SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The attorney who secured a multimillion dollar sexual molestation settlement against Michael Jackson 12 years ago on behalf of a teenage boy testified Friday about how he came to be involved with Jackson’s current accuser, who says Jackson sexually fondled him at the Neverland Ranch.

Attorney Larry Feldman, who was contacted by the accuser’s civil attorney in 2003, told jurors that within weeks of meeting with the boy and his family he hired a psychologist “to let an expert figure it out, what had happened.”

“I had to make heads or tails out of what was being said to me by [the accuser, his mother and his siblings],” said Feldman.

Based on the interviews Dr. Stan Katz conducted, Feldman said, the two men went to the LA County Department of Children and Family Services to file a report of sexual molestation against Jackson. The next day, they went to the police. Katz was the same doctor who interviewed Jackson’s 1993 accuser, Jordie Chandler, who is now in his 20s.

“He was adorable,” Feldman said Friday, as he identified a photo of a teenage Chandler, who at the time, bore a similar resemblance to Jackson’s latest accuser, whose name is currently being withheld by Court TV.

While Feldman maintained there is no pending civil suit for monetary damages against Jackson, he and the accuser’s civil attorney, Bill Dickerman, are engaged in a fee-sharing agreement, so that if a suit is pursued and won, they would reap any reward.

Feldman also conceded that the accuser and his brother, who claims to have witnessed some of the alleged molestation, have until the age of 20 to decide whether to sue Jackson.

“If at the end of this trial, they decide they’d like to sue, they’d have plenty of time wouldn’t they?” defense attorney Thomas Mesereau asked the witness.

“If they’d like to, sure,” Feldman replied.

Jackson claims he is innocent and being targeted by greedy civil attorneys and an opportunistic family he once invited into his home. He faces up to 20 years if convicted.

Meseareau insinuated that Feldman’s experience in the Chandler case made him wise to the high cost of pursuing a civil trial before a criminal one.

“Did you tell a grand jury in Santa Barbara County that you incurred tremendous costs and expenses in the 1993 case?” Mesereau asked.

Feldman gave guarded answers, ultimately denying Mesereau’s suggestion that he was letting the county incur investigative costs in the criminal trial only to save money on a future civil trial, in which the burden of proof is much lower.

“If there were a conviction in this case, essentially the only question remaining would be how much money you get?” Mesereau asked.

“I think that’s close,” Feldman said. “But nothing is ever as simple as you’ve stated it. You and I both know that.”

Since the judge allowed prosecutors to present some testimony about previous alleged bad acts by Jackson, they had greater latitude in questioning Feldman about the 1993 Chandler case, but he was not allowed to discuss the dollar amount of the settlement.

“With regard to Jordan Chandler vs. Michael Jackson,” District Attorney Thomas Sneddon asked the witness, “was that resolved in Mr. Chandler’s favor?”

“It was absolutely resolved in Jordie Chandler’s favor,” Feldman said with a triumphant intonation.

In a “confession of judgment” settlement, in which neither side admitted wrongdoing, Jackson agreed to pay the boy more than $20 million.

The suit, according to Feldman, was based on seven causes of action, relating to Jackson’s alleged sexual molestation of Chandler, who was then 13 years old.

Jurors also heard briefly from Jesus Salas, a former house manager at Neverland Ranch who had daily contact with Jackson and supervised the singer’s maids and cooks and kept the home and kitchen well-stocked.

Salas, who said he typically worked from 7 a.m. until 1 or 2 a.m., left his position in May or June 2003 because he it was “time to move on” from the very stressful job.

Prosecutors contend that Jackson held the accuser and his family against their will in 2003. Salas, who testified to a grand jury that the accuser’s family was not allowed to leave Neverland without approval from Jackson aides, will likely be questioned about the alleged imprisonment when he returns to the stand Monday.

Jackson, who says he is still suffering from back pain due to a recent slip in the shower, appeared tired and wan as he arrived for the 24th day of his child molestation trial Friday morning.

Protesters and fans mingled outside the courthouse Friday.

He wore a slightly rumpled black suit and chocolate colored armband. He produced a pained smile and a wave to screaming fans, who were separated from him by a chainlink fence and a host of armed deputies.

Joining the usual Jackson supporters and detractors Friday morning were a small group of war protesters, who chanted and picketed for the TV cameras, adding to the pastiche of homemade posters sharing sidewalk space.

“Save the children, stop the war,” signs mingled alongside “We’ve had enough of child molesters,” which were met by “Leave the Man in the Mirror Alone” placards.

At one point, the Jackson supporters and the anti-war set found a harmonious connection, when one group’s chants of “Innocent, Innocent” was followed by the other’s “Bush is not, Bush is not.”