EDIT Jackson leaves court, court sketches, attorney comment

(11 Mar 2005)

1. Michael Jackson and entourage leaving the court
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Brian Oxman, Attorney for Michael Jackson:
"Michael Jackson asked me to make a statement here - he tripped this morning and he fell early morning when he was getting dressed. His back is in terrible pain, he was in terrible discomfort during the entire trial proceedings, he is going to go home, recuperate, rest and relax and he will be back on Monday and he is looking forward to being here. He went to the emergency room this morning and he was given medications and so he will be back on Monday and we are all thank you so very much. You take care."

3. Jackson and entourage walking towards cars

4. Various of courtroom sketches

STORYLINE:

Michael Jackson left court on Thursday after a dramatic day in his trial.

Jackson was nearly jailed before he finally showed up for his child molestation trial more than an hour late, in pyjama bottoms and slippers, to listen to his accuser''s second day of testimony.

The judge apparently did not punish Jackson for his lateness, which his lawyer blamed on a serious back problem that required treatment at a hospital.

Jackson''s late arrival occurred before his 15-year-old accuser testified about drinking liquor with the pop singer and looking at sex magazines with him. He also said he once saw Jackson walk in to the room naked.

The jury heard only brief remarks from Judge Rodney S. Melville about the drama that unfolded at the start of the day, when defence lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. announced Jackson''s back problem.

"He tripped this morning and he fell early morning when he was getting dressed. His back is in terrible pain, he was in terrible discomfort during the entire trial proceedings" said Brian Oxman, from the Jackson''s defence team.

Prosecutors allege that Jackson, 46, molested the then-13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003, gave him alcohol and conspired to hold his family captive to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary in which Jackson said he shared his bed with children.

The witness told the court that at some point Jackson showed him sexually explicit magazines found in a briefcase belonging to an employee.

Under questioning from District Attorney Tom Sneddon, the boy said he looked at sex magazines with Jackson and that they frequently drank wine and other alcohol together.

In testimony that was hushed and sometimes mumbled, the boy said a night of drinking in the arcade at Jackson''s Neverland Ranch ended in Jackson''s bed, where the singer asked him if he ever masturbated and offered to "do it for me."

"He said if men don''t masturbate they can get to a level where they might rape a girl or they can be kind of unstable," the boy said of Jackson.

He said Jackson then masturbated him under a blanket and "about a day after" molested him in the bedroom again. In the second instance, he said, he resisted an attempt by Jackson to place the boy''s hand on Jackson''s genitals.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. accused the witness of making up the story only after meeting with an attorney.

The boy, who had one of his kidneys removed as part of the cancer treatment, also said that at various times in Jackson''s private quarters - his bedroom, office and a wine cellar - he was given drinks he described as vodka, rum, and "Jim Bean," apparently meaning Jim Beam bourbon.

The boy told the jury that he and his brother were once on Jackson''s bed at Neverland when the singer came in naked, but the account differed from earlier testimony by the brother.

The trial will resume on Monday.

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