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March 17, 2005
Jackson's 1993 abuse case at issue
PROSECUTORS WANT TO USE EVIDENCE FROM EARLIER ACCUSATION
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial said yesterday they want to ask a judge next week to allow them to present evidence of past, unproven acts of sexual misconduct against the entertainer.
Prosecutors have alleged that they have evidence of seven prior acts of misconduct, including the 1993 molestation of a boy who reportedly was paid a multimillion-dollar settlement.
This week, Santa Barbara County prosecutors served a subpoena seeking legal records from Larry Feldman, the attorney who represented the boy in the 1993 civil settlement. Evidence of that settlement and other misdeeds could buttress allegations of a 15-year-old Los Angeles boy who says Jackson sexually fondled him at the star's Neverland ranch in 2003.
Jackson attorney Thomas A. Mesereau Jr. told the judge that he would also like to call witnesses to refute allegations of past misconduct.
In testimony yesterday, the lead investigator in the current case, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Robel, said Jackson's accuser broke down while talking about the molestation for the first time in 2003.
"He basically became very, very quiet, folded his arms and just sunk down into his chair," Robel said. "It took me about 10 minutes to reassure him that he was doing the right thing. And he, at one point in time, kind of got a little choked up."
That testimony runs counter to allegations by Jackson's defense team, which contends that the boy and his family eagerly came forward with false allegations in an effort to seek money from the entertainer.
Robel said the boy told him that Jackson fondled him sexually between five and seven times, in contrast to the two incidents the boy testified to last week at the trial.
Posted by Nealus at March 17, 2005 01:27 PM
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