Michael Jackson

The 45-year-old pop star arrived for the court hearing in Santa Maria, California, with new lawyer Thomas Mesereau to hear the indictment against him, which was handed down by a Santa Barbara County grand jury in March but kept sealed until April 30.

The original charges against Jackson included seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, and two counts of providing an intoxicant to a minor -- a 12-year-old boy. The new indictment includes four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor under 14, another charge of attempting to commit a lewd act with a minor and four counts of providing an intoxicant to a minor in order to seduce him in addition to the conspiracy charge.

The new conspiracy charge emerged after three weeks of grand jury testimony. The grand jury accused Jackson of conspiring with an undisclosed number of people to commit the crimes of child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 8, 2004
(C) All rights reserved