Jackson says he is innocent in video

At the weekend, Jackson released a videotaped statement, approved by the judge, in which he responds to reputed grand jury reports leaked to the news media over the last few weeks that said his accuser had testified that the entertainer groped him and plied him with alcohol two years ago. Jackson denied the accusations against him, pleaded for a fair hearing from the jury and the public, and predicted he would ultimately be ‘acquitted and vindicated’. ‘In the last few weeks, a large amount of ugly, malicious information has been released into the media about me,’ Jackson said in the video, which he released on his Web site www.mjjsource.com. ‘Apparently, this information was leaked through transcripts in a grand jury proceeding where neither my lawyers, nor I, ever appeared. The information is disgusting and false.’ Full report in The New York Times