Sheriff's Department Bugged on Day Jackson was Arrested

Monday, December 1, 2003
(7:14 PM ET) (00:14 GMT)
The Cable News Network

CNN correspondent Miguel Marquez contributed to this report

"The videotaping of my client conferring with me was illegal and outrageous, as was the aircraft company's attempt to sell that tape for profit. We will be absolutely relentless in our pursuit of any and all extortionists, regardless of how they try to gift wrap their lies in the cloak of justice."

-- Mark Geragos, Jackson's attorney

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- CNN
Microphones found around the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department the day Michael Jackson was arrested last month appear to be attempts to spy on investigators, a department spokesman said Monday.

Sgt. Chris Pappas said the wireless microphones were found in several locations outside the sheriff's department headquarters November 20, in semi-public areas where department employees might go to smoke or eat.

Pappas said the microphones disappeared a few hours after they were spotted the day Jackson arrived handcuffed. The spokesman didn't know who planted or removed the devices.

Jackson, 45, was released on $3 million bond after being arrested on suspicion of child molestation last month. Formal charges against him will be brought in mid-December, according to a source close to the investigation.

Jackson and his lawyers say he's innocent, and charge that the boy who accused him and the child's family have brought the case for financial gain.

Pappas said there will be no investigation into the microphones, but said the incident has heightened the awareness of sheriff's department personnel about the danger of having conversations in semi-public areas.
(More: CNN.com / Law Center)
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Dan