Detectives 'bungled Jackson evidence'

The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Police investigating child abuse allegations against Michael Jackson mishandled vital evidence, a court heard.

The singer's accuser, 15-year-old Gavin Arvizo, was allowed to touch pornographic magazines found in Jackson's bathroom at his Neverland ranch before they had been fingerprinted.

Detective Paul Zelis admitted that Gavin was allowed to handle the magazines while testifying at a previous hearing - before any forensic tests had been made.

Gavin and his 14-year-old brother Star have told the court in Santa Maria, California, that Jackson showed them pornographic magazines. The defence argues that the boys were caught looking at the material on their own while Jackson was away.

It also emerged yesterday that baby photos were found in a drawer next to Jackson's collection of porn.

Jackson, 46, denies 10 charges including child abuse and false imprisonment. He could face 21 years in jail.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in