Jury selection opened Monday in Santa Maria, California, for the child sexual abuse trial of Michael Jackson, formally starting proceedings that could put the entertainer in prison for up to 20 years. Jackson, 46 and a father of three, faces a 10-count indictment charging him with molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient at his Neverland estate, providing the boy with alcohol, and conspiring to kidnap, falsely imprison, and extort the boy and his family.
Judge Rodney Melville called the court to order at 10:45 a.m. with roughly 150 prospective jurors present. Some 750 potential panelists drawn from a pool of 4,000 were expected to appear Monday through Wednesday to complete a detailed questionnaire. Selecting 12 jurors and eight alternates is expected to take about a month.
Jackson arrived in a white suit and waved to about 200 fans and some 1,000 journalists gathered outside. The day before, he released a video statement declaring innocence and insisting he would be "acquitted and vindicated."
He had previously faced child molestation allegations in 1993, settling that case for a multimillion-dollar sum. Whether those earlier claims will be admitted at trial remains a central legal question. Prosecutors have also entered into evidence dozens of books and photographs described as erotic, taken from his Neverland bedroom, arguing they were used as grooming materials.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.