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[Borat]

Left to right: La Toya, Michael, Janet

Michael Jackson in court for key hearing in molestation case

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - Fans of Michael Jackson erupted in cheers Monday as the pop star emerged from a double-decker tour bus and went into court for a showdown with the prosecutor who has pursued him for years on child molestation charges.

In court, District Attorney Tom Sneddon and Jackson lawyer Thomas Mesereau engaged in a heated exchange, prompting a warning from Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville. "Mr. Sneddon, I'm going to ask you not to spar with the attorney," the judge said.

Jackson, wearing a white suit with a mustard yellow armband, entered the court with several family members, also dressed in white. A bodyguard held a black umbrella over the singer, who flashed a peace sign to the crowd.

About 100 mostly young fans pressed against a chain-link fence and hoisted signs saying "Our Love is With You" and "Michael Jackson is Innocent" outside the hearing on whether prosecutors can use evidence seized from the office of a private investigator working for the singer.

Dozens of police and a small group of people demonstrating in support of sexual abuse victims were also at the court.

Like other Jackson supporters, Olivia Baker, 20, of San Diego, said the singer has been unfairly targeted by Sneddon.

"No human being deserves that, especially since he's given his whole heart to the world," said Baker, wearing a Jackson-trademark black fedora. "His heart is honest. I don't believe he would ever hurt a child."

The hearing comes amid duelling public relations moves.

Jackson made a surprise visit to Los Angeles' pre-eminent black church Sunday, which legal experts said was an effort to boost his reputation ahead of the showdown with the Santa Barbara County prosecutor.

In an added public relations flourish, Jackson decided to attend Monday's pretrial hearing with his parents, Katherine and Joseph Jackson, and siblings Jermaine, Janet, Jackie and LaToya.

Prosecutors received their own boost Sunday with the release of a leaked report by the state attorney general that rejected Jackson's charge that he was "manhandled" when sheriff's deputies took him into custody last year.

"The timing is amazing," said Loyola University Law School professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor. "This means both sides are playing the public relations game. No matter who leaked it, prosecutors want the public to see Michael Jackson as a manipulator and a liar. And it gets some of the spotlight off Sneddon."

The report to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson, which was posted on the CBS News website, casts doubt on Jackson's claim that his shoulder was dislocated when he was handcuffed.

Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville had rejected Anderson's request Friday to publicly release the report.

Jackson's appearance at First AME Church in South Los Angeles the day before his lawyer was to challenge Sneddon in court also raised eyebrows.

"Jackson has never been involved with the African American community in the past," defence attorney Steve Cron said. "I can't imagine why else he would suddenly get religion."

Jackson, 45, is charged with committing a lewd act upon a child, administering an intoxicating agent and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on $3 million US bail.

The focus of the hearing is Sneddon's actions in the weeks before the charges were filed. The defence seeks to show that the prosecutor violated lawyer-client privilege between Jackson and his former attorney, Mark Geragos, when he conducted personal surveillance of a private investigator's office.

The investigator, Bradley Miller, was not in his Beverly Hills office when Sneddon went there and photographed the building and its roster of occupants.

Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials already have testified that they used a sledgehammer to break into Miller's office and seize videotapes and files relating to the Jackson case. They maintain that they did not know Miller was employed by Geragos.

The conspiracy count has become a centrepiece of the prosecution case with allegations that the 12-year-old accuser and his family were coerced into making a videotape praising the singer's character.

The tape and other materials seized from Miller's office are at issue in the hearing. A ruling that they must be suppressed because they were wrongfully seized would seriously undermine the prosecution's case.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

michael is headstrong, to take on anyone.

 

[Borat]

 

[Alucard]

This man is on trial for possible child molestation charges. Why is he smiling like he doesn't have a care in the world?

p.s. Hollywood and the media make me want to vomit.

 

[Lonestar]

what the hell is that on the end of his finger???

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

This man is on trial for possible child molestation charges. Why is he smiling like he doesn't have a care in the world?

p.s. Hollywood and the media make me want to vomit.

You would smile too if you thought you weren't guilty and that you had the best legal defense money could buy and you believe that the prosecutor is on a baseless witch hunt.

If you didn't have any money then you would be frowning a bit.

 

[ghostface]

I dunno, looks like a bandaid.

OMG JACKO CUT HIMSELF WHILE FINGERING LITTLE BOYS!11

 

[DarienA]

Left to right: La Toya, Michael, Janet

First off I think musically she's going by Toy now... secondly I'd hit all three of these hot bitc...oh wait...

Lonestar that's a band-aid.

Alucard... so you as his lower would have him walk around looking depressed? Yes that would be smart. Generally defense lawyers will tell you to go around as if nothing is going on... just another day, carry yourself as if you have nothing to worry about because you are innocent(even if you are not).

