The teenage boy who accused pop icon Michael Jackson of child abuse must face the superstar in open court, the judge in the case ruled.

Judge Rodney Melville made the critical decision over the objections of prosecutors in the last pre-trial hearing ahead of Monday’s official start of the trial of one of the most famous people ever to face such serious criminal charges.

But while ruling that the 15-year-old alleged victim and his 14-year-old brother must testify in open court instead of from behind closed doors, Melville warned he would not tolerate any intimidation of the children.

“Whether I keep an open courtroom will depend on what happens during their testimony,” Melville said warning that he would entertain no “hand gestures, mutterings” or any other expressons towards the children from the gallery.

“It is critical there be no disruption in their testimony,” he told the rival lawyers in the case after Jackson’s lawyers won their bid to force the boys to testify in open court.

Source: Associated Press

The global spotlight will shortly fall on the Californian town of Santa Maria, where pop star Michael Jackson is to stand trial for child abuse. The BBC’s Peter Bowes is there and will be reporting throughout the proceedings.

Thursday 27 January : 1615 local time (0015 GMT Friday)

Three days to go before Michael Jackson appears in court for jury selection in his child molestation trial.

There is a palpable tension around the courthouse. Gone are the days of leisurely pre-trial hearings with only a handful of reporters and even fewer fans. This is the real deal.

Satellite dishes already dominate the skyline - but there is much work to be done by the arriving media. There are some worried faces. Will the local telephone company install the lines in time?

The first thing I noticed on approaching the building was the increased security.

Not one, but two chain link fences forming a double barrier between the fans and the court grounds. The police mean business. That said, everyone knows it is going to be a circus.

Source: BBC

Diane Diamond will host a one hour Michael Jackson special called “Inside Michael Jackson’s Mind”. The show will broadcast on February 1st 2005.

Source: Court TV

Sixth-graders at three Santa Maria schools are losing a planned anti-drug-abuse program this spring because the city needs as many police officers as possible near the Santa Maria Courts Complex while Michael Jackson is on trial.

Students at Taylor, Tunnell and Alvin schools will not be able to participate in D.A.R.E. activities - a program popular with both kids and their parents. D.A.R.E. is an acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

Officer Al Torres with the Santa Maria Police Department is assigned to schools in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District to present anti-drug information to sixth-graders, said Doug Palmer, district director of student services.

“We’ve always understood that if an officer has other priorities, those supersede us,” said Palmer, noting that the city pays for the D.A.R.E. officer.

“We’re real disappointed,” said Lt. Mike Cordero of the SMPD. “We like to think that we catch these kids before they reach the upper grades.”

Source: Santa Maria Times

International press and Michael Jackson fans are arriving in droves to Santa Maria in preparation for the singer’s child molestation trial, and some business owners say they are already cashing in on the frenzy.

Platforms have been built around the Santa Maria courthouse to house media outlets like NBC National News for Jackson’s trial; across the street, crews have created staging for Larry King and CNN. Attorney Michael B. Clayton says he’s found a way to cash in on his building’s prime location.

“It’s the only flat roof in the area,” explains Clayton. “Basically, I have six spots on the roof that we’re renting out, and we’re also renting out the parking lot.”

Although Clayton won’t divulge the going rate, sources say space is being rented for $2,300 a day. The classified section of a local newspaper also includes several listings for housing within walking distance of the courthouse. Jackson fans Sheree Wilkins and Susie Mumpfield relocated to Santa Maria from Los Angeles for the duration of the trial.

“I resigned from a 13-year position as a kindergarten teacher and I moved here to fight for an innocent man’s life,” says Wilkins.

Wilkins and Mumpfield are paying $1,100 for one month’s rent, and are now looking for employment anywhere to fund their loyalty to Jackson.

“Carls Jr., the Goodwill, the mall, whatever I can get my hands on I’m there,” says Mumpfield. “I don’t care how low the job is, I’m there.”

Many Santa Maria motels and inns are also booked, and attribute that in part to the 800 press credentials court officials have issued for the trial.

“We are booked solid next week,” says John Reinacher, of the Santa Maria Inn. “Our numbers are up 30%. It’s a good thing for our business.”

