Sources: Michael Jackson to Attend Special Hearing

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Michael Jackson (search) has decided to come to court Monday to hear the testimony of the man prosecuting him on child molestation charges, according to sources.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon (search) will be testifying in an unusual pretrial proceeding.

Reliable sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press Thursday that Jackson will be on hand for the session. Also expected to attend are his parents, sisters Janet and LaToya and brother Jermaine.

Michael Jackson is not required to attend but made a last-minute decision to appear, a source said.

It was not immediately known whether he will be on hand for the balance of hearings that are supposed to last through the week.

Parties in the case are under a strict gag order which prevents them from commenting.

Sneddon was subpoenaed by Jackson's defense to testify about surveillance he personally conducted at the office of a private investigator who was working for Jackson's former attorney, Mark Geragos (search).

The investigator, Bradley Miller, was not in his Beverly Hills office when Sneddon went there and took photographs of the building and its roster of occupants.

Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials already have testified that they searched Miller's office, using a sledge hammer to break in and seize videotapes and files related to the Jackson case.

The officials, who had a warrant for the search, have maintained that they did not know Miller was employed by Geragos.

Jackson's current lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr., maintains that the sheriff's department and Sneddon violated the attorney-client privilege of confidentiality by invading Miller's office. Mesereau contends that everything seized from the office should be suppressed and not allowed in evidence at Jackson's trial.

Jackson is charged with committing a lewd act upon a child, administering an intoxicating agent and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on $3 million bail.