Santa Maria, Calif.
California prosecutors unveiled their case against Michael Jackson this week, accusing him of fondling a 13-year-old cancer victim after plying him with wine concealed in soda cans marked “Jesus Juice.” In his opening statement, prosecutor Thomas Sneddon Jr. said the pop star once stood “stark naked” before the boy and his brother, 10, and declared, “It’s natural, it’s okay.” Sneddon said Jackson tried to imprison the victim’s family at his estate, Neverland Ranch, to keep them from talking. Defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. sought to shift the focus to the credibility of the boy’s mother. In the days that she was supposedly being held captive, Mesereau said in his opening remarks, she spent $3,312 on cosmetics and spa treatments. She fabricated the abuse claims to extort money, Mesereau said, adding: “These charges are fictitious. They never happened.”
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