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Jackson, 45, is expected to appear in court for the pretrial testimony of Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon, the Associated Press reports. Although not required by law to attend, "reliable sources" told the news agency that Jackson, his parents, his sisters Janet and LaToya, and his brother Jermaine will all be on hand for Monday's hearing.
Sneddon, whose office filed child molestation and other charges against Jackson, was subpoenaed by the defense to tell the court what he knows about the surveillance of a private investigator.
At issue is the search of the offices of Bradley Miller, an investigator who was working for Jackson's former attorney, Mark Geragos. Sheriff's officials from Santa Barbara County have already testified about their raid of the office, in which officers, armed with a search warrant, used a sledgehammer to gain entry and seized videotapes and files related to the Jackson case.
In addition, Sneddon personally staked out Miller's Beverly Hills office, took photos of the building and recorded the list of occupants located within.
Both the sheriff's office and Sneddon's office claim that they did not know Geragos had employed Miller at the time. Thomas Mesereau Jr., who replaced Geragos as Jackson's attorney, says that the surveillance and search of Miller's office violates Jackson's attorney-client privilege with Geragos, and is moving to have the seized evidence excluded from the trial.
Jackson has maintained that Sneddon turned the charges into a personal vendetta against Jackson after failing to bring child molestation charges against the singer in a 1993 case.
It's not known whether Jackson will appear at future hearings leading up to the trial, which is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2005. Jackson, who is currently free on $3 million bail, is charged with multiple counts, including committing a lewd act with a child, giving alcohol to a minor, extortion and false imprisonment. He has pleaded not guilty.
