It's 'High Noon' For Jackson Case

Jurors in Michael Jackson's molestation trial went home last week following a combative and tense exchange between the pop star's accuser and defense attorney. More could be on tap this week.

"Fasten your seat belts, this is going to be a bumpy ride," said CBS News Legal Analyst Trent Copeland.

The teen was due back on the witness stand Monday as Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. continues cross-examination. He testified Thursday about two alleged molestations.

"If this case is going to have its Perry Mason moments they are likely to come now, when Jackson's highly-skilled defense attorney goes after the prosecution's prime witness, the alleged victim in the case," said CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. "Both the lawyer and the witness have had the whole weekend to think about what happens next and when they reconvene it ought to be dynamite."

After Jackson arrived late to court Thursday complaining of a bad back and wearing pajama bottoms, Mesereau alleged inconsistencies in the boy's interviews with law enforcement and said the molestation claim was invented after a meeting with a lawyer.

"After you met with an attorney you came up with a story that you were masturbated by Michael Jackson," Mesereau said.

"No, I never told him about anything," the boy said, referring to the lawyer.

The accuser testified that Jackson twice molested him in Jackson's bed at Neverland Ranch as he and the singer wore pairs of Jackson's pajamas, with the first incident occurring under a blanket. The teen said he believed there were more incidents, but that he couldn't remember them.

That testimony differed from his brother's claimed eyewitness account and it was unclear if they were talking about the same incidents — a potential problem for prosecutors.

Also under cross-examination last week, the accuser, a cancer survivor, said he felt Jackson had not paid as much attention to him as he wanted. "I didn't see him much," the boy said. "He was my best friend in the world and my best friend was trying to avoid me when I had cancer."

Prosecutors allege that Jackson, 46, molested the boy at Neverland in 2003, gave him alcohol and conspired to hold his family captive to get them to rebut the damaging documentary in which Jackson said he shared his bed with children.

"The job for Jackson's lawyer is to make this most crucial witness seem incredible, or at least, inaccurate, so that the prosecution's case wobbles when the jury deliberates," said Cohen. "The alleged victim's job is to keep his cool and answer as best he can. And the prosecutor's job is to try to protect his witness as much as the judge will allow."

On Friday, jurors were not in court as the judge ruled that comedian Jay Leno, an expected witness, can continue to crack jokes at Jackson's expense as long as he doesn't discuss the facts of his testimony.

It's unclear who the next witness will be, reports CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales, but prosecutors asked the judge Friday to let them dig into Jackson's finances. They say he launched a conspiracy to silence the teen because he was worried about going broke.