The judge in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial told prosecutors today that he was not likely to allow them to show jurors evidence - including teen porn - seized from the entertainer's computers at Neverland Valley Ranch.
Prosecutors said the four hard drives from the 14 computers police seized from a November 2003 raid on Jackson's estate showed the pop star was a practiced Web surfer who looked at teen-themed porn sites as well as sites related to Walt Disney, toys and photographs of adoptable children.
Jackson's accuser, now 15, has told jurors in the trial that the 46-year-old pop star showed him and his brother pornographic Web sites during their first visit to Neverland.
Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss called the computer evidence "powerful corroboration" of that testimony by Jackson's accuser.
"This is important evidence that this defendant views teen erotic materials in his bedroom," Auchincloss said.
But Jackson's lawyers argued that much of the material was not downloaded during February and March of 2003, the period during which Jackson is accused of sexually molesting the then-13-year-old boy and plying him with alcohol. They also said the pornographic material in question was heterosexual, featuring girls or women.
Jackson's lawyers also argued that there was no evidence that he had been the one using the computers at Neverland. Prosecutors countered that one of the computers was identified on-screen as "Michael Jackson's computer," while recovered code names for instant messaging services - BigMike and King777Tut -suggested Jackson was using the machines.
In a setback for prosecutors, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville said he was inclined to side with Jackson's lawyers.
"I have some severe reservations about allowing you to put this on," Melville told prosecutors. "I'm leaning toward excluding it."
The skirmishing over whether to admit the Neverland computers as evidence came before jurors were brought into the court room today.
Jackson, who has complained of a painful back injury, walked slowly and gingerly into court as he has all week, taking the arm of one of his aides and flashing a V-sign to about a dozen waiting fans. After being at least temporarily barred from introducing the content of the computers as evidence, prosecutors summoned as their witness a police detective who had recorded material seized from the raid on Neverland.