Judge clears way for jailed witness to testify for prosecution
Friday, March 25, 2005 Posted: 4:42 PM EST (2142 GMT)
Analyst: Child's prints found
Witness arrested in robbery spree
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) --
Prosecutors trying to link adult magazines seized from Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch to both the pop star and his accuser continued presenting evidence from fingerprint analysts Friday, as the pop star's child molestation trial resumed.
Prosecutors took the experts painstakingly through how evidence was processed and evaluated.
Thursday, the two analysts who examined the sexually explicit magazines, found in a briefcase in Jackson's bedroom, testified that at least 16 fingerprints were found -- one of which was identified as belonging to the younger brother of Jackson's teenage accuser.
In his opening statement to the jury, Santa Barbara County District Attorney
Tom Sneddon said fingerprints from Jackson, his accuser and the accuser's brother were found on the magazines, which were seized from Neverland during a search on Nov. 18, 2003.
Sneddon said those prints would corroborate the boys' testimony that Jackson showed the material to them.
Meanwhile,
the trial judge cleared the way for a prosecution witness, jailed in Las Vegas on several felony charges stemming from a string of armed robberies, to come to California to testify.
Chris Carter, who was a security guard for Jackson during the time his accuser says the molestation incidents occurred, was indicted Wednesday in Nevada on 15 felony charges, including first-degree kidnapping, burglary, coercion and possession of a firearm by an ex-felon.
Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville signed an
order to bring Carter from Las Vegas to Santa Maria for testimony on April 4, a court official said Friday. Carter will be returned to Nevada after testifying.
Prosecutors want to use Carter to establish that Jackson drank alcohol with his accuser, but the charges he faces in Las Vegas are likely to become ammunition for the defense to challenge his credibility.
In addition to the armed robberies, Las Vegas police and FBI officials are also investigating Carter as a suspect in eight bank robberies, said Jose Montoya, a Las Vegas Police Department spokesman.
FBI spokesman David Schrom declined to comment about the case, but he acknowledged FBI agents were involved in searches and the recovery of evidence related to Carter.
Carter's attorney, Lloyd Baker, declined to comment, at Carter's request.
Testifying to the grand jury that indicted Jackson, Carter said he saw both Jackson and the boy drinking alcohol from soda cans while on a flight from Miami to California in February 2003. He also said he saw the boy "stumbling" drunk one afternoon at Neverland, and the boy indicated to him that Jackson condoned his drinking.
Carter also said that after the trip from Miami, the accuser's mother asked him to take her off the ranch in the middle of the night, without her children. She was upset and prayed throughout the drive to Los Angeles, he said.
The prosecution contends that the accuser and his family were held against their will at Neverland by Jackson's associates after the Miami trip, and that the mother was fearful for their safety.
According to transcripts of his grand jury testimony, Carter also said Jackson had the ability to monitor phone conversations at Neverland and once showed him a tape he had made of a phone conversation he had recorded.
Friday morning, Jackson arrived at the Santa Maria courthouse with his parents, wearing auburn pants and a black jacket over a gold vest, as well as sunglasses and a gold armband.
When court resumed, prosecutors continued with testimony from fingerprint analysts, taking them painstakingly through how evidence was processed and evaluated.
Thursday, two analysts who examined sexually explicit magazines found in a briefcase in Jackson's bedroom testified that at least 16 fingerprints were found, one of which was identified as belonging to the younger brother of Jackson's teenage accuser.
In his opening statement to the jury, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon said fingerprints from Jackson, his accuser and the accuser's brother were found on the magazines, which were seized from Neverland during a search on Nov. 18, 2003.
Sneddon said those prints would corroborate the boys' testimony that Jackson showed the material to them.
Jackson, 46, was indicted last April by a state grand jury on 10 felony counts for incidents that allegedly occurred in February and March 2003: Four counts of committing a lewd act on a child; one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion; one count of attempting to commit a lewd act on a child; and four counts of administering an intoxicating agent to assist in the commission of a felony.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
CNN Producer Stan Wilson contributed to this report.
Allora in due parole hanno mostrato le riviste per adulti con le impronte di MJ e dei 2 ragazzi Arvizio. Ciò dimostra secondo DS che MJ ha mostrato loro le riviste per sedurli. (
ma qui un dubbio mi sorge: che centra Star? MJ non aveva solo molestato Gavin? questo dimostrerebbe che i 2 se le andavo a prendere da soli le riviste? Boh..) In più il giudice ha deciso di far testimoniare il galeotto... il 4 aprile...!!! Sto tizio è fondametale perchè dice di aver visto MJ dare dell'alcol a Gavin, di sapere che MJ controllava personalmente tutte le telefonate fatte da Neverland e di cose sul sequestro degli Arvizio!!
Che p
e
- out in the streets, they call it murder -