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Source: Police take sample of Jackson's DNA

Event follows Friday's daylong search at Neverland Ranch

From Dree de Clamecy
CNN


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A sheriff's deputy and a fireman stand guard at Neverland on Friday after a search warrant was served.
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Investigators gather DNA from Michael Jackson in connection with the molestation case.
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• Indictment:  Calif. v. Jackson  (FindLaw)external link
• Case:  Calif. v. Jackson  (FindLaw)external link
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Michael Jackson
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Sheriff's investigators took a DNA sample from Michael Jackson this weekend in connection with child molestation charges against the pop star, according to a source familiar with the case.

Investigators from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department went to the entertainer's Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos on Saturday morning to swab the entertainer's mouth for a DNA sample, the source said.

Jackson, who was not home when they arrived, returned to the ranch to meet with the investigators and offered the sample. The meeting had been arranged by Jackson's defense lawyers, and Jackson cooperated fully, the source said.

Saturday's events came a day after sheriff's investigators conducted a surprise raid on the singer's ranch in connection with the charges he faces.

Those charges stem from 10-count indictment handed up by a Santa Barbara County grand jury in April, which include allegations of child molestation, conspiracy and extortion.

Jackson was at his Neverland Ranch with his children when the sheriff's investigators arrived Friday, sources said.

He left the property shortly after their arrival because his children became "traumatized" by the presence of the investigators, a source said. Jackson was described as "calm and collected."

Jackson's lead defense attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., traveled to the ranch Friday and was there Saturday when the DNA sample was taken.

The weekend visits to Neverland by sheriff's investigators were the result of two search warrants sought last week by the prosecution and signed by Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville, another source said.

Melville is the presiding judge in the Jackson case.

One search warrant was served about 9 a.m. (noon ET) Friday, and investigators were on the premises for at least 8 hours, sheriff's spokesman Chris Pappas said.

The second warrant was served Saturday morning, but investigators were at Neverland only briefly, sources said.

Melville had set Monday as the deadline for both sides in the Jackson case to hand over final discovery and witness lists.

It was not clear how the results of the two latest warrants might affect that deadline, if at all, or if the raid and DNA sample might delay the trial, which is slated to get under way January 31.

More than 100 search warrants have been issued in the case, and Melville recently admonished prosecutors in court to wind up their pursuit of warrants.

"At some point, you need to stop gathering and organize and get prepared for trial," Melville told them. He also warned both sides that he was "not interested in continuing this case beyond the trial date" and doing so "would be like punishing me for your failures."

Melville described the volume of paperwork in the case as "huge, just huge." And he said he was "very serious" about getting the case to trial by the date set.

Jackson has not commented publicly on Friday's search.

This week's visits to Neverland Ranch mark the second and third times authorities have gone to the property seeking evidence in the case against the entertainer.

Police last searched Jackson's estate in November 2003, when they seized a variety of items -- including computers, files and notes, and part of a mattress. In September, authorities raided the home of one of Jackson's personal assistants.

Jackson has been free on $3 million bond since his arrest in November 2003.


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