Jackson's Accuser in Hot Seat

It is unclear when prosecutors first became aware of Alpert's account. Los Angeles attorney Thomas Flicker Forsyth said in an interview with the Associated Press late Monday that he was representing a potential witness who "was part of the school administration at the time he had contact with the victim." He said his client met with prosecution and defense attorneys Saturday, and that he believed his client would be called as a witness.

As the day wore on, Mesereau, through his questions, also accused the boy of sneaking alcoholic drinks at Jackson's Neverland home, stealing "a laminated $1,000 bill" ("Is there such a thing even as a $1,000 bill?" the boy retorted) and being caught sexually pleasuring himself.

On details small and large, the boy contradicted testimony he'd already given to the grand jury, as well as interviews he gave Santa Barbara County detectives. He has also contradicted key parts of testimony given by his younger brother and older sister last week.

For the third time since the trial began, the court was shown about an hour's worth of raw footage on Monday of the rebuttal family members say they were coerced into making in the middle of the night, in which they smile and talk in effusive terms about how Jackson had been a positive influence in their life and a man they considered to be a father figure.

"The toughest part of this case is the false imprisonment charge," said Jim Hammer, a former prosecutor and Fox News analyst. "It's the Achilles' heel for the prosecutor." Every time jurors get another look at the rebuttal video, the family members "don't look like they're being held against their will."

Less worrisome for the prosecution, Hammer said, is the blurring of details the accuser has given about the alleged abuse compared to how his brother has described it. It's still unclear from testimony, analysts have noted, if the boys are talking about the same or separate incidents.

"Kids' memories do get mixed up," Hammer said. "It's not unusual for a child to deny it ever happened," even after giving testimony saying something did. "If I were the D.A. I would light votive candles at the local Catholic church [praying] that Michael Jackson will testify." (Mesereau hinted to jurors in his opening arguments that they would hear from Jackson himself about details in the case.)

At times during Monday's cross-examination, it seemed as if the boy and his family had become defendants and not accusers, and the exchange between the boy and Mesereau was frequently contentious. Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville at one point told Mesereau to "Stop it. You're arguing with the witness. Start asking questions."

In other testimony Monday, the boy denied ever speaking to "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno. Leno is on the list of potential defense witnesses.

"He testified that he never called Leno. If [Leno] is called [to testify] and says [he] did, that alone will decimate the boy's credibility," Hammer said. "It could come down to that."

According to his publicist Raymone Bain, Jackson is still recovering from a back injury suffered last Thursday, which led him to appear at court an hour late, wearing pajama bottoms. On Monday, a much more collected Jackson showed up promptly and wore a blazing red sportcoat with one his crest insignias on the left breast pocket and his customary black armband on the right, paired with black trousers. The air conditioning in the courtroom aggravates the stiffness in Jackson's back, Bain told reporters, and makes his days "painful."

In considering several motions Friday, Melville said it was permissible for Jackson to make, and even sell, any rebuttals to testimony so far, so long as the judge has some form of script approval before any such statement is released or broadcast. Bain said, "There has not been any activity on that, but [Jackson] is glad that he can have that option."

After the judge clarified Friday that potential witness Leno is free to make jokes about Jackson on his show, the comedian told dozens that night. Asked how her client likes being made fun of, Bain replied: "What he has consistently said is, it is not a good feeling to be the butt of all these jokes."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.