The boy's sister, 18, told of the entertainer's associates threatening the family and keeping them at Neverland until they praised Jackson on camera, but her testimony seemed rehearsed. The accuser's brother, 14, told of witnessing the fondling, but at one point laughed at the ridiculousness of his own words when he was caught in a small lie, describing shenanigans at Neverland Ranch. The boy accuser was earnest and soft-spoken under Sneddon's gentle questioning. But he became testy under cross-examination.

On Friday, while Jackson was home recuperating from his back ailment, lawyers argued motions. The Judge denied a defense request for the jurors to visit Neverland. The parties clashed over the admissibility of Jackson's finances. And the Court granted Jay Leno's request for exemption from the gag order so he could make jokes about Jackson on the Tonight Show.

Who's left to testify for the prosecution: The accuser's mother (probably necessary for the conspiracy and false imprisonment charges, if not the molestation); expert witnesses on child sexual abuse and battered women's syndrome; and possibly the 1993 accuser, depending on how the court rules on the admission of his testimony.