Michael Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a former 13-year-old cancer patient. - File
SANTA MARIA,
California (AP):
A DEATH in the family of pop star Michael Jackson's lead defence attorney has delayed jury
selection in the case for a week.
Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville rescheduled questioning of prospective jurors from February 7-14. The court cancelled Monday's scheduled questioning last week, saying a sister of attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. was gravely ill.
Another defence attorney, Brian Oxman, said Mesereau's sister had died, but he could not go into details because of the gag order on attorneys in the case.
"She was a beautiful, wonderful woman, and we will miss her very much," Oxman said.
In the next round of jury selection, defence attorneys will ask prospects about any biases that should keep them off the panel. In the first round, which created a pool of 250 prospects, the judge asked jurors about any hardships that would keep them from serving.
PROSPECTIVE JURORS
The prospective jurors gathered Monday in a gymnasium near the courthouse, where Melville informed them of the delay and admonished them to not discuss the case "or a subject connected to the case" with anyone, including each other, and to avoid any news reports, movies or documentaries about the case.
Melville suggested that the prospects designate a friend or relative to gather news clippings about the case if they thought they might want to read them after the trial.
Some prospects did not answer when their names were called, and it appeared there were about 230 present. The pool was predominantly white and about a third Hispanic, with only about a half-dozen black potential jurors.
In another development, the judge agreed to a request by attorneys for news organisations covering the case, to allow reporters to view questionnaires answered last week by prospective jurors.
Media attorney Theodore Boutrous, who represents The Associated Press and other news organisations, asked that reporters be given copies of questionnaires that the prospective jurors completed last week.
Prosecutors agreed to the release, but defence attorneys said jurors might be less candid if they knew their answers would be made public.
Jackson's attorney Robert Sanger said that if the judge needs to widen the jury pool in the future, more people will have to fill out the questionnaires and they may hesitate to answer honestly, if the questionnaires are released.
The judge said he would edit the questionnaires to remove sensitive information. The questionnaires will be released sometime this week.
SCREENING
Melville ended the first round of jury screening a day earlier than planned last week, saying the pool of 250 should be large enough to find 12 jurors and eight alternates.
A copy of the questionnaire given to potential jurors was released Wednesday. Prospects were asked if they have ever had cancer, whether they had followed similar 1993 allegations against Jackson, and whether they could fairly judge people of different races.
Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient. He is also charged with giving the boy alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family at Jackson's Neverland ranch. The entertainer has pleaded not guilty, and recently issued statements saying he expects to be acquitted.
