Michael Jackson On The Stand?

Michael Jackson's attorney strongly hinted in his opening statement that the singer would take the stand to refute allegations that he molested a 13-year-old recovering cancer patient.

Twice in his opening statement Mesereau hinted that jurors would hear from Jackson: "Michael will tell you one time he got a very bad feeling at Neverland," Mesereau said at one point, referring to an incident with the accuser's family at his estate.

He also said, "Mr. Jackson will freely admit that he does read girlie magazines from time to time. He absolutely does not show them to children."

"I would be absolutely stunned if Michael Jackson took the stand," said CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. "Jackson won't testify because he's a terrible witness and everyone knows it. He's emotionally fragile. He's not used to being questioned under oath and he's different from everyone else."

The pop star strolled into court with a confident smile Tuesday, and seemed to enjoy his lead defense attorney's opening statement. But then, reports CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales, his confidence seemed to crumble as the prosecution began its case by showing jurors the documentary which sparked this entire scandal.

It was the jurors' first look at Jackson's accuser and his family, viewing the documentary "Living With Michael Jackson," which features the singer holding hands with the boy and explaining that there is nothing sexual about his occasionally sharing his bedroom with children.

Jackson dabbed at his eyes and nose with a tissue and appeared to get emotional when his children were on screen or his parenting was questioned.

Showing the documentary was a good move, says Cohen.

"What they do by putting this video out right away is to isolate Michael Jackson, to show the jury that he has notions and ideas about relationships with young boys that 99.9 per cent in the world don't have," he said.

The documentary wasn't all bad for the defense, though, reports CBS News Correspondent Steve Futterman. In it, Jackson's accuser praises the pop star.

Jackson, 46, who could by cross-examined if he takes the stand, is not on the defense witness list.

"They have not made a decision yet. But clearly they have spoken about it," Jackson spokeswoman Raymone K. Bain said.

But if Jackson does take the stand, CBS News Legal Analyst Mickey Sherman, a defense attorney, says the district attorney should turn over cross-examination to another prosecutor.

"Tom Sneddon has such a visceral hatred and almost a maniacal obsession against Michael Jackson that I don't think he'll contain himself if he cross examines this guy," Sherman said on CBS News' The Early Show.

In the Neverland incident Mesereau described, the boy's mother allegedly grabbed the singer's hand, told her children to join hands, and insisted that everyone pray. Mesereau mentioned sexually explicit magazines because prosecutors allege Jackson showed them to his accuser and his brother.

Mesereau also denied allegations that Jackson served the boy alcohol and that Jackson was involved in a conspiracy to hold the family captive while forcing them to help in a public relations campaign to undo damage caused by the documentary.

Jackson told reporters as he left court Tuesday that he felt "good" but "angry."

Besides footage of Jackson racing go-carts, climbing a tree and going on a Las Vegas shopping spree, the documentary includes November 2002 footage of Jackson and the boy — who would months later accuse him of molestation — holding hands and celebrating the boy's recovery from cancer.

"He's really a child at heart," the boy tells Martin Bashir, the British television journalist who made the program.

When Bashir asks about sleeping arrangements during overnight stays in Jackson's bedroom, the boy says Jackson once told him and his brother, "If you love me, you'll sleep in the bed." Jackson adds that he slept on the floor in a sleeping bag.

Showing the program changed the mood in the courtroom, said CBS News Legal Analyst Wendy Murphy, a former prosecutor, on The Early Show.

"It paints a very awful and strange picture of Michael Jackson that will set the tone for the rest of the trial. He can never explain away this idea that sleeping with boys is just a dandy thing to do," she said.

Prosecutors allege that Jackson molested the boy in late February or early March, after the Feb. 6 airing of the documentary on ABC-TV.

After the viewing, Mesereau sought to have Bashir's testimony and the documentary stricken from the record when Bashir refused to say how many hours of videotape were recorded during the making of the program.

Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville refused to strike the video or the testimony. Mesereau then asked that Bashir be held in contempt and the judge said he would review the testimony before deciding that issue.

Bashir's attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., repeatedly invoked California's shield law for reporters and the First Amendment, saying that as a journalist Bashir did not have to answer questions about unpublished information.

Bashir refused to answer about 30 times, and Mesereau told the judge he wanted to call the journalist back as a defense witness. The judge said he would decide that after Mesereau shows why Bashir should testify.

At times, Jackson gestured expressively for Bashir to speak up and appeared to relish the defense attack on him.

"It's clear he wanted to see Martin Bashir on the hot seat, and he got his wish," said CBS News Consultant J. Randy Taraborrelli.

At the end of the day, the prosecution was questioning a new witness, Ann Gabriel Kite, who said she was brought in by a former Jackson lawyer to do public relations after the Bashir documentary aired.