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Moreover, they claimed that Sneddon took photographs
of the office of a private investigator employed by
Jackson, and may have met with the accuser's mother
on at least one other occasion. He may have also handled
some of the stakeouts himself. It is highly irregular
that these activities were undertaken without the presence
of the police or investigators, and adds credence to
the idea that Sneddon is not impartial enough to prosecute
the Jackson case.
Tom Sneddon has consistently used the media to sway
public opinion against Jackson. The televised scene
of the raid on Nov. 18, 2003 on Jackson's Neverland
ranch would have been more worthy of a raid on the home
of a serial killer than on the home of an entertainer
with no prior police record.
Sneddon tipped off Court TV reporter Diane Dimond about
the raid and reported the event live from Neverland.
The timing of the raid was on precisely the day Jackson
released his new CD, "Number Ones." Indeed,
the tone of the press conference following the raid
was inappropriately gleeful, with Sneddon remarking,
"Like I listen to that kind of music."
Sneddon later apologized for his levity. Subsequently,
he referred to Jackson as "Jacko Wacko" in
an interview with Dimond. He later apologized for these
remarks, as well.
Following the filing of charges against Jackson on
Dec. 18, 2003, Sneddon summarily dismissed the Los Angeles
Police Department and the Department of Children and
Family Services investigations of Jackson. The investigations
concluded that complaints of molestation had been unfounded.
"They have a lot of problems down there [in LA]
and that office has a lot of problems," he quipped.
What he failed to mention was that the Santa Barbara
Children's Services and Santa Barbara law enforcement
had conducted similar investigations and had come to
similar conclusions.
Jackson's three million dollar bail was three times
that of the average murderer and nearly fifty times
that of the bail schedule for the alleged crimes. Sneddon
has hired a public relations firm, and there is a web-site
devoted to the case.
It is assumed that the wheels of justice are turning
smoothly. The public remains largely unaware that currently,
Tom Sneddon is being sued for $10 million for malicious
prosecution by Santa Barbara defense attorney Gary Dunlap.
Dunlap alleges that Sneddon violated his civil rights
on twenty-two counts, including wire-tapping, illegal
search and seizure, and the cover-up of misconduct by
editing tapes. Dunlap was charged, tried and acquitted
on all counts. Dunlap went on to state that vindictive
prosecutions are done in Santa Barbara "on a routine
basis."
There have been other civil cases against Sneddon of
which the public is unaware because they settled out
of court. Among them is the case of Efren Cruz. In December
2001, the LA Times ran a story titled, "Man Wrongly
Convicted of Murder Sues Prosecutors." Cruz served
four and a half years in Pelican Bay prison for a shooting
he did not commit, and upon his release sued Sneddon
and three senior prosecutors for $120 million, for malicious
prosecution, negligence, conspiracy to keep him in prison
and violating his civil rights. Allegedly, the prosecutors
withheld evidence that would have exonerated Cruz.
The evidence was the real killer's secretly taped confession.
The lawsuit was settled out of court at taxpayer's expense,
for an undisclosed but certainly substantial amount.
Given the pattern of lawsuits for malicious prosecution
against Sneddon, the irregularities in the investigation
of the Jackson case and the use of the media as a tool
of the prosecution, it would seem to best serve the
interests of justice for Sneddon to step down and to
be replaced by a less biased prosecutor. If Sneddon
could knowingly keep an innocent man in prison and charge
another with crimes he did not commit, one wonders what
he is capable of doing in the Jackson case. Not only
is there a man's life at stake, but our criminal justice
system will suffer a blow to its integrity if this high-profile
case is not conducted with consummate fairness and dignity.
Dr. K. C. Arceneaux is a Pushcart
nominee and winner of a Tara Fellowship from the Heekin
Group. First North American Serial Rights, Copyright
April 29, 2004.
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