D.A.s Reportedly Decide Not to Charge Jackson

Prosecutors have decided not to file child molestation charges against superstar entertainer Michael Jackson and are expected to announce that decision today, sources close to the case said Tuesday.

District attorney’s offices in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties have been weighing criminal charges against Jackson for more than a year, but have been stymied in part by the reluctance of the boy who made the initial allegations to testify against Jackson.

When the announcement is made, prosecutors from the two counties are not expected to clear Jackson of wrongdoing. Rather, they are likely to say they considered the boy a credible witness, sources said.

The problem, according to prosecutors, is that the boy has declined to testify. Under California law, victims of sex crimes cannot be held in contempt for refusing to take the witness stand, so prosecutors have no way of forcing him to talk if he decides against it.

Lawyers for Jackson and for the boy, who turned 14 earlier this year, declined to comment in detail. The boy’s attorney, Larry Feldman, said he met with top prosecutors about the case Monday, but he would not disclose what was said.

“I met with the district attorneys of both Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties,” Feldman said. “I believe a statement will be made shortly outlining the district attorneys’ position. I don’t want to comment any further.”

Howard Weitzman, one of Jackson’s attorneys, said he had not been notified by authorities about any imminent decision but had been told in recent weeks that an announcement would be made soon. Jackson, who was recently married to Lisa Marie Presley, has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence and has maintained that he was the victim of a failed extortion attempt.

“They’ve been telling me for over a month that it would be sooner rather than later,” Weitzman said. “It’s my opinion that when they announce a decision, the decision will be not to file.”

If prosecutors decline to file charges against Jackson, that does not clear him of possible future criminal prosecution. Should the boy later decide that he is willing to testify, prosecutors could reconsider their decision at that time, as long as it is within the six-year statute of limitations.

Nevertheless, the decision not to file charges against the internationally renowned celebrity ends 13 months in which he has been the subject of an intense criminal investigation waged by authorities in the two counties.

The case began Aug. 17, 1993, when a 13-year-old boy complained to a therapist that he had been fondled and sexually molested by Jackson over a period of several months. The therapist reported the allegations to authorities, who interviewed the boy the same day.

In his interview with social workers, the boy provided a graphic description of alleged contacts that he said began with Jackson buying him gifts and progressed to cuddling, masturbation and oral sex.

Although the report of the interview noted that the boy had difficulty remembering some times and dates, the investigator said the boy “was consistent in his story.”

Confronting an international media onslaught and a sweeping police inquiry, Jackson’s representatives furiously denied the allegations from the outset. Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator hired by Jackson, said the boy’s father had tried to extort money from the singer and had only gone public with the allegations after the extortion attempt was rebuffed.

Police investigated the extortion allegations, but prosecutors declined to file charges, saying there was insufficient evidence.

As authorities pressed ahead with their criminal investigation last fall, the boy filed a lawsuit against Jackson. Feldman moved for an early trial in that case and began taking depositions from people close to Jackson. Jackson, who was out of the country on his “Dangerous” world tour when the case began, refused to give a deposition because his lawyers worried that his statements in the civil case might compromise his ability to fight criminal charges if any were filed.

In November, Jackson abandoned the world tour and dropped out of sight for a time. His representatives said he was suffering from an addiction to painkillers and needed treatment.

Action in the civil case continued, but before it could come to trial, attorneys for the two sides agreed to a settlement. Its exact terms have never been disclosed, but sources say Jackson agreed to pay between $15 million and $24 million to the boy.

Both sides insisted that there was no agreement that the boy would refuse to testify in return for accepting the settlement. Such a deal would almost certainly violate laws against obstruction of justice, and the lawyers in the Jackson case are among Los Angeles’ most highly regarded.

Still, Feldman emphasized from the start that his client was interested in putting the case behind him as quickly as possible. The settlement allowed the boy and his family to move out of Los Angeles, and as prosecutors continued to delay a decision on whether to file, it prolonged the case month after month.

According to law enforcement sources, prosecutors talked to the boy and his family about testifying, but they expressed concern about the crush of publicity that would involve a criminal trial and worried about prolonging a case that they wanted to be finished. Late this summer, the boy finally told prosecutors that he would not take the stand, sources said.

Officials from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to comment Tuesday about the Jackson case, saying only that a decision was likely to be announced soon.

Times staff writer Andrea Ford contributed to this story.