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Jackson defense wants names
Lawyers ask for IDs of informants who gave dtails used to get search warrants
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Michael Jackson's defense lawyers want to know the identities of informants who provided details prosecutors used to get approval for searches. If the prosecution refuses to provide the names, the defense wants the child molestation and conspiracy case against their client dropped.
The defense team -- led by Thomas Mesereau -- contends these informants may have evidence that might exonerate Mr. Jackson.
The informants in the affidavits that support 10 searches conducted during the past 11 months could provide evidence that would show Mr. Jackson never threatened or forced the accuser's family to stay at his Neverland Valley Ranch or made death threats toward them, defense co-counsel Susan Yu stated in a motion recently released. Prosecutors responded that they initially withheld the informants' identities in accordance with the law and have since released all the information they can.
Ms. Yu's request will be heard today in Santa Maria before Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville in a pre-trial hearing. Judge Melville will also reconsider a request to lower Mr. Jackson's bail.
He may also decide whether to postpone a hearing on a defense motion to remove Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon from the case. The defense accuses the veteran district attorney of misconduct, a charge he has vigorously denied. The prosecution and the state Attorney General's Office, which would take over the case if the judge granted the defense motion, filed requests for the continuance so they could have the legally allotted time to respond.
Mr. Jackson's trial is scheduled to begin in January. He pleaded not guilty in April to charges of child molestation and conspiracy.
The judge will also hear arguments today about whether a search last month at the home of Mr. Jackson's longtime personal assistant, Evelyn "Evvy" Tavasci, was legal. Defense lawyers claim the search violates attorney-client privilege because items seized relate to Mr. Jackson's legal representation -- including a list of possible trial witnesses and three folders labeled "Mesereau."
Prosecutors contend they had the legal right to search the assistant's residence and they did not need to obtain a subpoena, as the defense asserts, to gain possession of the material.
Defense lawyers also contested the search of private investigator Bradley Miller's office in November, contending that raid also violated attorney-client privilege.
Judge Melville is expected to rule soon on that motion and another defense request to also keep evidence seized from Neverland Valley Ranch from trial because they claim it was also seized illegally. Prosecutors say they followed the law in each of the searches.
It is the informants who were used to generate information that led to these raids, and also searches of records at two legal process agencies, a credit bureau, travel agency and storage facility, that are at the core of Ms. Yu's request to obtain their identity and whereabouts from the prosecution.
Ms. Yu asserts they could provide evidence to show that Mr. Jackson had nothing to do with prosecution allegations that he was involved in "moving the family out of their apartment residence, paying off the rent due on the apartment, putting their belongings in storage, moving the family into seclusion at Neverland, obtaining passports and visas for the victim and his mother and siblings prior to a planned transport of the family to Brazil, and having them appear in another video to rebut any possible allegations that might be made against Jackson."
The informants may also be able to provide information about Mr.
Jackson's "alleged use of credit cards and phones through other's
names" and about Mr. Jackson's "day-to-day affairs,"
and his "innocence and non-involvement in the alleged conspiracy
to abduct, extort and falsely imprison the Doe family," according
to the defense motion.
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