SANTA MARIA, California - Prosecutors in Michael Jackson's child sex trial asked Wednesday for permission to tell jurors about thousands of erotic pictures found on computers in the star's home.
The request came out of earshot of the trial jury after the "King of Pop," who is suffering what aides say is "intolerable" back pain, arrived at court in California looking fit and much healthier than in recent days.
Jackson, who shuffled into court late before bursting into tears on Monday, turned up about 20 minutes early wearing a dark suit, bronze vest and gold medallion.
He smiled and waved to fans and appeared to be walking far more easily than in recent days.
Inside the courtroom, prosecutors asked Judge Rodney Melville to allow them to bring into evidence three computers and four hard-drives containing pornographic images, mostly of teens, seized at Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
It was at Neverland that Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy two years ago after allegedly plying him with alcohol and breaking down his inhibitions by showing him raunchy pictures.
Prosecutor Gordon Auchincloss told the judge that one of the computers contained 1,700 downloaded pictures of "erotic material," most of it involving teenagers. One of the sites was called "Teen Steam."
The computer images -- most of them downloaded in 1998 and some between September and November 2003 -- were "the circumstantial link that provides powerful corroboration for our witness in this case," Auchincloss said.
He said that two of the computers also contained cached downloads from adoption websites complete with pictures of potential adoptees.
But Jackson's lawyer Robert Sanger fought back at the attempts to tell trial jurors about the computer evidence, saying that the material was heterosexual and that there was no proof that Jackson had ever looked at the pictures.
In addition, he said, none of the material was relevant to allegations that Jackson abused the young cancer survivor in February or March of 2003 as it was not downloaded or viewed during that period.
"None of the four computers have any material on them that was subject to the time period of interest here," Sanger told the judge, adding that there was nothing illegal about any of the images found on the computers.
Judge Melville declined to immediately rule on the prosecution request, but said he was inclined to bar prosecutors from showing jurors the material.
"I have serious reservations about putting this on. I'm not prepared to rule, although I'm leaning towards excluding it," Melville told the court.
Jackson has pleaded innocent to 10 charges, including molestation, plying the boy with alcohol and conspiring to kidnap the boy and his family and hold them prisoner. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Jackson's lawyers maintain that the accuser's family made up the accusations as part of a bid to extort money from him.
Since testimony in the trial began on February 28, the now 15-year-old accuser and his brother, who is a year younger, have told jurors that Jackson showed them erotic magazines and websites and gave them alcohol.
The star's alleged victim said he was fondled by Jackson on at least two occasions in his bedroom at Neverland, near the California town of Santa Maria where his trial is underway.
Jurors were brought into the courtroom after the argument over whether to allow the computer images into evidence to hear a detective tell how he sealed evidence seized in a November 18, 2003 police search of Neverland.
Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department Detective Robert Cooley was responsible for bagging and documenting the items seized at the sprawling, fantasy-themed estate's amusement arcade.
Cooley said that while he was not specifically told the items would be dusted for fingerprints, he sealed them in a way that would allow prints and DNA analysis to be carried out at a later stage.

03/23/2005 18:55 GMT