A judge on Wednesday ordered lawyers representing pop star Michael Jackson
and his ex-wife to publicly file all documents from the couple’s divorce.

Jackson and Deborah Rowe had paid a judge to preside over their 1999
divorce, allowing them to avoid a public spectacle like his 2005 trial in
which he was acquitted of child molestation charges.

But the proceeding also kept from the public eye Rowe’s allegation that
Jackson abducted their two children by taking them to Bahrain without her
consent.

Rowe’s allegation was among documents not included in the public file of the
case when it was moved from a private judge to the family court. Lawyers had
been ordered to re-create the file with all documents that had been
submitted to the private judge.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider repeated the order
Wednesday, granting the attorneys 60 days to comply with the filing
requirement.

Under California law, if both parties agree, a sitting judge can transfer a
case out of the courthouse. The parties may then hire a jurist to resolve
civil disputes, but the cases technically remain in the public court system,
governed by the same rules as other lawsuits.

Source: LA Times