Judge in Jackson case to allow testimony about Lopez

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) -- 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 money from his wallet.
Documents filed by defense attorney Robert Sanger said the boy and his father contacted Lopez after a visit to his house and said he had left his wallet, which contained several hundred dollars. Lopez and his wife located the wallet and found that it actually contained a few dollars. The incident led to a falling out between Lopez and the boy's family, the documents said.
The defense motion claims the incident shows evidence of the family's "pattern and practice of coaching the children to lie for financial gain." 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.
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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