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Judge Rules Evidence Against Jackson Allowed
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (Reuters) - The judge in the Michael Jackson child molestation case tentatively ruled Monday that more than three dozen items of evidence seized at the pop star's Neverland Valley Ranch and at a private investigator's office could be admitted at trial.
Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville said he intended to suppress other items of evidence but deferred a final decision on the material until September, giving attorneys for both sides time to file written arguments.
Though much of the evidence discussed in court remains sealed by Melville, who has clamped a tight lid of secrecy on the case, authorities are known to have seized computers, cameras, documents and video and audio tapes from Neverland.
Police raided private investigator Brad Miller's office to retrieve videotaped interviews of Jackson's young accuser and his family in which they praise the moonwalking entertainer and deny that he acted inappropriately with the boy.
Those tapes are at the center of the case against Jackson, who is accused of bullying the family into participating in the interviews. Prosecutors say Jackson was desperate to salvage his reputation following the broadcast of a British documentary in which he is seen holding hands with the boy and defending his practice of sleeping with children.
Melville's tentative rulings ended five days of hearings into evidence in the sensational case, which is scheduled for trial in January. Prosecutors and defense attorneys then went behind closed doors to pore over bags of evidence.
Earlier in the day, a mid-1990s probe of Jackson over similar accusations surfaced briefly in court when a Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputy testified about a security building on the grounds of Neverland.
Lt. Russell Birchim said he had been in a small room above the security outpost when, during that earlier investigation, police armed with a search warrant took photographs of Jackson's genitals. Birchim said a "problem" developed during that process that required him to fetch Jackson's then-attorney, Johnnie Cochran. He did not elaborate on the nature of the problem.
The earlier case against Jackson never went to trial after the self-proclaimed King of Pop and his then-accuser settled out of court.
Jackson and his famous siblings attended the first day of the hearing on Aug 16, dressed entirely in symbolic white, but skipped the remainder of the proceedings with the judge's permission.
The 45-year-old singer is scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 31 on a 10-count indictment that charges him with child molestation and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty.
Reuters/VNU