Neverland Search Cop To Testify
After a one-day break, Michael Jackson's criminal trial was scheduled to resume Friday with testimony from one of the investigators who searched his Neverland ranch in November 2003.
The trial was delayed by the Cesar Chavez state holiday, which closed courtrooms across the state. Wednesday's court date ended with testimony from Lt. Jeff Klapackis, who testified that he ordered the Jackson investigation reopened in June 2003 after talking with the family's attorney, Larry Feldman, and psychologist Stan Katz, who had interviewed the boy and his brother.
The investigation had been closed earlier in the year when Los Angeles social workers said the boy and his family told them Jackson had not harmed the boy. Prosecutors say the molestation allegations came to light during the boys' interviews with Katz.
Feldman was also expected to testify Friday. Defense attorneys have pointed out that he also represented another boy who accused Jackson of molestation in 1993. That boy received a multimillion-dollar settlement and subsequently refused to cooperate in a criminal investigation against Jackson. No criminal charges were filed in that case.
On Wednesday, attorney William Dickerman testified that he referred the boy's family to Feldman because he was the "go-to guy with regard to Michael Jackson matters."
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting the boy in February or March 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to make a video rebutting a documentary in which the boy appeared with Jackson. In the footage, Jackson said he let children sleep in his bed, but it was innocent and non-sexual.
Friday will end a difficult week for the singer. On Monday, a judge agreed to allow testimony about past allegations against Jackson that prosecutors say show a pattern of abusing boys.
District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said he would begin presenting the evidence next week.
The image Jackson has worked so hard to preserve is slipping away during his criminal trial with each new reference to drinking and each new display of his many adult magazines.
"He's a 46-year-old guy with a bad back who likes to watch porn and drink wine. Who would've thought?" says CBS News Legal Consultant J. Randy Taraborrelli..
For better or worse, Taraborrelli says, the trial may be giving average Joes an image of Michael Jackson they can understand.
Jackson has labored for years to control his public image and protect his privacy. He has worn surgical masks, covered his children's heads with veils and lashed out at intrusive news media in songs such as "Leave Me Alone."