of the courtroom to a bathroom.
Jackson's late arrival came less than two weeks after he narrowly escaped arrest when he turned up at court more than an hour late, wearing pajamas and slippers on March 10.
That delay, that resulted in Judge Rodney Melville issuing an arrest warrant that he later quashed, followed a pre-dawn visit to a hospital emergency room where he was treated for a back injury he suffered when he tripped while dressing.
"Mr Michael Jackson continues to suffer from excruciating back pain" following that incident, his spokeswoman Raymone Bain said in a statement.
"Again this morning, Mr Jackson's back spasms were becoming intolerable," she said adding that the singer was taken back to the emergency room from where he was accompanied to court by the doctor who explained his condition to Melville.
Bain said that while there was no "quick fix" for back pain, Jackson was on medication and hoped to get "some relief soon."
When the tardy "King of Pop" returned to the courtroom Monday, jurors heard from a child abuse expert who said that young victims frequently wait years before raising the alarm and often change their stories.
That testimony came after three weeks of often explosive evidence in which Jackson's now 15-year-old accuser admitted giving contradictory stories about the alleged abuse.
"If there are multiple disclosures they are often not the same," Psychologist Anthony Urquiza told the jurors, pointing out that children "may not be accurate on issues of time."
The defense team has pointed to apparent discrepancies over the exact dates on which Jackson allegedly fondled the boy two years ago. The lawyers have also questioned that the boy waited months before making the claims.
But Urquiza said this was not unusual, partly because of the stigma and humiliation sex abuses carry. "Most children do not disclose immediately. It is a hard thing to talk about," he told the court.
He also said that victims often adore their offenders and the "sexual act becomes an unpleasant part of a relationship that is bigger and that they enjoy."
Under questioning from prosecutors, Urquiza said it was not uncommon for alleged abusers to show serve their victims alcohol or show them pornography "in order to desensitize the child towards sexuality."
The alleged victim and his brother earlier told the court that Jackson showed them sexually explicit magazines and websites, and served wine to his accuser before abusing him.
But in a tough cross-examination by Mesereau, the psychologist admitted that a small percentage of children make false abuse claims, and could be manipulated by their parents.
Jackson's legal team claims that the accuser is a liar who is being used as a pawn in his mother's schemes to extort money from celebrities.
The jurors also heard testimony from a flight attendant who admitted Jackson liked to have wine served out of soda cans when he traveled by chartered jet, but said she was not on the flight during which the star allegedly served alcohol to his accuser.
She left the courtroom smiling and waving discreetly at Jackson.
Jackson has denied 10 charges that he abused the young cancer survivor, plied him with alcohol and plotted to kidnap him and his family and hold them at his Neverland Ranch in 2003. If found guilty the superstar faces up to 20 years behind bars.

03/22/2005 03:04 GMT