Los Angeles, Jan 14: In a blow to television networks, a judge has banned television cameras from the courtroom where music superstar Michael Jackson will be arraigned on child molestation charges next Friday.
Santa Barbara superior court judge Rodney Melville made the decision on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The judge on Friday will also decide whether lawyers, witnesses and Jackson advisors attending the hearing should talk with reporters once the judicial process gets under way,
as was requested by Jackson's lawyer Mark Geragos.
Jackson, 45, is due to appear at the court on Friday where he has to declare whether he is innocent or guilty of seven child molestation charges Santa Barbara prosecutors
filed against him on December 18.
If found guilty of all the charges, Jackson could face up to 24 years in jail.
Bureau Report
