Presley asked to give evidence on Jacko marriage
Pop superstar Michael Jackson’s ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley has been asked to appear before a grand jury investigating child sex abuse allegations against the singer, it emerged today.
The move comes after Elvis’s daughter said in an interview that she saw “things going on that I couldn’t do anything about” during her marriage to Jackson.
She refused to elaborate on what she saw, but said she felt “powerless in a lot of ways” when they were man and wife between 1994 and 1996.
Yesterday, it emerged that Jackson, 45, had also been asked to appear before a grand jury to give his side of the story.
He is accused of molesting a teenage cancer patient at his Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara, California.
A grand jury decides whether a case should proceed to trial, rather than delivering a verdict against an accused.
Former Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Thomas said Presley’s interview had raised the interest of prosecutors.
During a talk show in Australia, she said that during her marriage to the King of Pop she felt “powerless in a lot of ways, in terms of… realising that I was part of a machine, and seeing things going on that I couldn’t do anything about”.
“That’s why I left,” she said.
She added: “Don’t ask me what sort of things, because I’m not going to answer. But just stuff.”
Asked how she felt about Jackson now, Presley replied: “It’s really bizarre, I feel nothing.”
It emerged yesterday that a letter had been sent to embattled Thriller star Jackson, giving him the chance to give voluntary testimony to a grand jury.
Legal experts believe Jackson was offered the opportunity because it would prevent lengthy pre-trial proceedings to decide whether to press ahead with a trial.
The letter was sent to Jackson by the District Attorney of Santa Barbara, Tom Sneddon, according to ABC News.
The letter, to Jackson’s lawyers, reportedly said: “Rather than issuing a subpoena and having your client decline to testify in front of the grand jury, I am offering him the opportunity to convey that decision to me in advance.”
The letter also suggested that the defence will claim that the charges are the result of a failed bid by the accuser’s family to get money from the pop star.
“You are invited to provide that information for grand jury consideration,” Mr Sneddon said in the letter.
Jackson and his legal team have until April 7 to decide whether he will appear before the grand jury.
Jackson’s lawyer Mark Geragos declined to comment, citing a gagging order placed by the judge on all parties in the case.
After Jackson’s Neverland ranch was raided by police he was charged in December with seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and two counts of giving the child an intoxicating agent, reportedly wine.
Jackson pleaded not guilty to all the charges at an arraignment hearing in January.
He has called the allegations a “big lie“.
