BREAKING NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT
Grand jury indicts Mr Jackson: report
LOS
ANGELES -- Michael Jackson has been indicted by
a grand jury investigating child molestation allegations against the pop star
after three weeks of closed witness testimony, according to news reports. The
Santa Barbara News-Press cited county sources late Wednesday but had no
details about the indictments, nor was there any official confirmation or
announcement. Three other newspapers and three television networks also cited
unidentified sources saying the Santa Barbara County grand jury had indicted
Jackson. Grand jury indictments are usually secret until a defendant is
arraigned. A judge has issued a gag order that prohibits lawyers on both sides
from discussing the case with the media. The closed-door grand jury
proceedings determines whether there is enough evidence for the case to go to
trial, and replaced a preliminary hearing, which would have been public. Four
months ago, county prosecutors charged Jackson with seven counts of lewd or
lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 and two counts of administering
an intoxicating agent, reportedly wine. Jackson pleaded innocent in January
and has been free on $3 million US bail. Jackson's legal team issued a
statement Wednesday saying the singer will plead innocent during his scheduled
April 30 arraignment if the grand jury issues an indictment. The statement did
not confirm that an indictment has been handed down. Jackson's spokeswoman,
Raymone Bain, added in an interview that "nothing has been issued from the
court which indicates that there is an indictment." She said she had spoken
with Jackson on Wednesday and that "he is out and about." Jackson lawyer Mark
Geragos, reached by telephone, would not answer questions from The Associated
Press. The district attorney's office also would not comment about the media
reports, said Susan Tellem of Tellem Worldwide, hired to handle media
inquiries for District Attorney Tom Sneddon in the case. Transcripts of the
secret grand jury proceeding will be provided to Jackson's defence team within
the next 10 days. The transcripts will then be made public 10 days after that
unless Jackson's lawyers can convince a judge doing so would prejudice a
future jury pool. The grand jury has spent the last three weeks hearing from
witnesses, including a 14-year-old boy who claims the pop superstar sexually
abused him. On Wednesday, grand jurors were whisked from the proceedings to
the downtown Santa Barbara courthouse in vans with darkened windows. There
they met with Sneddon and presiding Superior Court Judge Clifford Anderson.
Meanwhile, conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges were being considered
against several associates of Michael Jackson for allegedly threatening the
family of the boy who has accused Jackson of child molestation, the Los
Angeles Times reported Wednesday. An unidentified source close to the case
told the Times the charges were under consideration. Lawyer Joseph Tacopina
said there had been speculation that two of his clients, Vincent Amen and
Frank Tyson, would either be indicted by the grand jury or charged separately
with alleged intimidation of witnesses. He denied the allegations and said the
two former Jackson employees would not appear before the grand jury. The
lawyer said the accusations came from the boy's mother and were "patently
false." Tellem said the district attorney would have no comment because of a
gag order.-CP.
Lawyers for pop singer Michael Jackson say the star will plead not guilty to child abuse charges when he appears in court on 30 April after being indicted.
Their statement said that an indictment was "merely a formal accusation". "We also remind the public that Michael Jackson, like any other person accused of a crime, is presumed to be innocent," the statement said. On Wednesday a grand jury in California found there was enough evidence to force the singer, 45, to face trial. Mr Jackson was arrested in November amid accusations that he molested a 12-year-old boy but denies any wrongdoing. In December he was charged with seven counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 and two counts of plying the boy with alcohol in order to seduce him at his Neverland ranch.
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