Jackson jury instructed over alcohol charge
The judge in Michael Jackson’s child molestation trial said today that the jury will be told that the allegation that Jackson gave alcohol to his accuser can be treated as a lesser offence.
The change made by Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville raised the possibility that Jackson could be convicted of providing alcohol to a minor – a misdemeanour – even if he is acquitted of molestation.
The original indictment against Jackson accuses that alcohol was administered to assist in the alleged molestation.
The judge, however, told lawyers during a hearing that the jury will be instructed that giving alcohol to a minor is a lesser offence included in the indictment.
Both sides agreed that it was a required instruction.
The ruling came during discussions between prosecutors, defence attorneys and the judge on instructions the jury will receive before beginning deliberations.
Jackson and the jury were absent for the hearing. Also absent was Jackson’s lead attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr.
Both sides rested their cases on Friday. Closing arguments in the case could begin as early as Wednesday, and jurors could get the case before the week is out.
Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting the then-13-year-old boy in February or March 2003, giving him wine and conspiring to hold his family captive to get them to rebut a documentary in which Jackson said he let children into his bed but it was non-sexual.
