Michael Jackson's lawyers rested their defense last night after comedian Chris Tucker described the mother at the center of the child molestation case as "possessed" and said he warned the pop star about her months before sex abuse accusations surfaced.
"Your Honor, the defense rests," lead Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau told the judge after calling 50 witnesses over 15 days intended to cast doubt on the motives and background of the young accuser and his family.
Jackson did not testify and despite a star-studded witness list that once included more than 300 people, including film legend Elizabeth Taylor and basketball star Kobe Bryant, the defense sharply curtailed its case over the past two weeks.
But in a surprise move at the end of yesterday's court session, Jackson's lawyers told Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville that they may use their brief "surrebuttal" case to again cross-examine Jackson's now-15-year-old accuser.
Defense lawyer Robert Sanger said they wanted the boy back if prosecutors were allowed to put on a videotape of his interview with police in which he outlined his accusations against the 46-year-old Jackson.
Prosecutors began a brief rebuttal case on yesterday, which will be followed by an even shorter defense response. Closing arguments were expected to begin next week.
Tucker, who met Jackson's accuser at a Los Angeles comedy club in 2000 and supported him through cancer treatments, told the jury that he wanted to help the sick boy but slowly came to suspect that the family was taking advantage of him and that the mother was unhinged.