The mother of Michael Jackson's accuser has told the jury in his trial that the singer's aides used fear and surveillance to keep her family prisoner in the weeks following the 2003 broadcast of a damaging TV documentary.
Janet Arvizo claimed she and her family were kept prisoner for three weeks in late February and early March 2003, with phone calls monitored and guards placed outside their room at Jackson's Neverland Ranch and their hotel.
She said she and her family were coerced into appearing in a "rebuttal video" which depicted Mr Jackson in a positive light.
She said she agreed to let the singer's entourage take her family to Brazil after the documentary and subsequent "rebuttal video" because she feared her loved ones would be killed if she refused to co-operate.
When asked why she signed passport applications for herself and her three children in early 2003 when she claimed she did not want to leave the United States, she said: "Because of my parents' life and (boyfriend's) life."
"Because they were going to be killed," she told prosecutors during her second day of testimony.
When asked why she never contacted the police, she replied: "Who could possibly believe this?"
The trip to Brazil did not subsequently take place and while the "rebuttal video" has been shown to the jury, it has never been broadcast.
Janet Arvizo is due to be cross-examined by Mr Jackson's defence team today.
He denies all the charges.
