Jackson's first accuser may called to testify-paper
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-21 10:55

A young man who struck a multimillion-dollar settlement with pop star Michael Jackson after a 1993 molestation investigation may be called to testify at a grand jury examining similar charges currently leveled against the singer, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported on Saturday.

Pop star Michael Jackson  [AP]

Jurors for the panel, which is being convened to investigate charges that Jackson, 45, molested a boy last spring, will be selected next week, it said.

The newspaper, which did not name its sources, said the expected testimony was part of a strategy by Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon to establish a pattern of behavior.

The strategy could include subpoenaing the man, who as a boy was at the center of the 1993 case, as well as employees of Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara, and other witnesses who testified in 1993.

Jackson was not charged in the 1993 case, which ended when the accuser refused to testify after striking a multimillion-dollar settlement deal.

Jackson has been charged with seven acts of lewd acts on a boy under 14 and two counts of plying him with alcohol. He has pleaded innocent and is free on $3 million in bail.

The pop star could face nearly 20 years in jail if convicted.

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