Phone Records May Back Jackson Conspiracy Charge

Nearing the end of their case, prosecutors in Michael Jackson’s child-molestation trial unveiled records Monday that documented dozens of phone calls among the singer’s top aides around the time his teenage accuser’s family was allegedly held captive at his Neverland ranch.

Jurors heard about the February-March 2003 calls during hours of testimony from two Santa Barbara County sheriff’s detectives. No information was given about content, but the high number of calls may be used by prosecutors to suggest that Jackson and his associates desperately wanted to silence the boy and his family.

Sheriff’s Det. Robert Bonner acknowledged in court that none of the calls could be traced directly to Jackson.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in early 2003 and with conspiring to hold the boy and his family against their will at his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley. If convicted on all counts, the singer could face more than 20 years in prison. Prosecutors have said they expect to rest their case today.

Prosecutors contend that the pop star helped engineer a conspiracy, forcing the family to pay tribute to him on a so-called rebuttal video after a British documentary questioned Jackson’s close relationships with boys.

The call records discussed Monday were mostly for phones in the names of Jackson’s alleged co-conspirators, who have not been charged in the case.

Jurors also learned about two checks totaling $1.5 million that were cashed at a Santa Monica bank in April 2003 by Marc Schaffel, one of the alleged co-conspirators. The checks were drawn on a business account for Neverland Valley Entertainment, which was controlled by Jackson and Schaffel.

No explanation was offered Monday for the withdrawals. Prosecutors have suggested that the cash was to be used as hush money for associates who had helped Jackson control the boy’s family.