The*Empress
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I CREATE A POLL... VOTE!!! 
Jackson admitted to hospital with flu
Singer's illness delays jury selection a week
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Posted: 6:45 PM EST (2345 GMT)
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Jury selection in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial was put on hold for a week Tuesday after the pop star was hospitalized with what a doctor described as "a flu-like illness."
Dr. Chuck Merrill, an emergency room physician at Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, told reporters, "He is undergoing testing and is being treated with intravenous fluids right now. He is in stable condition, and we expect a full recovery."
Earlier, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville, who is presiding over the trial, told the court he had spoken to Jackson's physician, Dr. Eric Ellis.
"He informs me Mr. Jackson is very ill with the flu," Melville said.
Melville told lawyers and prospective jurors in the courtroom waiting for the proceedings to begin that Jackson was on his way to the courthouse when he became ill. The singer went to the hospital and was admitted.
The judge postponed jury selection until February 22, saying proceedings could not continue without the defendant in the courtroom. The court is closed Monday for President's Day.
"He'll [Jackson] have ample time for him to get well, and for you to get sick," the judge joked with prospective jurors and attorneys.
Jackson has attended each session of jury selection since January 31.
Before court adjourned Tuesday, Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. announced he had a supplemental witness list consisting of 13 names, which he would read in court next week.
Those witnesses are in addition to the more than 100 names he read in court Monday, as both sides presented their witness lists. The defense list included actress Elizabeth Taylor, basketball star Kobe Bryant, singer Stevie Wonder, CNN's Larry King and two of Jackson's three children -- Paris and Prince Michael.
Prosecutors said they would call a boy who accused Jackson of molesting him in 1993, as well as members of his family and the Los Angeles policeman who investigated those allegations against Jackson. The boy's allegations were settled out of court.
Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient, giving the boy alcohol and attempting to hold him and his family captive. They appeared together in a controversial 2003 documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir, whose name is also on the witness list.
In the documentary, Jackson and the boy held hands, and Jackson admitted sleeping with children in his bedroom at his Neverland Ranch, although he denied there was anything sexual about it.
Bashir is now a correspondent for ABC.
Bryant is on the list because he met Jackson's accuser at the hospital where the boy was being treated for cancer, attorneys said, while "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley interviewed the boy.
Jury selection resumed Monday with Melville seeking to seat a panel of 12 jurors and eight alternates. After the jury pool was narrowed to about 250, Melville postponed the process last week due to the death of Mesereau's sister. On Wednesday, he released answers given by prospective jurors on questionnaires. (Full story)
After the potential witnesses' names were read, the judge and the attorneys began interviewing individuals in the jury pool, taking turns questioning them in small groups.
Questions included whether they know any "creative people," what their own creative activities are, what their television news sources are, what influence they feel the media have on the judicial process and their opinions of child witnesses.
Most of the people said they believe testimony from children can be influenced by their parents.
Two potential jurors among the first to be questioned said, when asked by Jackson's attorney, that they had previous personal or family experiences relating to molestation or accusations of molestation.
Jackson admitted to hospital with flu
Singer's illness delays jury selection a week
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Posted: 6:45 PM EST (2345 GMT)
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Jury selection in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial was put on hold for a week Tuesday after the pop star was hospitalized with what a doctor described as "a flu-like illness."
Dr. Chuck Merrill, an emergency room physician at Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, told reporters, "He is undergoing testing and is being treated with intravenous fluids right now. He is in stable condition, and we expect a full recovery."
Earlier, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville, who is presiding over the trial, told the court he had spoken to Jackson's physician, Dr. Eric Ellis.
"He informs me Mr. Jackson is very ill with the flu," Melville said.
Melville told lawyers and prospective jurors in the courtroom waiting for the proceedings to begin that Jackson was on his way to the courthouse when he became ill. The singer went to the hospital and was admitted.
The judge postponed jury selection until February 22, saying proceedings could not continue without the defendant in the courtroom. The court is closed Monday for President's Day.
"He'll [Jackson] have ample time for him to get well, and for you to get sick," the judge joked with prospective jurors and attorneys.
Jackson has attended each session of jury selection since January 31.
Before court adjourned Tuesday, Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. announced he had a supplemental witness list consisting of 13 names, which he would read in court next week.
Those witnesses are in addition to the more than 100 names he read in court Monday, as both sides presented their witness lists. The defense list included actress Elizabeth Taylor, basketball star Kobe Bryant, singer Stevie Wonder, CNN's Larry King and two of Jackson's three children -- Paris and Prince Michael.
Prosecutors said they would call a boy who accused Jackson of molesting him in 1993, as well as members of his family and the Los Angeles policeman who investigated those allegations against Jackson. The boy's allegations were settled out of court.
Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient, giving the boy alcohol and attempting to hold him and his family captive. They appeared together in a controversial 2003 documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir, whose name is also on the witness list.
In the documentary, Jackson and the boy held hands, and Jackson admitted sleeping with children in his bedroom at his Neverland Ranch, although he denied there was anything sexual about it.
Bashir is now a correspondent for ABC.
Bryant is on the list because he met Jackson's accuser at the hospital where the boy was being treated for cancer, attorneys said, while "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley interviewed the boy.
Jury selection resumed Monday with Melville seeking to seat a panel of 12 jurors and eight alternates. After the jury pool was narrowed to about 250, Melville postponed the process last week due to the death of Mesereau's sister. On Wednesday, he released answers given by prospective jurors on questionnaires. (Full story)
After the potential witnesses' names were read, the judge and the attorneys began interviewing individuals in the jury pool, taking turns questioning them in small groups.
Questions included whether they know any "creative people," what their own creative activities are, what their television news sources are, what influence they feel the media have on the judicial process and their opinions of child witnesses.
Most of the people said they believe testimony from children can be influenced by their parents.
Two potential jurors among the first to be questioned said, when asked by Jackson's attorney, that they had previous personal or family experiences relating to molestation or accusations of molestation.
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