Jackson team to quiz alleged sex victim's stepfather

Michael Jackson’s defence team aims to find out whether his lawyer-client privilege was violated when authorities broke into the office of a private investigator hired by the pop star.

To that end, Jackson’s lawyers planned to call as a witness the stepfather of the 12-year-old boy accusing Jackson of molestation.

The stepfather, referred to in court as Mr Doe to protect his identity, was scheduled to give evidence at a pre-trial hearing in Santa Maria, California, today.

Jackson’s defence wants to know what the stepfather might have known about the relationship between the private investigator, Bradley Miller, and Jackson’s former lawyer, Mark Geragos.

The issue is whether anyone told prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies that Miller was working for Geragos before authorities decided to break into Miller’s office and seize evidence. The defence contends that if authorities knew the investigator and lawyer were working together, the search violated lawyer-client privilege of confidentiality.

Evidence seized during the raid included the so-called ”rebuttal video,” which was intended to answer negative publicity surrounding a British TV special on Jackson. The stepfather is said to have been present when Miller supervised the making of the video, during which the boy and his family reportedly vouch for Jackson’s good character. Prosecutors say the family was coerced into making the video.

Meanwhile, Jackson has asked a judge to allow him to publicly react to the California attorney general’s conclusion that Jackson was not mistreated when he surrendered to authorities last year. In an interview a month after the arrest, Jackson said he was “manhandled” by Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies.

Jackson, 45, is charged with committing a lewd act upon a child, administering an intoxicating agent and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on almost £2m (€3m) bail.