- (PA) -- In a high-stakes drama of legal gamesmanship,
prosecutors and defence lawyers in the Michael Jackson child abuse case
are battling over still-secret evidence that might make or break the case
against the pop star.
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- During pre-trial hearings that resume tomorrow, the defence
has been trying to suppress evidence from two searches, claiming one sweep
at Jackson's Neverland estate was overbroad and unjustified, and that another
at a private investigator's office violated attorney-client confidentiality.
-
- But defence lawyers also have shrewdly used the inquiry
to uncover information from key witnesses ñ including the stepfather
of Jackson's accuser, who admitted demanding money for the boy's family
to appear on a video tribute to Jackson's kindness.
-
- The testimony had little to do with either search. Yet
it appeared to bolster a key defence contention likely to be raised at
Jackson's upcoming trial ñ that he could have been the target of
a shakedown.
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- Loyola University Law School Professor Laurie Levenson,
a former federal prosecutor, said the defence brilliantly manipulated the
hearings into "a preview of coming attractions."
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- "Even if they were to lose the motion to keep out
evidence, they have gained a great deal," she said. "They put
the prosecution on the defensive, and they've raised the idea of police
incompetence and conspiracy which has worked so well in other cases."
-
- Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville said he will not
rule on the evidence until the end of September, when the mother of Jackson's
young accuser testifies.
-
- Ironically, amid all the accusations of misconduct, including
a difficult day on the stand for Santa Barbara County District Attorney
Tom Sneddon, the public still doesn't know specifically what the two sides
are arguing about.
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- Search warrant affidavits are sealed and witnesses speak
only in vague terms about videotapes and other data seized in the separate
searches at the private investigator's office and Neverland.
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- "It's a bit of a question just how important the
evidence is," said Levenson. "But given the fight that's going
on, it must be important. This is a major battleground."
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- 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.
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- ©2004 Scotsman.com
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- http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3387828
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