Jackson witness admits 'bed lie'

Mr Jackson's spokeswoman said the star was ready to testify

A defence witness in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial has admitted he lied to police about never seeing children sleep in the star's bedroom.

Joseph Marcus, the property manager at Mr Jackson's Neverland ranch, told the court that he had seen children sharing the singer's bed on a regular basis.

He was the latest among several ranch staff called by the defence to testify.

Mr Jackson denies 10 charges, including molesting a boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family.

If convicted, Mr Jackson, 46, could face 20 years in jail.

Testifying for a second day on Tuesday, Mr Marcus told the court in Santa Maria, California, that he had known the singer for 18 years.

He reaffirmed that he had never seen anything inappropriate happen at Neverland in California.

But under cross-examination by the prosecution, Mr Marcus admitted lying in a police interview about not seeing children sleeping in the singer's bed.

Mr Marcus was questioned by detectives shortly after Mr Jackson's arrest in November 2003.

Names

The prosecution on Tuesday also challenged Mr Marcus' assertion that the singer had special bonds with some girls as well as boys.

When pressed to give names, Mr Marcus - after some hesitation - managed to recall two girls.

He also said actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minnelli seemed "to be good friends" with Mr Jackson.

On Monday, Mr Marcus and others past and present employees of the pop star testified in his defence.

They said Mr Jackson had not abused boys at Neverland.

Both Mr Marcus and the safety co-ordinator also denied prosecution allegations that the singer's accuser, Gavin Arvizo, and his family had been held at the ranch against their will.

Prosecutors say there was a plot to force them to speak in his defence following a critical TV documentary aired in 2003.