AAP FACTCHECK – US Vice President Kamala Harris was the prosecutor in Michael Jackson’s 2005 trial for child molestation, social media posts claim.
This is false. The Democratic presidential candidate worked in a different jurisdiction during the late pop star’s case.
The claim emerged after the American singer’s sister Janet Jackson repeated a claim about the vice president’s ethnicity previously debunked by AAP FactCheck.
Facebook posts claiming that Harris prosecuted Jackson, who died in 2009, feature a video of her talking about child testimony.
“WAIT WHAT???!!! Kamala Harris was the prosecutor against Michael Jackson in California????” a post said.
“AND TRUMP WAS THE ONE DEFENDING MICHAEL JACKSON?‼ Wow!! You cannot make this up!!”
The video appears to be a genuine clip from a US ABC News report about Jackson’s arrest in late 2003.
The banner at the bottom of the screen displayed her title as ‘San Francisco Deputy City Attorney’ as she spoke about the legal significance of evidence from children.
“In general the child will be able to recall and recollect with some detail the incident and that is persuasive to the jury even if it is the only testimony that is available,” Ms Harris said.
It’s unclear if Ms Harris spoke about Jackson’s case specifically or more generally about child testimony.
The clip jumps from the ABC segment to audio of former US president Donald Trump defending the pop star in an interview overlaid with CNN visuals.
AAP FactCheck was unable to verify if the clip featuring Harris was genuine, and the American broadcaster did not respond to requests for assistance locating the footage.
Regardless, the claim Ms Harris was the prosecutor in Jackson’s case is incorrect.
Ms Harris was elected as San Francisco District Attorney in 2003 and served in the role from 2004 until 2011.
Jackson was charged in 2003 and tried in the city of Santa Barbara, which is a five-hour drive south of San Francisco.
The prosecutor in the case was Santa Barbara District Attorney Thomas Sneddon, according to the court documents.
Andrew Lah, a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, said Santa Barbara and San Francisco were completely different jurisdictions.
“It is safe to say [Ms Harris] had no role in prosecuting that case in Santa Barbara County,” he told AAP FactCheck.
“Moreover, it’s unclear from the Facebook clip what case she’s even referring to or when this statement was made.”
The claim and video appear to have originated in a Telegram group and on TikTok accounts before being posted to Facebook.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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