Mood:
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Topic: Mishandled
![](capt.cabg13008170223.michael_jackson_cabg130.jpeg)
Tue Aug 24, 8:21 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A state investigation has found that pop star Michael Jackson's claims that he was manhandled and injured during his arrest on child abuse charges were false, police said.
Santa Barbara Sheriff Jim Anderson said an investigation by the California Attorney General and the state's Bureau of Investigation had concluded that Jackson was not injured during his November 19 arrest.
"After interviewing 163 witnesses and expending an excess of 2,500 investigative hours, the California Bureau of Investigation determined that Mr Jackson was not injured at the hands of Santa Barbara Sheriffs Department personnel," Anderson told a press conference.
"The investigation also concluded there was no criminal conduct on the part of Sheriffs Department personnel during their contact with Mr Jackson," he added.
But the sheriff declined to say whether he would now pursue criminal charges against Jackson for making the allegations, as he had earlier warned he might do if the charges were proved false.
Anderson said he was prevented from expounding on his statement by a strict gag order surrounding Jackson's child molestation case that is being heard in Santa Maria, in California's Santa Barbara County.
Jackson had claimed during an interview broadcast on the American CBS television network in December that his shoulder had been dislocated and his wrists and back hurt when his hands were cuffed behind his back when he turned himself in for arrest.
"They manhandled me very roughly, my shoulder is dislocated literally, it is hurting very badly," the "King of Pop" said before showing photographs apparently showing severe bruising to his right arm.
He also claimed he was locked in a toilet in the sheriff's department for 45 minutes when he surrendered to be arrested, booked and photographed on charges he molested a 12-year-old boy at his Neverland Ranch.
But Anderson insisted Tuesday that the results of the official investigation into the allegations had vindicated his department and showed that Jackson had been treated in a "in a professional manner."
Jackson has not yet made any statement is response to the results of the California investigation. Any statement would have to be cleared in advance by trial Judge Rodney Melville.
Jackson, 45, has pleaded innocent to a 10-count indictment that includes charges of child molestation, giving alcohol to a minor, as well as conspiracies to kidnap, illegally imprison and extort his alleged victim. He is free on three million dollars bail.
Posted by MJ Friend Anna
at 2:52 PM JST
Updated: Fri, Sep 3 2004 11:49 AM JST
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Updated: Fri, Sep 3 2004 11:49 AM JST
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