SANTA MARIA, California - A judge on Friday ordered a special hearing to help him decide whether two boys who previously accused Michael Jackson of abuse will testify in front trial jurors.
Judge Rodney Melville told rival lawyers in the case that he would hold a mini-hearing on the crucial testimony that could influence the outcome of the case on March 28.
Melville said that witnesses would not initially be called at the mini-hearing, which will not take place in front of the panel that will decide Jackson's fate, but did not completely rule out the possibility they might be called.
"I may or may not ask for witnesses in a particular situation," he told prosecutors and Jackson's lawyers. But he said: "The likelihood of having any witnesses is not great."
Two young boys -- including a 13-year-old in 1993 and another boy believed to be the son of a employee at Jackson's Neverland Ranch -- made child sex claims against Jackson but the star was never charged and both cases were settled out of court.
Neither Jackson nor his trial jurors were present at Friday's hearing.
Jackson is accused of 10 counts, including molesting a 13-year-old boy, plying him with alcohol to seduce him and plotting to kidnap the boy and his family and hold them prisoner.
03/18/2005 20:37 GMT