LOS ANGELES (June 22, 2006) — The woman who claimed Michael Jackson molested her son, leading to the sensational trial a year ago at which the singer was acquitted, was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on a charge of welfare fraud.
The attorney for the 37-year-old woman, whose name by marriage is Janet Jackson, entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. She did not speak during the arraignment.
She is accused of one charge related to accepting $8,000 in fraudulently obtained assistance and four charges of committing perjury on welfare applications.
Prosecutors say she hid the fact that she received a substantial settlement in a lawsuit against J.C. Penney before she filed for welfare.
Her lawyer, Patricia Hattersley, said outside court that she hopes the case can be resolved without a trial.
“We are open to discussions,” Hattersley said. “Her position is she never misrepresented anything intentionally.”
The prosecutor’s office said the case will go to trial unless she makes restitution.
The trial is scheduled for Aug. 7. However, the trial date could be postponed to within 30 days of that date, Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson said.
During Michael Jackson’s trial last year, the woman invoked Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and refused to testify about the welfare questions.
The singer was acquitted of the child molestation charges last year. Many jurors said a lack of credibility on the part of the woman and her children were major factors in the verdicts. The defense portrayed her as a con artist who schemed to get money from celebrities and through fraudulent legal claims.
The Associated Press has withheld the identities of the accuser and his siblings, who have a last name different from their mother’s.
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