The prosecution has removed and analyzed bedding from Neverland and had seized sexually explicit books, magazines and DVDs. They have also taken DNA from Jackson, a swab of saliva and skin cells from his mouth.
Other details have emerged from leaked documents, including grand jury testimony which appeared earlier this month on the Web site TheSmokingGun.com and in excerpts on ABC News, which contend that Jackson gave the alleged victim wine in a soda pop can, which he called "Jesus juice," showed him pornography and masturbated him.
Jackson greeting several hundred children invited to his Neverland Valley Ranch on Dec. 17.
(Mark J. Terrill -- AP)
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"I've never seen a case with as much secrecy," said Stan Goldman, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "I know the judge is trying very hard to prevent prejudicing the jury pool, but the chance of finding 12 jurors who don't know what's going on seems highly unlikely."
Jackson has already gone through two lawyers and is now represented by a lead defense attorney, the silver-maned Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., who defended boxer Mike Tyson.
Mesereau will likely focus on the testimony of the accuser, now 15, and more intensely, on that of his mother.
"The jury has to believe the kid," said Laurie Levenson, a criminal law professor at Loyola. "Here, though, we have the extra complication that the jury also has to believe the mother."
The mother, outside attorneys speculate, will be grilled about her motives, her hiring of attorneys (including one who represented the child in the 1993 incident) and a lawsuit against JCPenney, in which she won a settlement after she was allegedly manhandled by security after being accused of shoplifting.
"I think the mother will be the big problem for the prosecution," said Jayne Weintraub, a criminal defense attorney in Miami. "Who in their right mind has a child who comes to you and says he's been molested and you don't report it to the police. First you go to a lawyer? Her first agenda was getting money."
The mother, however, in early statements through a lawyer before the gag order was imposed, said she never asked for money from Jackson and would not seek any.
The defense, too, will likely focus on previous statements the alleged victim and his family gave to child protective service investigators in Los Angeles, which found no evidence at the time to pursue a case against Jackson.
Regarding an issue crucial to both sides, prosecutors have asked to present evidence of past allegations of sexual abuse by Jackson, including details of the 1993 investigation.
A 1996 California law allows the introduction of past acts to demonstrate that a defendant in a sexual molestation case has shown a "propensity" to commit abuse. Melville, however, said he would postpone a decision on whether to allow past, unproven accusations until after the prosecutors present their case.
"The biggest hurdle for the state will be getting in that other incident from 1993," said Grimm, the defense attorney from Washington. If the prosecution succeeds in that, "it'll be over. The jury is going to say this is too coincidental."
Will Jackson take the stand? If the case boils down to "he said, he said," some attorneys speculate that the jury will want to hear Jackson tell his side. But therein lies great danger for Jackson, who would open himself up to cross-examination.
After Michael's arrest, Jermaine Jackson said the charges against his brother were "nothing but a modern-day lynching." In early court appearances, Jackson surrounded himself with advisers and bodyguards from the Nation of Islam, bringing the combustible issue of race into the mix.
Outside observers are not sure, though, how much of Jackson's heritage will play a role in the trial.
"Some people do think he's being taken down as a black man. But he's done so many physical things to change his appearance. What is his racial identity at this point?" said Huggins, the editor of NiaOnline.
The court issued summonses to several thousand prospective jurors, who will come to the courthouse in shifts of 150 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to fill out jury questionnaires. The following week, lawyers are scheduled to begin their voir dire questioning of potential jurors.
