Judge Bars Computer Evidence Seized

Judge Melville presiding over the Jackson trial barred prosecutors from entering computer hard drives considered to have sexually explicit material. Judge Melville sided with the defense and questioned the relevance of the material to the time period, which is of concern to the case. As Jackson's defense attorney Robert Sanger pointed out, the material is prejudicial and some of the sites recorded in the hard drives were of sites that were visited a good couple of years prior to Jackson even meeting his current accuser and some after the accuser and his family closed their ties with the entertainer. The prosecution, who were allowed to present and enter another barrage of adult magazines in as evidence, was arguing to corroborate with Jackson's accuser and his brother's testimony of Jackson using a computer and showing the minors explicit material over the Internet. The prosecution further contends that this proves that Jackson does know how to use a computer. The identity of whoever used the computers was a key issue for the defense, which contended that none of the material was directly linked to Jackson. Sanger also said the substance of the material made it irrelevant. "It's heterosexual material and it is not directly related to the case," Sanger said. "The issue of who accessed the material is totally unresolved”. Prosecutors state that one of the online aliases found was that of used by Jackson and another that goes by the name Marcel Jackson. The defense stated that Jackson has a cousin who sometimes uses that name and iterated the fact that all the material recorded is in cache and that there is no solid proof to show that the users actively logged in to the particular sites as it could very well have been pop-ups that appeared while checking emails. When ordered to bring in more witnesses, district attorney Sneddon brought in a detective who partook in the search of the singer's ranch in November of 2003 and, had him identify dozens of magazines and books seized. At one point, Sneddon had trouble finding the evidence he wanted to present and scrambled around the courtroom hauling crates in search for the "adult material”. For no immediately apparent reasons the prosecution entered a portrait of Jackson’s friend, actor Macauley Culkin as evidence. During cross-examination the detective admitted that although there was a meeting of some sorts prior to the raid, no instruction were given on carrying out finger print testing and DNA testing and neither were the 69 police officers told to make record of what items were seized and from where. Sheriff’s Detective Craig Bonner also acknowledged that it was true that no DNA from the accuser, his brother or any member of the family was found on any of the items. Source: AP/MJJForum/eMJey