Jackson judge wants swift trial

Mr Jackson did not attend court on Friday

The judge handling Michael Jackson's child molestation trial has said he wants to see the singer on trial by the end of the year.

Judge Rodney Melville told a pre-trial hearing in Santa Maria, California that he would like it "to be our goal to try this case by the end of the year".

Both prosecution and defence attorneys said they could make the deadline.

Mr Jackson has denied the charges, and a further hearing is due to be held on 2 April. He was not present in court.

The hearing on Friday was held so lawyers could discuss a date for a preliminary hearing, when the first evidence will be presented.

But the judge opted to delay a decision until April, because Mr Jackson's lawyer Mark Geragos said he had only just received 400 pages of the prosecution's evidence and needed more time to study it.

Documents

Mr Geragos said he believed the prosecution was "halfway there" in handing over its evidence.

The judge also rejected media requests for to have some of the evidence unsealed - but said he would try to released edited portions of the documents.

Mr Jackson is charged with seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and two counts of giving the child an "intoxicating agent".

A handful of fans turned up for the hearing - with one group holding up a Union flag with the slogan "UK supports Michael Jackson".

Earlier, Mr Jackson's music manager denied reports that the singer is having financial problems.

The New York Times claimed he owed $70m (£36m) to the Bank of America, but was unable to repay the loan.

But Charles Koppelman insisted Mr Jackson's assets far exceeded his debts, saying the star "has the ability to generate huge sums of money".