Jackson trial cleared to begin

A judge has denied a motion for a delay in the child abuse case against Michael Jackson, clearing the way for the trial’s January 31 start.

Defence lawyer Robert Sanger had asked Judge Rodney Melville to postpone the trial for three months so lawyers could sort through 14,000 pages of evidence filed by prosecutors during the past two months.

Melville said a delay would be “a huge step backward … If I continued the case three months, we’ll have 90 more search warrants and 90 more motions.” The ruling came during a pre-trial hearing yesterday that ended more quickly than expected.

Melville also rejected defence motions to dismiss the case for alleged “vindictive prosecution and outrageous government conduct”, and because Jackson’s rights had allegedly been violated by a flurry of searches.

The judge did, however, grant a defence request for a list of people considered for the grand jury that eventually indicted Jackson. His lawyers are trying to determine if blacks and Hispanics were excluded from the process.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a boy, conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent, alcohol, to his alleged victim. The entertainer has pleaded not guilty. He was not required to attend yesterday’s hearing.

Both sides estimated the trial could last as long as five months.

In seeking the delay, Sanger argued that prosecutors had provided an updated witness list filled with errors. Among other things, the errors caused defence lawyers to initially think a porn star was being called as a witness, Sanger said.

“We’re very conscious that the court did not want to hear the ’c’ word,” Sanger said about the push for the continuance. “The problem is we feel we’re really being sandbagged here on a number of things.”

District Attorney Tom Sneddon, while acknowledging a few spelling errors, accused the defence of hyperbole. Of the 164 names on the updated list, 70 were taken from the defence, he said.

Arguing that the prosecution was vindictive, Jackson lawyer Thomas Mesereau called the case a “nasty, evil, personal exercise of revenge” against Jackson.