Grand jury secrecy could lead to Jackson legal challenge

Pop star Michael Jackson’s secret indictment on child sex charges has set the stage for a unique defence challenge on grounds that the extraordinary security measures may have intimidated witnesses and grand jurors.

California authorities blocked pavements, hid witnesses and delivered grand jurors to secret locations in buses with blacked-out windows to keep the proceedings secret. In one case, a photographer outside the building where grand jurors were meeting was ordered to delete photos from his digital camera because they revealed too much of the people entering the building.