SANTA MARIA, California - Jurors and others following Michael Jackson's child sex trial are forced to navigate a growing thicket of sordid legal struggles surrounding the case as the evidence unfolds.
In addition to deciphering the already complex charges against the star, panelists, journalists and court observers have been bombarded with details of welter of other litigation and criminal cases involving Jackson, his aides, business associates, his accusers or other witnesses.
For starters, former Jackson bodyguard Chris Carter, a key prosecution witness, will come to court under police escort following his arrest on suspicion of serial armed robbery in the desert gambling hub of Las Vegas.
He is expected to invoke his constitutional right not to incriminate himself as he tells jurors of alleged misconduct by Jackson with children.
Last week, the jury was spared the legal saga of a former Jackson travel agent when Judge Rodney Melville barred her from testifying after she refused to be questioned in court about the secret filming of the singer in a private jet on the day of his arrest.
Jackson is suing the woman after the plane was secretly bugged and copies of the tapes were offered to media outlets for up to 1.5 million dollars, his attorneys allege.
In November, an alleged co-conspirator in kidnapping charges against Jackson, Marc Schaffel, sued the entertainer for over more than three million dollars in unpaid loans and producing fees.
Schaffel, a gay porn producer, claims the faded "King of Pop" blew the money on things such as lavish gifts for famous pals like Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor, who received a 600,000 dollar bauble from Jackson.
Then there's potential prosecution witness Debbie Rowe, Jackson's former wife and the mother of two of his three children.
She's locked in an ugly custody dispute with the singer after initially signing away her parental rights in return for a fat divorce settlement that also bound her to silence about his "sexual behavior," leaked legal documents show.
Jackson's defense attorney was quick to point out that two former employees who gave jurors lurid accounts about Jackson groping, kissing and showering with young boys lost a wrongful dismissal suit against the star and were later countersued for extortion and malice.
And defense questioning of Jackson's teen accuser's mother focused on an 152,000 dollar out-of-court settlement she got from a department store five years ago for alleged sexual assault and beating by security guards who stopped her son for shoplifting.
Jackson's lawyers have done their best to highlight the legal woes of prosecution witnesses in a bid to cast doubt on whether they can be trusted.
"Credibility is what the central issue is in this case, time after time, witness after witness," Susan Filan, a prosecutor who is following the trial, said.
But a key defense witness and former Jackson pal may face a credibility issue on the stand: Ahmad Elatab was arrested in New Jersey on sex charges of his own: sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Jackson, 46, has pleaded innocent to 10 charges of fondling a 13-year-old boy, plying him with wine to seduce him and plotting to hold him and his family hostage in early 2003. He could face 20 years behind bars if convicted.
04/24/2005 12:42 GMT