Latest Jackson ruling shields evidence
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Main News
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Less than a month before Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial is scheduled to begin, the court continued a pattern of shielding all evidence from public view Monday, releasing rulings and motions with blacked-out pages.

Only one written order by Judge Rodney Melville was released in detail -- a decision to deny in part and grant in part a defense motion to suppress evidence seized from the office of Jackson's personal assistant.

But the language of that decision was oblique and provided only vague clues to what was being admitted and what was suppressed.

"I've never seen a case with this level of secrecy," said Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson. "You'd think we were dealing with the Pentagon Papers.

"Everyone is filing papers in code and we're on the eve of trial. It may be that the prosecutors are bending over backwards to protect the rights of Michael Jackson. But it's impossible to tell."

Jackson's trial is scheduled to start January 31, and one more pretrial hearing is scheduled for January 12.

One of the documents released by the judge in a heavily blacked-out form was a prosecution report on a search of Jackson's Neverland ranch on November 18, 2003.

The cryptic entries included a statement that investigators had received information from a confidential informant who told them that Jackson had told the informant something. But whatever was stated was blacked out in the released documents.

The prosecution had asked to seal from public view all parts of specified search warrants. The judge went through them and blacked out sections he felt should not be public because they might prejudice Jackson's right to a fair trial.

The judge's ruling regarding suppression of seized evidence had to do with a search last September 15 at an office in a detached garage where his personal assistant kept Jackson's file cabinets and computers.

He found that Jackson had "a reasonable expectation of privacy" as to materials kept in that office.

Melville said, "There is a concern for invasion of the defense camp when the case has been pending for a number of months and records of correspondence with counsel are kept by the client."

But he added, "The search warrant was not intended to reach any such materials and careful efforts have been made to avoid disclosure of attorney-client matters."

He said one folder labeled with the name of Jackson's attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., contained only newspaper, magazine and Internet pages and clippings. However, he ordered sections of that file suppressed as well as others whose contents were not described.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to charges of molesting a boy, conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent, alcohol, to his alleged victim.



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