 

[Lonestar]

well, I wasn't implying that, per se'. More like:

OMG, MJ INSTALLED A HOSE-FINGER TO SUCK OUT BOYZ-BRAINZ!!

 

[ghostface]

Wouldn't that be "vacuum-finger", then?

 

[Lonestar]

The Jack-O-Matic, perhaps.

16 kinds of Hose Accessories!

 

[Alucard]

First off I think musically she's going by Toy now... secondly I'd hit all three of these hot bitc...oh wait...

Lonestar that's a band-aid.

Alucard... so you as his lower would have him walk around looking depressed? Yes that would be smart. Generally defense lawyers will tell you to go around as if nothing is going on... just another day, carry yourself as if you have nothing to worry about because you are innocent(even if you are not).

I'm not saying to look depressed. I just think he would look a little more serious given the charges he is up against. Even if you knew you were innocent, wouldn't you be at least a little afraid of being prosecuted? The justice system isn't exactly flawless, so although he may be innocent, I would think there would be some fear in him. Then again, this is Michael "I'm like Peter Pan" Jackson.

Blah. I'm sick of talking about this guy as is.

 

[Prospero]

The three siblings are wearing matching outfits. They had to have planned that.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

You would smile too if you thought you weren't guilty and were a mentall unstable loon who believed he was peter pan.

fixed.

 

[Particle Physicist]

man.. i cant believe how unnaturally white he is. he is actually whiter than my walls. :/

 

[ghostface]

He looks like a villain from an anime movie in that pic.

 

[Tenguman]

If I had to choose one of the following to explain why he's smiling:

A) He's loony
B) He's sure he's going to win

I'd have to go with A. The evidence to support this is that he's a white black man with a brand new face every year who wears bandaids on his fingers

 

[Smiles and Cries]

LMAO @ THIS THREAD

 

[karasu]

dude isn't black or white. He's Korean!

He looks like P-Jack!

 

[Pochacco]

COOL!!

 

[Mike Works]

That is SUCH AN AWESOME PICTURE

I'm going to put it on the T-Shirt with the caption; "FIGHT THE POWER" underneath

 

[ManDudeChild]

Left to right: La Toya, Michael, Janet

I guess Michael Jackson and La Toya aren't the same person. Go figure.

... and as long as I'm examining the picture, anyone else notice he's not casting a shadow.

 

[Tenguman]

... and as long as I'm examining the picture, anyone else notice he's not casting a shadow.

Which means he's hiding a missile pod!

 

[HAOHMARU]

Mr. Slippy Fist

 

[XS+]

He looks like a villain from an anime movie in that pic.

I'm pretty sure that was the look he was going for when he went under the knife.

 

[karasu]

I'm pretty sure that was the look he was going for when he went under the knife.

Same here.

 

[PartlyCloudlike]

Funny to see Latoya there. I distinctly remember an interview wherein she said she saw checks written by Michael to parents of children who hung around neverland. In the interview she went on to say she was revealing this information because she didn't want to see the children hurt. While she didn't come right out and say it the implications of Jacko being a child molester were there.

 

[Rorschach]

All that white..he's gotta be innocent!

 

[sc0la]

CHARLIES ANGELS III cast photo

 

[DarienA]

Funny to see Latoya there. I distinctly remember an interview wherein she said she saw checks written by Michael to parents of children who hung around neverland. In the interview she went on to say she was revealing this information because she didn't want to see the children hurt. While she didn't come right out and say it the implications of Jacko being a child molester were there.

She's recently reconciled with the fam.

 

[BojTrek]

When Black? People Go Into The Matrix

 

[Boogie]

Which means he's hiding a missile pod!

:LOL x 3

 

[kitchenmotors]

Michael looks like Ursula! and Janet got fat!

 

[Mason]

"His heart is honest. I don't believe he would ever hurt a child."

He's not going to hurt them, he just wants to stick it in and wiggle it around a little bit!

 

[evil ways]

What was it he told the kids to call him? Rub rub friend or something?

 

[Mason]

Rubba rubba pal or something like that.

 

[Limedust]

Somebody needs to post a picture of Jackson's dad. He looks like he's in an eternal state of shock and awe (like someone just scared the shit out of him every second) from all the botox injections and plastic surgery he's had.

 

[evil ways]

Somebody needs to post a picture of Jackson's dad. He looks like he's in an eternal state of shock and awe (like someone just scared the shit out of him every second) from all the botox injections and plastic surgery he's had.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

i remember someone came up with a logical theory, and that is that Michael is trying to look less like his dad and more like his mom.

 

[cvxfreak]

They are so NOT related to Michael Jackson.

I DON'T BELIEVE.