Jurors in Michael Jackson's child sex trial have been shown a pornographic magazine containing the fingerprints of both the pop star and his young accuser.
Retired detective and fingerprint expert Robert Spinner told Santa Maria Court, California, he had also identified 15-year-old Gavin Arvizo's fingerprints on a different magazine and a sexually explicit calendar. His brother Star's prints were also found on one magazine. Jackson's defence team claims the singer and Arvizo never looked at such magazines together.
It claims the material was marked when it was presented as grand jury evidence last year or when Jackson caught the boys looking at his private collection and snatched it from them.
The publication containing Jackson and Arvizo's prints, Hustler Barely Legal Hardcore, was projected into the courtroom on a large screen.
Twelve other magazines found amongst a vast array of pornography in Jackson's bedroom contained the singer's prints.
These included issues of Playboy, another called Visions of Fantasy Sam and one called Jose's Black Starlett.
Some of the magazines dated back to 1993, while others were new. They were all legal. Forensic experts have spent days describing to jurors how the material was investigated and analysed.
One, Timothy Sutcliffe, acknowledged that labels on two fingerprints were switched. As the defence team sought to undermine the legitimacy of the evidence, court exhibit supervisor Alicia Romero admitted that she and another employee had initially handled the material without wearing gloves.
She said she monitored everyone who viewed the evidence, who all wore gloves. Anthony Urquiza, a psychologist specialising in child sexual abuse, has testified that pornography can be used as "grooming materials" by a paedophile trying to coax a child towards molestation.
Jackson (46), denies abusing Arvizo, then 13, plying him with alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive. The trial was adjourned until Monday.
PA