Jackson Defense Worried About Jury Questions

Feb. 2, 2005 — -- Approximately 250 prospective jurors in Michael Jackson's molestation trial will fill out a questionnaire when the second phase of jury selection begins Monday, and defense attorneys are worried there are not enough probing questions about how the potential panelists feel about Jackson and his reputation, ABC News has learned.

Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville ended the first phase of jury selection in Jackson's molestation trial Tuesday after saying that he was satisfied he had found enough people who are willing to serve. Jackson faces trial for allegedly molesting a now-15-year-old boy who spent time at his Neverland ranch and is believed to be the cancer survivor who appeared in the 2003 British documentary "Living With Michael Jackson."

The pop star, 46, has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges that include felony conspiracy with 28 overt acts involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys want to seat a 12-member jury with eight alternates.

Initially, Melville had planned to screen up to 750 potential jurors through today. But on Tuesday, after screening reportedly 430 people and excusing potential jurors who said they could not serve for hardship reasons, Melville said he was satisfied he had found enough people willing to serve.

Melville gutted the original questionnaire submitted by the lawyers from 29 pages and 300 questions to eight pages and 41 questions. There are no probing personal questions about how the prospective jurors feel about Jackson.

Jackson's defense, sources told ABC News, is concerned that the edited questionnaire does not have enough questions that could ferret out people who think Jackson is weird or guilty of the charges he faces.