A California judge handed prosecutors a significant pre-trial victory on 28 January 2005, ruling that sexually explicit materials seized from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch were admissible at his child molestation trial.
Judge Rodney Melville issued the ruling at the final pre-trial session before jury selection was set to begin. The admitted items include 32 magazines, 17 books, two DVDs, and images found on a computer at the ranch.
Prosecutors argued the collection either reflected Jackson's sexual interest in children or had been used to lower the inhibitions of young people he allegedly targeted. Melville approved the motion but barred both sides from calling the items "pornography" or "obscene" in front of jurors, directing them to use terms such as "adult material" or "sexually explicit" instead.
Defense attorney Brian Oxman sought exclusion, arguing the books and magazines were available at ordinary bookstores and the videos depicted heterosexual content. The judge rejected those arguments.
Jackson denied all 10 charges against him, including child molestation and an alleged conspiracy to kidnap and falsely imprison a young accuser and his family. Jury selection opened the following Monday.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.