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- Geraldine Hughes -

Once the news of the investigation surfaced, it was quickly
known that the tabloids were paying big bucks for anyone to
come forth with any information, whether true or not. People
began to come out of the woodwork with so-called eye wit-
ness stories of inappropriate behavior. None of this informa-
tion was reported prior to the allegations being made public.
Allegedly the Los Angeles Police Department proved to be
the greatest leak of confidential documents from the Depart-
ment of Children's Services, which contained the details of the
child molestation allegations.
The police investigation was reportedly attempting to dig
up witnesses, even at the cost of lying to the boys they inter-
viewed. Michael Jackson's then attorney, Bertram Fields, wrote
a letter to Police Chief Willie Williams advising him, "That
your officers have told frightened youngsters outrageous lies,
such as, "we have nude photos of you," to push them into
making accusations against Michael Jackson. There are, of
course, no such photos of these youngsters, and they have no
truthful allegations to make. But the officers appeared ready
to employ any device to generate potential evidence against
Mr. Jackson. Chief Williams' response was a standard not will-
ing to admit guilt answer, "We stand behind our officers."
After a long and costly investigation, which produced no
evidence, the police resorted to even more desperate measures.
On March 17, 1994, Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson's
mother, was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury in
Los Angeles. It is not normal procedure for a mother to be
called to testify against her own son. Many individuals spoke
out of their disbelief that the investigation had stooped to such
tactics. Howard Weitzman stated, "In all the years of my ex-
perience, I've never before seen the mother of the target of an
investigation called before the grand jury. It's just done in real
poor taste. It borders on harassment."
Another of Michael Jackson's attorney, Richard Steingard,
stated to the press, "A prosecutor attempting or trying to use a
mother against a son, a parent against a child is just wholly
inappropriate and even more so inappropriate in this case be-

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