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5.2

The Criminal Investigation

The criminal investigation being spearheaded by Mr.
Sneddon of the Santa Barbara County and Mr. Garcetti of Los
Angeles County, was totally different from the civil proceed-
ing. This was one of the most vigorously sought after criminal
indictments ever pursued in a joint effort by two counties.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article
I, section 15 of the California Constitution gives the defendant,
in a criminal case, the option of testifying or refraining from
doing so. The option to testify or not to is one of the most im-
portant rights provided by the constitution, and the decision
to testify is one of the most important decisions that a defen-
dant must face in a criminal proceeding.
In Mr. Garcetti and Mr. Sneddon's opposition to Michael
Jackson's attorney's Motion for a Protective Order in Decem-
ber of 1993, they asserted that they wanted to assure the Court
that, "the progress of the child molestation investigation of
Michael Jackson was not connected to or dictated by the dis-
covery process in the civil case." They openly and publicly
declared that the civil case had nothing whatsoever to do with
the criminal case. It was their intention to take full advantage
of the information obtained in the civil proceedings to assist
their efforts in the criminal prosecution, however, even with
that assurance they were still unable to collectively indict
Michael Jackson on the child molestation allegations.
More than 400 witnesses were interviewed, two Grand Ju-
ries were impaneled, and tens of thousands of taxpayer dol-

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