Family Praises Jackson in Film Seen By Jury

The mother and son at the centre of the Michael Jackson allegations were shown in video footage yesterday praising the 46-year-old singer and insisting there was nothing untoward about his relationship with the boy.

In the fifth day of the child molestation trial, the jury watched a video recording of the pair, which the prosecution said was staged by the Michael Jackson camp in an attempt to neutralise negative publicity generated by a British television documentary exposing his friendships with children.

In the video, which was broadcast on the Fox network in the US, the family, led by the mother, repeatedly praised Jackson as a father figure. They also criticised Martin Bashir's documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, for questioning the mutual affection shown by Jackson and the then 13-year-old boy, describing their relationship as a "natural thing".

"It disturbed me greatly when I saw the innuendos that there was something dirty about it," the mother said.

The video is at the centre of prosecution allegations that Michael Jackson and others kidnapped the family and held them against their will until they had recorded an interview praising the singer.

Watching the uncut video in court, Jackson sat motionless. Behind him, in the public gallery, his sister LaToya, his brother Jermaine and his mother Catherine, also watched attentively. The now 18-year-old sister of the alleged victim watched from the witness stand as she began her second day of testimony. At one point in the video the sister breaks down in tears as she describes the extent of her younger brother's suffering from cancer. She says on the video that Jackson is a "humble, caring and attentive" man.

The prosecution alleges that not only was the family forced to record the interview against its wishes, but that they were also told what to say. In the unedited recording shown to the jury, the family briefly repeat the same words when describing the singer: they all describe him as humble and loving, and all three children refer to him as the father figure lacking in their own lives.

At one point the mother stops one of her children, saying: "You're not supposed to say that."

The defence was expected to argue that although the family seem nervous at appearing in a recorded interview, there was no indication that they were being forced to participate. At one point the mother says that it is impossible that anything could have occurred between Jackson and her son, as was being suggested following the Bashir documentary.

"I am the most vigilant, the most sensitive to making sure my children and I are not subjected to any harm," she says. "He took us on as a family unit and I appreciate it with all my heart.

"We met Michael Jackson when something traumatic and tragic happened to us," she continued, referring to her son's cancer. "Something traumatic was turned into something beautiful."

The trial continues.