2 Descriptions of Jackson’s Health Differ Sharply : Litigation: An attorney who took a deposition from him last week in a civil case says he was lucid. The singer’s own lawyer says he was glassy-eyed and unfocused on eve of testimony but later improved.

Lawyers who saw Michael Jackson in the days immediately before he aborted his world tour last week came away with vastly different impressions of the singer’s condition: One attorney described Jackson as “glassy-eyed” and unfocused while another said the singer did not appear in any way impaired.

Those competing descriptions of Jackson were made in sworn declarations filed Thursday in connection with a 13-year-old boy’s lawsuit against Jackson. The boy says Jackson sexually molested him over a period of four months earlier this year.

Jackson’s condition during the past few weeks is of intense interest to lawyers on both sides of the boy’s lawsuit because the entertainer abruptly dropped out of sight last week, saying that he had become addicted to painkillers and was unable to continue his world tour. His lawyers say that Jackson is being treated for drug addiction at a secret European location and is unable to be interviewed by attorneys about the child molestation allegations.

The boy’s attorney, Larry R. Feldman, has questioned those claims and accused the entertainer of fleeing in order to delay the civil case.

Included in papers filed by Feldman on Thursday is a sworn declaration from Howard Manning Jr., a Los Angeles attorney representing three clients suing Jackson on an unrelated copyright matter. Manning said he spent 10 hours taking Jackson’s trial testimony in that case on Nov. 8 and Nov. 10.

He added that before he began questioning Jackson, he was warned that the entertainer was taking painkillers because of recent oral surgery. But Manning stated that he saw no obvious effects of drug abuse.

“Mr. Jackson’s demeanor and the manner in which he answered questions was the same as it was when he was originally deposed in 1989,” Manning said. “During the direct examination by his counsel and cross-examination by us, there was no indication that Mr. Jackson’s ability to function on an intellectual level was in any way or to any extent impaired.”

But Manning’s statement is in stark contrast to a sworn declaration submitted by one of Jackson’s lawyers, Eve H. Wagner. Wagner said that she met with Jackson on Nov. 7--one day before Jackson underwent questioning--and concluded he was unfit to give testimony.

“He was glassy-eyed, could hardly stay awake, had difficulty holding physical objects, had slurred speech and seemed unable to focus on the issues I needed to discuss with him,” Wagner said. “I was advised by Mr. Jackson’s doctor that he had taken substantial quantities of painkilling drugs and that, from time to time, these periods of inability to function were the result of that medication.”

By the next day, she said, Jackson “seemed to be doing much better” and he gave the deposition.

Nevertheless, Wagner said that over the next several days, Jackson continued to swing between being “unable to function on a sophisticated, intellectual level” and performing at “75% to 80% of his normal intellectual acuity.” Wagner said she could not explain those swings, but added that they made her deeply concerned about Jackson’s health.

Jackson’s attorneys are seeking a delay in the boy’s lawsuit, arguing that it should not be allowed to proceed as long as the criminal investigation of the entertainer is under way. Bertram Fields, Jackson’s civil attorney, said his client needs to testify to defend himself in the civil case, but does not want that testimony to be used against him in the criminal case.

The only way to protect Jackson’s rights in the criminal case, Fields argues, is to postpone any action in the lawsuit until after the criminal investigation is concluded or until the statute of limitations for child molestation expires in six years. The criminal investigation could be completed within within 60 days.

“In our case, there is no co-defendant who could get across Michael Jackson’s story if he elected to remain silent in the civil trial,” Fields said in his argument for the delay. “In that trial, (Jackson’s) failure to testify would make losing a certainty.”

Feldman, the boy’s attorney, rejected that reasoning, noting that Jackson’s attorneys at first said he would agree to be deposed in the civil trial and then withdrew that offer. Feldman accused Jackson’s lawyers of stalling so that memories may fade and witnesses may become harder to locate.

“With every tick of the clock, there is less chance that (the boy) will remember the intimate details which will be required if he is to prevail,” Feldman stated in his brief. “(Jackson) would be very happy to obtain a two-week delay, a six-month delay or a six-year delay, because any delay weakens (the boy’s) case.”

A Superior Court judge is expected to take up Jackson’s request for a postponement on Tuesday.

Among issues being explored by investigators in the criminal case are the circumstances surrounding Jackson’s recent disappearance from the public stage and its possible implications for the criminal case.

When interviewed by police, the boy described Jackson in detail and included a description of Jackson’s genitalia, sources said. Armed with that description, investigators hope to examine Jackson, but sources said investigators also are attempting to locate doctors who have treated the singer to determine whether he is using his recent exit from public view to alter his appearance.

Authorities apparently are interested in talking to at least two doctors--David Forecast of Great Britain and Arnold Klein of Beverly Hills.

Forecast submitted a declaration from London this week in which he said that he examined Jackson this month in Mexico City and that he is now treating him for an addiction to painkillers.

Klein, a prominent dermatologist whose patients have included a number of celebrities, has had a long association with Jackson. The entertainer said recently that he suffers from a skin pigmentation disorder known as vitiligo, which causes blotching.

Although authorities apparently have not spoken to Forecast, who is in Europe, it was not immediately clear whether they have interviewed Klein. The doctor would not take a phone call from a reporter this week, and his assistant would only say that neither Klein nor members of his staff would comment.