Jackson and mother of boy he is accused of molesting meet in court

POP STAR Michael Jackson yesterday came face to face with the mother of a boy he is accused of molesting for the first time since the case began.

The 36-year-old woman, who had allowed her children to make overnight visits to Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, made the sign of the cross after entering the courtroom in California.

She glanced briefly at Jackson, aged 46, who stared at her throughout her testimony. She did not look back at him.

At a grand jury hearing earlier this year the woman had described the singer as “the devil.” Jackson was greeted with cheers from dozens of fans when he arrived at the Santa Barbara County courthouse.

The woman took the stand in a hearing at which Jackson’s defence is seeking to exclude evidence seized from a private investigator’s office on grounds of lawyer-client privilege.

Jackson’s lawyers hope to show that the accuser’s mother and prosecutors should have known private investigator Bradley Miller was working for Jackson’s then-lawyer Mark Geragos when authorities seized items from Mr Miller’s office.

During questioning of the woman, Mesereau referred repeatedly to a transcript of an interview between Mr Miller and the mother on February 16, 2003, just days after her young son appeared with Jackson on a television special.

Mesereau noted the transcript said Mr Miller told her at the beginning and end of the interview that he was a private investigator working for “specifically an attorney named Mark Geragos who works for Michael Jackson.”

She would not answer directly when Mesereau repeatedly asked if the document was false. “I’m not denying it was said. I’m saying I don’t remember.”

Jackson has pleaded not guilty to child molestation, conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent, alcohol.