As the prospective jurors filed into the Santa Barbara County courtroom, Michael Jackson hopped to his feet with a disarmingly warm smile of greeting. "This time there will be no moon walking on the roof of his car," says former Bay Area prosecutor Jim Hammer, referring to the incident last year when Jackson showed up for his arraignment and danced atop his vehicle. Jackson's apparent desire to tone down his act seemed in keeping with the fact that he is facing 10 criminal counts involving the alleged molestation of a 13-year-old boy. "He's all about taking care of business," says one source close to Jackson. "He looks like he's ready to fight this out."

That determination will come in handy because his legal battle is likely to be long and bruising. Prosecutor Tom Sneddon has assembled a case against Jackson, 46, that will draw on a considerable body of circumstantial evidence but whose centerpiece will be the direct testimony of the accuser, who is now 15 and a recovering cancer patient. If convicted, Jackson could be sentenced to more than 20 years in jail. That is not to say, however, his case is a slam dunk. "If the prosecution had a perfect case," says Ruth Jones, a professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, "there would have been a plea bargain."

For both sides, jury selection—which is expected to take at least three weeks—is fraught with uncertainty. Santa Barbara County is predominantly Latino and white with many socially conservative, blue-collar workers, a demographic that may not be ideal for Jackson. Still, says Hammer, the pressure in selecting jurors is mostly on the prosecution, which needs 12 "guilty" votes to convict. "The prosecution has to get this 100 percent correct," says Hammer. "That's how high the stakes are."

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Both Sides Now: Keys to the Case
1. THE ACCUSER'S TESTIMONY

PROSECUTION: Says Jackson plied him with alcohol and groped him at Neverland ranch.

DEFENSE: Will point out that the boy initially told child welfare investigators he had not been abused. "False in one, false in all," says former Seattle prosecutor Anne Bremner.

2. IS THE ACCUSER'S MOTHER JUST AFTER MONEY?

PROSECUTION: Will argue, "She isn't on trial," says law professor Laurie Levenson.

DEFENSE: She could be "a dream come true," says Bremner, perfect "fodder for cross-examination."

3. PORNOGRAPHY AT NEVERLAND

PROSECUTION: Sexually explicit magazines and DVDs were seized from Jackson's bedroom. "It can be argued that he used porn to get the boys aroused," says Bremner.

DEFENSE: "If this material is not devastating, it helps the defense argue that the prosecution is overreaching," says law professor Ruth Jones.

4. THE 2003 ABC DOCUMENTARY

PROSECUTION: Shows the accuser holding hands with Jackson, who allegedly molested him two weeks after the news special aired.

DEFENSE: "The argument could be Jackson had access to a lot of kids," says Jones, "so why would he pick that child, who had been featured in public?"

5. THE WILD CARD: THE 1993 ACCUSER In 1994 Jackson settled with a then-14-year-old boy, who had accused the singer of molestation; Jackson paid him between $15 million and $20 million. Prosecutors in the current case have asked that the earlier accuser (right), now 25, be allowed to testify; Judge Rodney Melville has yet to rule on the motion.