Jackson Investigators Take The Stand

The lead investigator in the Michael Jackson child molestation case said he urged the accuser and his family to go forward with his claims against the singer by promising them, “We’re going to try our best to make this case work.” Defense attorney Robert Sanger confronted Sgt. Steve Robel on Tuesday with those and other statements from recorded interviews, suggesting that they indicated investigators were biased against Jackson from the beginning. He quoted Robel as saying, “one thing I want to emphasize is you guys are doing the right thing here. …I don’t care how much money they have. He’s the one who’s done wrong. …We’re going to try to bring him to justice.” Sanger asked: “That’s not a statement of someone with an open mind who’s trying to find the truth, is it?" Robel said that during his training he was taught to make such a statement to alleged victims. “The statement is to reassure them,” he said, “because they were terrified when they came forward. It took us weeks to get them to come in.” Sanger asked: “Isn’t the technique you are taught to tell them(is) to be honest and not tell them they’re right, everyone else is wrong?” He replied it was not. Sgt. Robel also spoke about the demeanor he witness of the young accuser during his first interview. When discussing the alleged molestation, Robel said, “He became very quiet. …He even became chocked up.” This is a far cry from the behavior witnessed of the accuser when he testified earlier this week. He was described as sassy and argumentative to the point of noticeably irritating Judge Rodney Melville. There are other inconsistencies concerning Jackson’s accuser and his allegations. It was revealed, during Robel’s testimony, the accuser originally stated that he was molested five to seven times but could only give an account of two instances. And that the first instance of alleged molestation occurred before he and his family participated in the rebuttal video that Jackson made to refute the inflammatory "Living with Michael Jackson" documentary. Although, on the witness stand, he testified that the first instance happened after they participated in the rebuttal video. It was also uncovered that this change was due to the fact that Mr. Jackson was not at his ranch during the time some of the molestation accusations were said to occur. Another detective, Paul Zelis, testified about adult magazines found at Neverland. He acknowledged under cross-examination that the magazines were not tested for fingerprints until after grand jury hearings in March and April 2004 and that many had handled them during the hearing including, possibly, the accuser. Attorney Robert Sanger also pointed out that some of the magazines were dated well after Jackson's accuser stated that he and his family left Neverland for the last time. Source: AP/CNN/MJJForum/eMJey