»Jackson jury shown seized books of nude boys«

Jurors in Michael Jackson's child-sex trial have been shown two books seized from the star's home more than 10 years ago which feature pictures of nude adolescent boys.

Prosecutors entered the books as evidence in the face of strenuous defence objections.

The books were seized from a locked closet in Jackson's master bedroom during a 1993 raid on his Neverland Ranch by police investigating an earlier child molestation case involving the singer.

Friday's proceedings began without the jury, as the rival lawyers locked horns over the admissibility of the books, with prosecutors insisting that they testified to Jackson's sexual proclivity for young boys.

Jackson lawyer Robert Sanger countered that the evidence was so out of date as to be "just plain stale" and argued it was irrelevant to the current case and would prejudice the jury.

After Judge Rodney Melville sided with the prosecution, the defence swiftly sought to lessen the potential impact with jurors.

Stressing that both books were commercially available, Mr Sanger showed the court a projected blow-up from the dust jacket of one volume titled Boys Will Be Boys! - with its image of four blonde boys in swimsuits jumping into a lake.

Mr Sanger also highlighted an inscription, signed "MJ", that described the look of "happiness and joy" on the faces of the boys in the pictures.

"This is the spirit of boyhood, a life I never had and will always dream of - this is the life I want for my children," the inscription read.

The other book, titled The Boy - A Photographic Essay, was inscribed to Jackson from a fan "XXXOOO 'Rhonda'."

Prosecutor Ron Zonen said the photographs of boys in one book were about 90 per cent nude and in the other about 10 per cent.