British, US TV to show Jackson re-enactments

With cameras barred from the upcoming Michael Jackson child molestation trial, two television networks have found a way to bring the drama home - have actors re-enact courtroom testimony.

US cable television network E! Entertainment and Britain's BSkyB say they will team up for a daily 30-minute show using transcripts from the previous day's testimony to re-create the trial.

E! Chief Executive Ted Harbert said that through the reenactments viewers can glean telling details that general newscasts exclude due to air time issues.

"Let's say there is 15 or 16 minutes of testimony. That is so much more than the average news programme can provide," Harbert said. "We'll be running quite a bit verbatim. There will be no changing of any testimony."

E! aired a similar programme before in connection with the civil trial of OJ Simpson, and BSkyB's Sky News and Sky One services had success with 2003 reenactments of an official British inquiry into the suicide of weapons expert David Kelly.

Along with the US and British shows, E! expects to air the programme in more than 50 countries it reaches worldwide, and BSkyB's Sky News is available in more than 40 countries.

The programmes will have common features including testimony from actors playing Jackson and his accusers, legal experts and show hosts. A weekend wrap-up is planned to air each Saturday.

Jackson is scheduled to stand trial beginning January 31 on a 10-count indictment that charges him with lewd acts on a boy under the age of 14 and then conspiring to cover up his actions. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

- REUTERS