Michael's Ladies: Liz, Liza

The answer was Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minnelli.

The question to Neverland Ranch manager Joe Marcus was: How many adult women, besides Michael Jackson's two wives, did the pop singer seem to share close, personal relationships with?

In his second day on the stand at the Jackson child-molestation trial, Marcus named Taylor and Minnelli.

And, um, Taylor and Minnelli...

"I'm drawing a blank on a few of the names," Marcus said. "There's other women, I just don't..."

In his first go-round at the question, Marcus actually only came up with Taylor. It wasn't until the cross-examination by prosecutor Gordon Auchincloss that the longtime Jackson employee remembered Judy Garland's daughter.

"Liza Minnelli has been there [to Neverland], and they seem to be good friends," Marcus said.

"So, we're up to two," Auchincloss said. "Any others?"

There were not.

Earlier, jurors heard adult woman Debbie Rowe testify that she never even lived with Jackson during their 1996-99 marriage.

Still, Marcus did have names, or at least memories, of a few young girls with whom Jackson was tight: Karlee Barnes, the sister of defense witness Brett Barnes; "some of the Culkin kids [kin of could-be Jackson witness Macaulay Culkin]"; and "Shane Brando's sister [kin of Marlon Brando]--I don't recall her name."

Unfortunately for the defense, Marcus could identify more young boys--eight, to be exact--with whom Jackson shared a "special bond."

Marcus was the lone witness called to the Santa Maria, California, courthouse on an abbreviated day.

The ranch manager is a key figure for the defense. Besides portraying his Peter Pan-admiring boss as something of a ladies' man, Marcus offered up that he alone directed security guards to prevent Jackson's young accuser and his siblings from leaving Neverland on Feb. 19, 2003.

At the time, Jackson's accuser wasn't yet his accuser--he was a 13-year-old boy who'd achieved notoriety by appearing alongside the pop star in the Martin Bashir documentary, Living with Michael Jackson. The prosecution contends that Jackson and his toadies, in an attempt to clean up the PR damage done by the Bashir special, conspired to hold the boy and his family hostage before spiriting them away to Brazil. Along the way, it is charged, Jackson molested and liquored up the boy.

But the guard shack note, "The kids are not allowed to leave per Joe," had nothing to do with a plot against the family, Marcus testified.

On the stand, Marcus said the children had been motoring around in grown-up vehicles--not just golf carts and ATVs--and explained that he didn't want them to drive off the property without adult supervision. Marcus said he'd also been informed that the children were needed for a "film documentary" and that they needed to stay put until the location was determined.

The "film documentary" was a reference to the video that the prosecution argues the accuser's family was forced to make on Jackson's behalf and that the defense maintains the family was more than happy to star in. Footage from the shoot was to, but ultimately did not, appear in a Fox special that served as Jackson's answer to the Bashir documentary.

Auchincloss suggested that Marcus got religion about keeping the kids holed up at Neverland after getting some sort of nefarious directive himself.

"You were not going to allow those kids off the property, no matter what?" Auchincloss asked. An objection prevented a response.

Elsewhere, Auchincloss sought to impeach Marcus' credibility by pointing out inconsistencies in statements made to police during the November 2003 Neverland raid.

There was the matter of whether alcohol had ever been served at Neverland. Per Auchincloss, Marcus told an investigator it had only been served two times in the history of Neverland.

"Is that true?" the prosecutor asked.

"I believe that to be true," Marcus said.

"It's only been served two times?" Auchincloss continued.

"At events," Marcus clarified.

The ranch manager explained that he considered a gathering of five to 10 people an "event." In that case, he said, alcohol had been served only twice. Dinner parties were another matter, he said. And the prosecution has charged dinner parties were indeed another matter, calling one witness who said she saw children who appeared to be soused at such a, well, event.

Then there was the matter of whether Marcus knew children slept in Jackson's bedroom. Originally, Marcus told police he had no knowledge of such activity.

"That was untrue, wasn't it?" Auchincloss asked.

Replied Marcus: "Yes."

Shoring up his witness, defense attorney Robert M. Sanger got Marcus to talk about how he was having a "stressful morning" when he gave his police interview.

Marcus' testimony was full of land mines for the defense--and Auchincloss detonated as many as possible.

When the prosecutor asked Marcus if Jackson ever left "adult erotic materials" in places where children might see them, Marcus said no. Then Auchincloss showed Marcus photos of what Reuters described as "figurines of nearly naked women in bondage attire." Said figurines were found on the desk in Jackson's office--a place that Marcus conceded children could access.

Marcus went on to explain that he didn't consider the figurines "adult materials." He considered them "a type of artwork of adult nature."

Overall, Marcus helped, more than hurt the defense.

On Monday, the ranch manager said the accuser and his family, even the mother, seemed to enjoy themselves during their Neverland stays in February and March of 2003--a period during which the prosecution contends the brood was being held captive.

Marcus continued with that theme Tuesday, saying he heard the mother conferring with Jackson aides about passport photos for the trip to Brazil. Even more key is what he said he didn't hear: the mother voicing objections.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded innocent to all charges.