Pop star Michael Jackson on Sunday replaced the lawyers who have been defending him since November against accusations that he molested a child, his publicist said.
Jackson replaced lawyers Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman with Thomas Mesereau, another well-known defense lawyer.
"Yes, it's true. They were replaced," said a person in the office of Jackson publicist Raymore Bain who identified himself only as Phileo. "We will issue a statement soon."
Brafman confirmed to the cable television channel CNN that he and Geragos were no longer working for the singer, saying the two had removed themselves from the case.
"Based on recent developments and discussions with various persons in the Jackson camp, it became clear that it would be best if Mark and I decided to step down, and that's what we elected to do," Brafman said.
Jackson, 45, was indicted Wednesday by a California state grand jury on charges that have not been made public.
The indictment supersedes seven counts laid against Jackson in December by Santa Barbara county prosecutors of lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor and plying a child with alcohol stemming from allegations that the star sexually abused a 12-year-old cancer victim at his Neverland Ranch last year.
The singer has called the accusations "a big lie" intended to extort money from him and says he intends to plead not guilty to all the charges.
Jackson was arrested in November after police raids on his ranch then freed on bail of US$3 million. He has surrendered his passport.
According to media reports, in 13 days of testimony, the 19-member grand jury heard from Jackson's young accuser, the boy's mother, father and therapist, as well as the family's lawyers, Larry Feldman and William Dickerman.
Feldman in 1993 represented another boy who had accused Jackson of sexual abuse. But the case was settled out of court for an amount reported to exceed US$1 million.
The grand jury heard this second set of charges in secret with no defense attorneys present, to determine if there was enough evidence to go to trial.
University of Loyola legal expert Laurie Levenson said Santa Barbara prosecutor Tom Sneddon sought a second grand jury indictment to avoid further public hearings which, attended by Jackson and/or his lawyers, might put off witnesses.
"We don't know if there are additional charges or new victims," Levenson said, predicting that information on any new charges, motion and trial dates would be available in the coming week.
"This means the grand jury considered they have enough evidence to go to trial," Levenson said.
The Los Angeles Times has also reported that California prosecutors are considering charging some of Jackson's associates with conspiracy and obstruction of justice for allegedly threatening the family of the boy accusing the pop star.
The Los Angeles Police Department said earlier it had launched a new inquiry involving Jackson after being alerted by prosecutors a month ago to claims that Jackson allegedly abused a child around 15 years ago.
Criminal attorney Dana Cole, who has worked with Mesereau, said Jackson had wanted the attorney to represent him from the start, but he was working for actor Robert Blake, accused of homicide.
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