Michael Jackson watches pre-trial manoeuvring

Michael Jackson – dressed in white and accompanied by members of his family - returned to court to watch a showdown over key evidence with the prosecutor who has pursued the singer for years on child abuse charges.

In a tense, packed courtroom, Jackson’s lawyer Thomas Mesereau took the offensive, questioning Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon for two hours yesterday over a November 2003 search of the office of a private investigator hired by Jackson’s former attorney.