Singer's cousin challenges accuser's account
 |  Michael Jackson arrives for court Wednesday. |
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 Celebrities are expected to testify in defense of the pop star.
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SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- A young cousin of Michael Jackson provided graphic testimony Wednesday as the singer's defense attorneys continued to challenge the credibility of the pop star's accuser and family.
Also Wednesday, a videographer who conducted an interview with the accuser and his family in February 2003 testified that their responses were not scripted and they didn't see questions in advance.
Christian Robinson's testimony contradicted earlier testimony by the accuser's mother, who insisted the interview was planned and exhaustively rehearsed. (Mother's testimony)
Robinson told jurors in Jackson's child molestation trial that his questions were screened and edited in advance by Jackson business associate Marc Schaffel. He said he was also instructed to emphasize talking points designed to put Jackson in a positive light -- and was told not to use the word "molest."
On the witness stand Wednesday, the 12-year-old Jackson cousin testified that he saw the accuser and his brother gratifying themselves while he was staying in a guest cottage with them overnight at Neverland Ranch in February 2003. He said the brothers were under the covers in their separate beds, watching nude female images on a television screen.
The cousin said he became frightened and left when one of the boys -- he couldn't remember which one -- encouraged him to participate. After discussing what he had seen with his sister, who was staying in another cottage, he said he ran up to Jackson's bedroom in Neverland's main residence and told him what the boys were watching.
"He didn't believe that," the young Jackson cousin said of his famous first cousin. "He thought they were good."
However, he testified that he did not tell Michael Jackson the boys were gratifying themselves.
"I was scared," he said.
In earlier testimony, both the accuser and his brother had testified they were sexually naive until being introduced to masturbation by Jackson, who they said showed them sexually explicit material and gave them alcohol. (Earlier testimony)
The defense has been trying to impeach their allegations with testimony designed to show that the boys engaged in those activities independently of Jackson.
Missing wine?
The Jackson cousin also testified about another incident in Jackson's bedroom suite, involving the accuser and his brother and a bottle of wine.
Michael Jackson ordered the wine from the chef and then went into the bathroom, his cousin said. When it arrived, he said the accuser and his brother took it upstairs. A short time later, they came downstairs and left.
When he went upstairs, the boy said he saw that the bottle had been opened and some of the wine was missing. He said after Jackson emerged from the bathroom, the entertainer did not ask about the missing wine and did not appear upset that the bottle had been opened.
The cousin, however, gave somewhat contradictory testimony on whether Jackson knew the wine was missing. After initially saying that he had told Jackson that the bottle had been sealed before the boys took it upstairs, he later said he was unsure whether it had been sealed. He also said he did not know if the boys had actually consumed any of the wine.
The Jackson cousin also testified that he saw the accuser and his brother stealing money from a drawer in the Neverland kitchen, and he said they also took some small crystal objects from an office. However, he said he did not report the thefts to anyone at the time.
Recalling Jackson's rebuttal video
The interview with the accuser and his family, conducted by Robinson on February 19, 2003, was designed to be part of a program rebutting "Living With Michael Jackson," an unflattering documentary about the pop star by British journalist Martin Bashir that had aired earlier that month.
The rebuttal, for which Jackson was paid $3 million, aired on the Fox network, although the family's interview was completed too late to be included, according to earlier trial testimony.
In the footage, shown during the trial, family members heaped praise on Jackson, describing him as a father figure and denying that he ever engaged in any improper conduct.
Robinson described the rebuttal as part of a damage control effort after Bashir's documentary showed Jackson holding hands with his accuser, then 13, and defending his practice of sharing his bed with children.
While Jackson was a "musical genius," he was also "a PR nightmare in a lot of ways," Robinson testified.
He said he was asked to emphasize a series of talking points: Jackson was a good person; he'd made the accuser's family part of his own; he was a father figure to them; he was a good parent to his own children; he was misunderstood as a person; and he helped the accuser overcome a bout with cancer.
Robinson described the family as "very eager" and "very happy" at the taping and said their answers were "spontaneous." He said there was no indication they were being held against their will or mistreated, as the prosecution alleges.
Jackson, 46, was indicted last year on 10 felony counts for incidents that include a lewd act on a child; conspiracy to commit abduction, false imprisonment and extortion; and the use of an intoxicant before the commission of a felony. Jackson pleaded not guilty to the charges.
CNN's Dree De Clamecy and Stan Wilson contributed to this report.
