Jackson and his accuser's fingerprints found on porn magazine

SANTA MARIA, California - Fingerprints belonging to both Michael Jackson and his teenage molestation accuser were found on a raunchy magazine seized from the star's bedroom, trial jurors heard Friday.
The prints were discovered on a copy of Hustler's "Barely Legal Hardcore" and were among 19 fingerprints of Jackson, his accuser and the boy's younger brother found on pornographic magazines that were seized at the pop icon's Neverland Ranch, a detective told the court.
Prosecutors claim the fact that Jackson's prints and those of his alleged victim were found on the same publication indicated the pop star used the racy publications to "groom" the 13-year-old boy into sex abuse.
The fingerprints of Jackson's alleged victim had also been found on other adult magazines, including a 1993 copy of "Visions of Fantasy," experts testified.
Santa Barbara sheriff's department forensics expert Robert Spinner said 12 of the 19 identified fingerprints belonged to Jackson, five to the accuser and that two were those of the boy's brother.
"The fingerprints are important because the boys testified that Michael Jackson showed them porn," said legal analyst Jim Moret, who is following the trial. "The only way to corroborate that is fingerprints," he said.
But Jackson's lawyers say the accuser's prints were left on at least one magazine when the now 15-year-old boy was asked to identify it to the grand jury that handed down a 10-charge indictment against the pop star in April.
The defense denies Jackson showed the boys porn, arguing that the accuser and his brother thumbed through the magazines when the star was not at home.
Jackson's team got one of the forensic experts to testify that there was no way to date the fingerprints on the eclectic collection that features magazines published between 1993 and 2003.
The testimony came in a second day of detailed evidence from experts who dusted the 46-year-old's Jackson's porn magazines for fingerprints.
Some of the jurors evidently had difficulty staying awake through the meticulous descriptions of how the evidence was taken, sealed, analyzed and inventoried during and after a November 2003 search of Neverland.
Even trial Judge Rodney Melville admitted the tedium was getting to him after prosecutors entered dozens of magazines into evidence and asked Spinner to identify them one by one.
"I can't take any more," the judge exclained, ending the week's proceedings 15 minutes early.
He also reminded the jurors they should not talk of the case, even with their own families or among themselves.
"You are not supposed to discuss the case with anyone but me," he told the 12 jurors and eight alternates who eventually will decide on the fate of the "King of Pop."
Jackson has denied the 10 charges of molesting the then 13-year-old cancer patient, plying him with alcohol and plotting to kidnap him and his family two years ago. He faces 20 years behind bars if convicted.
The entertainer looked fitter and more dapper than in recent days, sporting a black jacket emblazoned with a huge gold elephant motif that he showed off to the courtroom in Santa Maria, California.
The trial was set to continue on Monday with a presentation of previous child sex cases that Jackson settled out of court.
The jurors were told to show up after the planned two-hour mini-hearing, as Melville is yet to decide whether they should hear the potentially crucial testimony from previous accusers.

03/25/2005 23:59 GMT