Jackson judge to hear arguments on past allegation

Michael Jackson is urging fans to pray for him, and says he has faith that he will be vindicated. But the focus may soon shift to one of the key issues in the case – details of past allegations against the singer.

Prosecutors in Santa Maria, California, say evidence of past child molestation could corroborate a claim from the current accuser, who said he was molested at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in 2003.

But Jackson’s defence team was expected to argue that admitting past evidence would be prejudicial to their client and irrelevant. If it is allowed, however, they will be prepared to contend this case is similar to the 1993 allegations only because the current accuser is a copycat looking for a payoff.

The issue was expected to be taken up today.

“I gain strength from the fact that I know I am innocent. None of these stories are true,” Jackson told the Rev. Jesse Jackson in an hour-long interview broadcast live over the internet yesterday.

Declaring himself “completely innocent,” the entertainer said he believed he was the victim of a conspiracy, although he declined to elaborate, citing the court-imposed gag order that prevented him from discussing the ongoing trial in detail.

He also said he believed he was just the latest of several “black luminaries” to be unjustly accused, citing former South African President Nelson Mandela and former heavyweight boxing champions Muhammad Ali and Jack Johnson as others.

The prosecution in the Jackson trial ended last week by showing jurors its most important and controversial piece of evidence – a sexually explicit magazine containing three fingerprints from Jackson’s accuser and one from the pop singer himself.

If Judge Rodney Melville allows them to admit past evidence, jurors could hear about molestation allegations from 1990 and 1993 that ended in civil settlements, but no criminal charges. Both settlements barred the accusers from speaking out, but prosecutors could call on them to testify.

Melville has said he may rule immediately after arguments on the matter.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting the then-13-year-old boy at Neverland in February or March 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy’s family captive to get them to make a video rebutting a documentary in which Jackson appeared with the boy and said he let children sleep in his bed. The singer said it was non-sexual.

“There was a frustration in ’93 that we weren’t allowed to go to trial,” said former Santa Barbara Sheriff Jim Thomas, who investigated the cases. “At least it has the chance to go through the process now.”

Yesterday, Jackson said he was currently in “the lowest point emotionally” of his life, but denied he was on the verge of bankruptcy. He also said he remained in “intense pain” after falling in the shower earlier this month, although he added that his “health is perfect”.