Cameras barred for Jackson court appearance

In a blow to television networks, a US judge has banned cameras from the courtroom where Michael Jackson will answer child molestation charges today. Santa Barbara superior court judge Rodney Melville will also decide whether lawyers, witnesses and Jackson advisers should talk with reporters once the judicial process gets under way, as was requested by Jackson's lawyer Mark Geragos.

Jackson, 45, is due to appear at the court where he has to declare whether he is innocent or guilty of seven child molestation charges filed against him on December 18. The singer has denied the charges. He abandoned his Neverland ranch shortly after he was briefly detained and released on a US$3 million (NZ$4.44 million) bail last month, and is now living with his three children in a mansion in a wealthy Los Angeles neighbourhood. If found guilty of all the charges, Jackson could face up to 24 years in jail.