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Pretrial hearing judged to benefit Jackson's defense

Prosecutors are trying to exercise damage control in the Michael Jackson child molestation case by summoning more police witness-es to answer accounts of defense witnesses who cast doubt on the legality of searches conducted at Jackson's Neverland ranch.

Sheriff's deputies who participated in the search last November were to appear yesterday to challenge the accounts of Jackson's employees, who said they cooperated with the search until deputies began moving into areas not specified on search warrants, including Jackson's office.

Loyola University Professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, questioned the prosecution strategy of putting more officers on the stand months before the Jan 31 trial.

"It's always dangerous for prosecutors to put more witnesses up there than they need at a pretrial hearing," she said. "Every second a cop is on the stand in pretrial is ammunition for the defense in trial."

She said the hearing has already provided the defense with an invaluable "preview of coming attractions," including testimony from the stepfather of Jackson's young accuser who said he asked for money from Jackson for participation of the family in a defense video.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau also had a chance to question District Attorney Tom Sneddon under oath, a rare opportunity. Although Sneddon never answered the question, he was placed under an unwelcome spotlight.

"He gave the impression of having been intentionally naive," said Levenson, who was in court when he testified. "It was as if he had blinders on."

"If they [the defense] have this much ammunition from a pretrial hearing, when the trial comes, buckle up!" said Levenson.

Jackson, 45, is charged with a variety of offenses including committing a lewd act upon a child, but has pleaded not guilty and is free on US$3 million bail.

"This is as close to having a closed courtroom proceeding as I've ever seen,'' said Levenson.
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