Jackson's Witness List Is a Curious Who's Who

Michael Jackson arrives at the courthouse, where lawyers revealed names of possible witnesses, such as Diana Ross and Jay Leno. (Pool Photo Brendan Mcdermid)

SANTA MARIA, Calif, Feb. 14 -- The two sides in Michael Jackson's court case today unveiled the Jackson 500 -- a massive list of witnesses who could help determine whether the faded King of Pop goes to prison or moonwalks away from charges of child molestation.

Jackson's defense-witness list included a few celebrated names from the entertainer's past -- Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones -- and others that seemed drawn from a People magazine grab bag: Jay Leno, Stevie Wonder, Kobe Bryant and psychic spoon-bender Uri Geller.

With Jackson sitting stoically at the defense table, his lead attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., read into the official record some 366 names that the defense intends to call during what is expected to be a five-month-long trial. The alphabetical list was so long that Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville had to call a break midway through the C's.

Prosecutors countered with a mere 146 names, as Jackson's trial resumed today after a one-week break due to a death in Mesereau's family.

Jackson's list of supporting witnesses included dozens of unfamiliar names, including employees at his Neverland Ranch. But it also included a number of celebrities whose connection to Jackson and the 10 felony charges arrayed against him were unclear and never explained in court.

In addition to Ross, Taylor and Jones -- who are longtime friends and mentors of Jackson -- the defense said it intends to call: spiritual healer Deepak Chopra; magician David Blaine; "60 Minutes" anchor Ed Bradley; Fox News correspondent Rita Cosby; former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and his younger brother, pop singer Aaron Carter; actors Corey Feldman and Chris Tucker; comedian Steve Harvey; former Bee Gee Barry Gibb; talk show hosts Larry King and Maury Povich; and Las Vegas hotel mogul Steve Wynn.

The disclosure of so many well-known names as witnesses immediately conjured the image of a long limousine caravan heading toward this isolated hamlet 150 miles north of Los Angeles. But both the defense and prosecution noted that their witness lists could be amended as the trial progresses, and many of the famous people might never appear in court.

Jackson's potential witnesses included several of his relatives and two of his three children, son Prince Michael Jackson, 8, and daughter Paris Michael Jackson, 6. None of Jackson's famous singing brothers, or sister Janet Jackson, were named -- and those relatives who were on the list weren't of the household-name branch of the family. The defense also listed four children of the late Marlon Brando, among them Miko Brando, 44, who worked as a security guard at Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to all 10 of the charges, which include abduction, extortion and committing a lewd act on a boy who was 13 years old at the time. The crimes are alleged to have taken place two years ago at the Neverland Ranch, about 30 miles from here.

Both sides named Feldman, the star of 1980s movies "Gremlins" and "Goonies," and British journalist Martin Bashir, whose 2003 documentary "Living With Michael Jackson" is at the heart of the case. In that film, Jackson appeared holding the hand of the young cancer patient who has since accused him of abuse. Those allegations sparked the investigation that led to the trial.

Feldman appeared in an interview with Bashir on ABC's "20/20" on Friday in which the actor said he now had a "doubt" about Jackson's innocence. "I started looking at each piece of information, and with that came this sickening realization that there have been many occurrences in my life and in my relationship to Michael that have created a question of doubt," Feldman said.

Jackson's one moment of animation in court came early when Judge Melville asked him to stand and face those in the courtroom, which consisted primarily of people waiting to be questioned as possible jurors.

Jackson, dressed in a relatively conservative (for him) dark coat, red satin shirt, multicolored vest and sunburst medallion, stood up, gave a slight, shy wave to those present and sat down again. Looking ghostly white on the closed-circuit feed from the courtroom that reporters watched, Jackson mostly stared straight ahead throughout the day, rarely turning to look at whoever was speaking in the courtroom.

Much of the day was devoted to questioning the first wave of would-be jurors to select the 12 people and eight alternates who will sit in judgment of the man who once declared himself the King of Pop. The process, known as voir dire, is expected to take several weeks.

The outlines of Jackson's defense were apparent from Mesereau's questioning of the jury pool. He repeatedly asked potential jurors whether law enforcement officers had "special credibility" on the witness stand (police investigators are expected to be key prosecution witnesses). He also asked whether children could be influenced by their parents or others to lie, an indication that Jackson's team is preparing to argue that the mother of Jackson's accuser pressured or influenced her son to make false allegations against the entertainer. Every potential juror said children do lie, depending on circumstances.

Prosecutors then asked those in the jury pool whether they were uncomfortable hearing sexually graphic testimony and whether testimony from celebrities carried any special weight. County attorneys also asked whether people had seen the Bashir documentary or watched coverage of the case on "Entertainment Tonight" or in People magazine.

Potential jurors were asked to fill out seven-page questionnaires two weeks ago that contained 41 questions, most of them requiring yes or no answers. They were asked, among other things, if they had any personal experience with sexual abuse, whether they or their relatives knew Jackson and if they had seen or heard anything about the current accusations against Jackson or similar ones made in 1993.

Many of those questioned in court said they didn't trust what they read or saw in the news media, about Jackson or virtually any other subject.

"I guess I don't have such high regard for newspaper people," said one woman, Juror No. 63. Another, asked by Mesereau if he had any involvement in the arts, replied, "I do. I consider myself a karaoke junkie." He said he had sung karaoke "every day since I got my karaoke machine" three years ago.