Media appeal urges end to secrecy in Jackson case
LOS ANGELES A media lawyer is urging a California appeals court to "lift the veil of secrecy" surrounding details of Michael Jackson's child molestation case and unseal hundreds of documents kept secret by the judge. In a 50-page appeal, attorney Theodore Boutrous Junior asked the court not to allow special rules of secrecy for celebrity defendants.
The appeal argued that the trial judge has violated the First Amendment and the California Constitution by sealing most documents and imposing a sweeping publicity gag order.
He said the judge's rulings, if allowed to stand, would create special laws for celebrity cases.
The judge has suggested that release of information will make it impossible to find an unbiased jury for Jackson's trial.
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