A judge declined to issue a gag order in a child molestation lawsuit against Michael Jackson on Friday, saying it would be all but useless.
"Both sides are going to have trouble preventing enormous pretrial publicity," Superior Court Judge David Rothman said. "I can't issue an order to control this, even though I might want to. . . . I can't stop the flood from occurring."The lawyers agreed to a good-faith agreement to prevent release of the most private information. And one lawyer for Jackson said his client could respond under oath to the allegations as early as next week.
Also Friday, the judge ruled that Larry Feldman, the lawyer for the 13-year-old boy who says he was molested by Jackson, can share information from the lawsuit with criminal investigators.
The investigators in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties are looking into the boy's claims, but no criminal charges have been filed against Jackson. The singer denies any wrongdoing.
Jackson's attorney Howard Weitzman asked the judge to muzzle Feldman, saying his remarks to the media about the case were prejudicing potential jurors.
In his written brief to the judge, Feldman contended he has simply responded to reporters' questions about statements made by Jackson's representatives.
Rothman denied the request to block discussion of testimony and other pretrial discovery issues.
Jackson attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. told reporters that Jackson may soon respond to the accusations.