Jackson accuser made prior allegations

updated 7:35 p.m. ET March 18, 2005

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The judge in Michael Jackson’s child molestation trial agreed on Friday to allow testimony that the boy accusing the singer of molestation once claimed comedian George Lopez stole his wallet.

Jackson attorney Robert Sanger said Lopez and the boy met at a comedy club, but later had a falling out. Sanger said the boy, pressed by his father, then accused Lopez of stealing his wallet and demanded $300.

The defense claims the incident shows a pattern of the accuser trying to get money and other things from celebrities. Jackson’s attorneys have said the boy invented molestation claims against Jackson after the boy and his family were evicted from Jackson’s Neverland ranch.

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District Attorney Tom Sneddon sought to block the Lopez evidence, saying the boy tried to resist his father’s plan to say there was $300 in the wallet.

Also Friday, Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville rejected a defense request for a mistrial after a witness mentioned the name of a youngster who leveled sex allegations against the pop star a decade ago.

On Thursday, a former housekeeper at Jackson’s Neverland ranch mentioned the boy who received a multimillion-dollar civil settlement after claiming in 1993 that Jackson molested him.

The defense argued the testimony violated Melville’s ruling that no evidence of past sexual crimes could be admitted unless the judge said so.

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In denying the request for a mistrial, Melville said prosecutors elicited the testimony to establish how much contact Jackson had with boys who visited Neverland, not to suggest any impropriety by the singer.

The judge also set a March 28 date for a hearing on the prosecution request to allow evidence of alleged prior offenses into Jackson’s trial.

Jackson has never been convicted of a sexual offense, but prosecutors want to present witnesses they believe will show that the current case is part of a pattern.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient at Neverland in 2003. No testimony was heard Friday; it will resume on Monday.

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