Jackson to do battle
VISITS KIDS DAY BEFORE COURT FIGHT
Mon, August 16, 2004
DAY BEFORE he is scheduled to appear in court for his child molestation case, Michael Jackson made a surprise visit to a South Los Angeles church yesterday and met about 35 Sunday school students. One girl at the First AME Church asked if the children could visit Jackson's Neverland ranch, to which the pop star replied: "You're welcome to come anytime."
Jackson, who wore a dark blue velvet jacket with a gold armband on one sleeve, did not answer questions.
CONFRONTATION
Today his family will stand by him for a courtroom confrontation with the man who's been trying to put him away on child molestation charges for more than a decade.
District attorney Tom Sneddon, the man who tried to bring charges against Jackson in 1993, will be questioned by Jackson's lawyer Tom Mesereau about his actions in the weeks before the current charges against Jackson were filed.
'IT'S A FACEOFF'
Jackson has not been required to attend pretrial hearings, but he decided he wanted to be present for this confrontation. In the audience will be his parents, Joseph and Katherine, and siblings including Janet, LaToya, Jermaine and Jackie.
"It's a faceoff between Jackson and Sneddon," said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola University law professor. "And emotionally, it's a big moment in the case. This is high drama."