Source: KSBY

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Dozens of adult-oriented books, magazines and DVDs seized at Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch — one with the fingerprints of Jackson and his accuser — can be used as evidence in the singer’s upcoming trial, the judge ruled Friday.

The judge also ruled that Jackson’s accuser should testify in open court instead of in a closed courtroom with an audio hookup for the media.

At a hearing just three days before the start of jury selection, Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville permitted most of the proposed evidence to be used at trial but said the prosecution could not refer to the material as pornography, obscenity or erotic. Instead, the words “adult” or “sexually explicit” can be used, he said.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen said the 50 print and video items that were seized in 2003 included graphic sexual material that was heterosexual and homosexual in nature. The material also included nude photos of models who may have been 18 but looked much younger, he said.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. countered that all the materials seized were legally available. In the case of the magazine with the prints, he said, evidence will show Jackson took it away from his accuser and locked it up.

Zonen said investigators found the fingerprints of Jackson and his accuser on one of the magazines but gave no further details.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy and plying him with alcohol.

Jury selection could last as long as a month, with the judge and attorneys for both sides expected to screen as many as 750 prospective jurors.

Melville ruled that several items could not be used as evidence, including three books seized in 1993 that allegedly show pictures of nude adolescents.

Prosecutors had wanted to close the courtroom to the media and public when the boy, now 15, and his 14-year-old brother testify, proposing that reporters be allowed to hear their voices through an audio feed. But the judge ruled Friday that the courtroom should be open, adding that he would consider closing it if there were any disruptions.

A coalition of media covering the high-profile case, including The Associated Press, had argued that the boys’ testimony should not be closed.

On another matter, the judge ruled that jurors will be allowed to see a British documentary broadcast on ABC-TV in 2003 that contains footage of Jackson and his accuser holding hands and Jackson defending his practice of sleeping in the same bed with children.

Source: Associated Press

Los Angeles - On KFI Radio’s ‘John Ziegler Show’ today, Geraldo Rivera, via phone from Iraq, stated to the Los Angeles broadcaster that he believes firmly that Michael Jackson is “stone cold innocent.”

“Generally, Michael Jackson is being railroaded,” Rivera told John Ziegler of KFI. “The case against him will be revealed, as you go forward in the days and weeks to come, to be so fatally flawed that you’ll wonder why a sitting district attorney decided to even bring this case based on the evidence and the motivation of the complainant. Wait until you see the case against Jackson fall apart in the coming days and weeks…”

John Ziegler went on to ask him whether the case is poor or if Michael Jackson is innocent or both. Rivera replied: “I don’t know Michael Jackson. I’ve spent some time with him recently.. he seems much more normal than anything I’ve ever read about him. But about this particular case, he is innocent. He is stone cold innocent. He never… Let me be unequivocal so there is no doubt about where I stand on this. After my own investigation and spending time with him, reviewing the state’s case to the extent that it’s available… and when you see the grand jury transcripts, you know that I know everything that Tom Sneddon, who’s nickname is ‘Mad Dog’ up there there in Santa Barbara, has presented to that grand jury.

“Michael Jackson did not molest this kid. Period. The charges against him are fake. They have been created by grifters to cash in on a beleaguered, besieged guy who, because he is so unusual, is vulnerable to these kinds of charges.
“I predict in the coming days that Michael Jackson will say as much… that he will never again, ever ever, in his life allow himself to be vulnerable to these kinds of accusations again.

“He is being railroaded here by a District Attorney who is out of control, who is about to retire, who stayed to even a score, had a chip on his shoulder (and is) using the whole power of his office to try and sink this guy.”

Geraldo Rivera recently interviewed Mr. Jackson after the recent secret grand testimony “leaks.” He encouraged listeners to watch Fox on Friday Morning for big news in the Michael Jackson case.

Team MJJsource / KFI Radio Los Angeles

The prosecution team in the Michael Jackson trial hope to explode a number of secrets about the pop superstar after serving a subpoena to bitter ex-confidant BOB JONES.

