Jackson Jury Sees Photos of Mother 'beaten at Store'

The jury in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial has been shown photographs depicting the mother of the alleged victim covered in bruises.

The photographs, which also show her son, then aged eight, with his arm in a sling, were presented by the prosecution to support the woman's claim that she was beaten up by security guards outside a department store in 1998, two years before the alleged molestation by Mr Jackson. The incident led to the woman and her family agreeing a $150,000 (now £78,000) settlement with the store.

"They broke my left hand; they hit, punched all over my body. They did significant muscle damage to my back," Janet Arvizo told the court. She also testified that her son suffered a broken arm, concussion and a black eye.

Although the case is unrelated to the present accusations, Mr Jackson's defence has claimed that the woman lied to get money from the store. It hopes to convince the jury that she habitually lies for financial gain.

The photographs were presented by the prosecution to show Ms Arvizo's credibility after Mr Jackson's defence attorney Thomas Mesereau completed his cross-examination of the 37-year-old mother of four.

Other court documents released yesterday shed some light on the likely strategies the two sides plan to pursue.

The prosecution wants to introduce evidence of the singer's financial problems. It claims Mr Jackson is $300m in debt, money which is allegedly due on December 20. If Mr Jackson is unable to refinance his debts, he will go bankrupt, the prosecution says.

The singer's financial plight is central to the prosecution's claim that Mr Jackson's camp was so alarmed at the potential negative impact on his earnings of the Martin Bashir documentary Living with Michael Jackson that they panicked. From there, argues the prosecution, came the conspiracy to hold the family against their will at Mr Jackson's Neverland ranch until they had agreed to participate in a video rebutting the allegations in the documentary.

Prosecutors argue that with the family under his control, Mr Jackson sexually abused the elder of the woman's two sons.

Two days of cross-examination by the defence has produced eccentric exchanges. Judge Rodney Melville has been forced to intervene, chastising the witness, Ms Arvizo, and Mr Mesereau.

In court documents, Mr Mesereau argued that the 1993 $23m out-of-court settlement paid to the family of Jordan Chandler, a boy who alleged Mr Jackson, now 46, sexually abused him, was paid by the insurers. Mr Jackson's attorneys say that the singer had no say in the decision to settle out of court.

Mr Jackson faces up to 20 years in prison should he be convicted of sexual molestation of a child, administering alcohol to a child to further a crime and conspiracy involving kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion.