Michael Jackson treated for back problems

Michael Jackson was treated at a hospital emergency room for “excruciating” back pain, a day before jurors in his molestation case were to begin their first full day of deliberations.

The singer, who has complained of back trouble throughout his trial, left the Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital late yesterday to the screams of fans. He had arrived nearly six hours earlier.

“He’s in excruciating pain,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who met with the singer, told CBS’ The Early Show today. “The physical pain is real. There’s also a sense he feels betrayed by those he trusted and was betrayed before a jury.”

The singer’s spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, told CBS he had been given muscle relaxants in the past for back spasms and probably received the same treatment yesterday.

Also today, ABC’s Good Morning America played a tape recording of Michael Jackson that it said was made in 2000 by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, then a spiritual adviser for the star.

In the tape, Jackson says he could not live without children, and if he was told he could “never see another child I would kill myself, I swear to you. Because I have nothing else to live for.” He also referred to the young accuser, a cancer patient, saying: “He was cheated out of his childhood.”

The singer is charged with molesting then 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo in February or March 2003. He is also accused of plying him with wine and conspiring to hold the boy’s family captive.

After leaving the hospital, Jackson returned to his Neverland ranch about five miles away to await the verdict with his family.

Jurors received Jackson’s case Friday afternoon and deliberated for about two hours before adjourning for the weekend. They were scheduled to resume later today.

The apparent medical problem was one of several the 46-year-old singer has faced at key points in his trial. Jury selection was halted in February when he complained of flu-like symptoms, and he said his back problem began on a day when his accuser was on the stand.

The singer said at the time that a fall had forced him to go to the emergency room, and he rushed back to court wearing pyjama bottoms when the judge threatened to have him arrested.

Bain said stress contributed to the entertainer’s back problem yesterday. “He’s under a tremendous amount of stress right now,” she said. “Other than his back, he is doing fine.”

Although Jackson wasn’t seen leaving the hospital yesterday, it was believed he departed in one of two sport utility vehicles that were driven slowly away from the hospital, chased by several people. His aides had erected white scaffolding outside the emergency room entrance to block the view of photographers.

Olivia Kennedy, switchboard operator at the hospital, said staff had been asked not to release any information about Jackson.