Jones worked with Jackson and his family for over 20 years before he was sacked by RANDY JACKSON, without severance pay in 2003. Jones is now planning a tell-all book about working with the Jacksons.
The subpoena orders Jones to turn over to authorities all relevant files, diaries and photographs in his possession, as well as chapters of his in-progress book.

Jones travelled the world with Michael Jackson for decades and is believed to be the only top-ranking insider who never signed a confidentiality agreement.

A source close to the Jacksons says, “There’s no gag order on Bob Jones. The family fears his book and obviously feel he has information that could be very damaging to Michael.”

Source: Associated Press

The sexual abuse charges against Michael Jackson have devastated his mother - and left the entertainer hiding from the outside world, his parents reveal.

Only days before the start of the star’s trial, Joe and Katherine Jackson spoke exclusively with international interviewer Daphne Barak - and told how the accusations have torn their lives apart.

But they vowed to stand by their son through what they claim is a racist witch hunt.

“She’s not doing well,” Jackson’s father said about his wife. “She’s taking it very, very hard. She don’t sleep at night. She’s awake crying. My wife cried a lot about this whole thing. She’s having problems with her heart.”

“I do a lot of praying,” Katherine Jackson told Barak.

The interview, conducted at the couple’s Las Vegas home, is set to air on CBS’ “48 Hours” on Saturday. Snippets can also be seen on the syndicated show “The Insider” beginning Thursday night.

Joe Jackson revealed that his son hides from TV news coverage of the accusations. “I guess he wants to make sure he doesn’t hear too much news that’s going on about the whole situation,” said the elder Jackson.

Added Katherine: “A lot of people get on television just to be on television. … They have to remember that there’s a family out there that loves that person they’re lying on and talking about. Especially a mother, and she has feelings.”

Those feelings were particularly hurt, she said, by images of her son being arrested.

“When they took him down to jail and I saw them put handcuffs on him, that hurt worse than anything else,” Katherine Jackson said.

Jackson’s mother told how she was at his Neverland ranch when child services made a surprise visit to see his kids.

“When they brought them out and they saw me sitting there, they just ran - `Grandma.’ Just jumped in my arms and hugged me and kissed me,” she said.

“His children are happy. Every time I see them, they’re always happy.”

Joe Jackson said he believes his son’s career will recover if he is acquitted - but that racism turned America against him.

“Of course he can resume his career,” he said. “This is just the United States. All the rest of the countries, all over the world, are proud of Michael. It’s here we have the most trouble out of them. … It is racism.”

“I know my son,” said Katherine Jackson, “and this is ridiculous. … He’s very generous. He’s very giving. And people seem to take advantage of people like that.

“My son would never hurt a child. He loved children too much.

“I’m going to support him and stand by him as a mother. That’s the only thing I can do right now.”

The couple said Jackson’s former attorney Mark Geragos assured them a year ago the trial would not go ahead - but Katherine said she knew it would.

“I did, because I know how wicked people are,” she said. “Somebody wants to prove a point.”

Jackson’s parents vowed to support their son through his trial.

“I may not get a chance to be there every day, but I’m going to go,” said Joe Jackson.

His wife said, “I’ll be there whenever I can, as much as I can.”

Source: NY Daily News

The reporter who interviewed Michael Jackson following the recent grand testimony leaks believes the star will be found innocent.

Geraldo Rivera’s interview with Jackson is due to air on the FOX News Channel this Friday before the trial begins next week.

“Generally, Michael Jackson is being railroaded,” Rivera told Los Angeles station KFI. “The case against him will be revealed, as you go forward in the days and weeks to come, to be so fatally flawed that you’ll wonder why a sitting district attorney even decided to bring this case from the evidence and the motivation of the complainant.”

Asked whether he thought Jackson was innocent of molestation, Rivera replied: “I don’t know Michael Jackson. I’ve spent some time with him recently.. he seems much more normal than anything I’ve ever read about him. But about this particular case, he is innocent. Stone cold innocent.

After my own investigation and spending time with him, reviewing the case to the extent it’s available… Michael Jackson did not molest this kid. Period. The charges against him are fake. They have been created by grifters to cash in on a beleaguered, besieged guy who, because he is so unusual, is vulnerable to these kinds of charges.”

Source: Fox