SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- The district attorney who filed child molestation charges against pop star Michael Jackson was called to the stand Monday during a preliminary hearing focusing on the prosecutor's actions in the weeks before the charges were lodged.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon appeared relaxed as he took the stand to defend his actions.
The hearing began at 10 a.m. (1 p.m. ET).
At issue is the defense's claim that Sneddon violated attorney-client privilege between Jackson and his former attorney, Mark Geragos, when Sneddon conducted a search of the office of a private investigator.
The defense claims the prosecutor knew or should have known that the investigator, Brad Miller, was working for Jackson at the time. As a result, the defense wants any information obtained in the search of Miller's office thrown out.
Sneddon maintained throughout the hearing that he did not know that Miller was directly employed by Geragos.
"It just never dawned on you that Miller could be working for Mark Geragos?" defense attorney Thomas Mesereau asked.
"That's true," Sneddon responded.
But the district attorney later acknowledged that he was aware Geragos was working on a property matter for Jackson.
Sneddon has a long history with Jackson. He investigated the pop star in 1993 for child molestation against a boy, a case that never made it to trial because of a multimillion dollar settlement with the boy and his family.
The Jackson family has since said the prosecutor has an ax to grind with the pop star.
Jackson, dressed in a white suit with a gold band on one of his arms, attended Monday's hearing, arriving in a tour bus along with members of his family, including both his parents, as well as siblings Jermaine, Janet and LaToya.
About 50 to 100 fans -- a much smaller crowd than at his previous court visits -- cheered and waved signs of support outside the court when Jackson arrived. A security guard held a black umbrella for Jackson as he entered the courthouse.
Jackson, 45, has pleaded not guilty to child molestation. The singer is charged with seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent, reportedly wine.
In a development late Sunday, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN that the California attorney general's office has determined that Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies treated pop star Michael Jackson properly when he surrendered himself to them last year. (Full story)
Jackson told CBS' "60 Minutes" in December that he was "manhandled very roughly" when he was taken into custody on the child molestation charges -- a claim the sheriff's department had denied.
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