Fight to unseal documents in Jackson case continues

While rumours run wild in the Michael Jackson child molestation case, the judge continues to shield the public from official information that should be released, a lawyer for the media has said in a legal brief.

The arguments for access to sealed documents were filed with an appeals court now considering the issue, which has become a First Amendment battle.

Attorney Theodore Boutrous said Santa Maria Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville “has been applying incorrect legal standards” in ordering that all documents in the case be filed under seal.

Boutrous said that Melville’s chief stated reason for the extraordinary secrecy is Jackson’s worldwide fame.

“Other than emphasising Mr Jackson’s celebrity status, the court does not explain why Mr Jackson’s fair-trial rights are any more in jeopardy than the rights of defendants in other high-profile cases,” Boutrous said.

The county counsel’s brief, filed last month, argues that Jackson is so well-known that “obtaining an unbiased jury in Santa Maria may be difficult even without pre-trial publicity.”

Boutrous responded that, “No evidence has been submitted that the people of Santa Maria are incapable of treating Mr Jackson fairly.”

He said that careful jury questioning and instructions to jurors to avoid publicity would mitigate problems at the trial.

The motion noted that a brief from Jackson’s defence complained that the pop star is “surrounded by wild rumours and salacious allegations.”

But Boutrous said the defence does not explain “how shielding the public from official information about the case, instead of exposing it to ’wild rumours,’ will protect Mr Jackson’s right to a fair trial.”

Jackson has pleaded not guilty to child molestation, conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent, alcohol.

Boutrous agreed that the name of the alleged victim and his relatives could be removed from the documents to protect the boy’s identity. Otherwise, he argued that the appeals court should order the judge to unseal key documents in their entirety.