- Evan Chandler, the father of Michael Jackson's first accuser, was caught on tape discussing a "devious, nasty, cruel" plan to "destroy" Michael Jackson.

- After unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a $20 million screenwriting deal from Michael Jackson, Evan Chandler admittedly gave his son a memory-altering drug called sodium amytal. Only after being given the drug did the boy accuse Michael Jackson of sexual abuse.

- Shortly after the alleged abuse was reported to the police, the Chandlers filed a $30 million lawsuit against Michael Jackson. They were being represented by civil lawyer Larry Feldman.

- Jackson requested that the civil trial be delayed until after the criminal trial was resolved. This was to ensure that the prosecution would not be privy to his entire defense strategy months before the criminal trial began. Jackson's request was denied. This, among many other reasons, led to Jackson's decision to settle the lawsuit.

- The settlement document reveals that Jackson did not settle over claims of child molestation but over claims of negligence; the family dropped the claims of sexual abuse against him. In the document, Jackson maintains that he did nothing wrong. It has been reported that he only settled over the negligence allegation so that his insurance company would step in and settle the case for him.

- Although the settlement did not prevent the accusing family from testifying against Jackson in the criminal trial, they refused to cooperate with authorities.

- After a thorough investigation led by Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon and Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti, police did not find any evidence to corroborate the boy's story. The case was heard by two grand juries but no charges were ever brought due to lack of evidence. According to one grand jury member who spoke to CNN in 1994: "no damaging evidence was heard."

- Tom Sneddon - who has had numerous lawsuits filed against him for malicious prosecution, conspiracy and civil rights violations - soon developed an obsession with Michael Jackson. He spoke to the press about the Jackson case numerous times, showed footage of a strip search of Jackson's genitalia to his fellow police officers, changed laws pertaining to child molestation specifically because of the Jackson case and continually urged any victims to come forward. It has also been alleged that during a private fundraising dinner in 1994, Sneddon discussed a plan to run Jackson out of Santa Barbara by finding another child to accuse him of sexual abuse.

- In February 2003, the controversial Living with Michael Jackson documentary aired in the UK. A young boy appeared on the documentary and told journalist Martin Bashir that he had once spent the night in Jackson's bedroom. After hearing about this, Tom Sneddon released a press statement saying he would tape and watch Living with Michael Jackson.

- A week later, the first accuser's deposition from 1993 was leaked on the Internet. Soon all of the principle players from the 1993 case - including Tom Sneddon - were making appearances on tabloid television shows where they rehashed old unsubstantiated rumours about Jackson.

- As a result of the backlash that accompanied the airing of the documentry, both the Department of Children and Family Services and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department were asked to investigate Jackson. The boy who appeared on the documentary, his mother, his brother and his sister all denied any wrongdoing on Michael Jackson's part. They also said Jackson had never been alone with the boy; there was always a third party present.

- The mother attempted to sue ITV/Granada television for featuring her son on the documentary without her permission. Her boyfriend also demanded money from Jackson in return for the family's appearance on a rebuttal video that Jackson was putting together. When this failed, the mother filed for an increase in alimony from her ex-husband and asked for her child support to be doubled. She then contacted lawyer Bill Dickerman with plans to sue Michael Jackson over a matter unrelated to child molestation.

- Eventually, the mother got in contact with Larry Feldman - the civil lawyer who helped the Chandlers get a $15 million settlement in 1993 - and suddenly the child abuse allegations materialized. Feldman sent the boy to Dr. Katz who was also involved in the 1993 case. Katz told the boy: "Look, if you go ahead with this civil lawsuit, your family will get money if they win."

- Katz reported the alleged abuse to the Santa Barbara Police Department and Tom Sneddon personally investigated the accusations. The family soon found out that because of the law that Sneddon had changed, their civil lawsuit would have to be put on hold until after the criminal trial was over.

- In November, Sneddon informed the family of a state victim's fund that would provide them with financial compensation if they went through with the criminal case. He met with the accuser's mother in an empty parking lot to provide her with the necessary paperwork to apply for the fund. Less than a month later, Jackson was arrested.

- Although the accusing family had a history of making unsubstantiated abuse claims, Sneddon charged Michael Jackson with 7 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under the age of 14 and 2 counts of administering an intoxicating agent.

- These alleged acts took place between February 7th and March 10th; it was during this time period that the DCFS and SBCSD investigations took place.

- By raiding Jackson's attorneys Private Investigator's office, Sneddon was able to view Jackson's defense evidence. After doing so, Sneddon took his case to a secret grand jury where he added and got rid of several charges against Jackson. On April 30th, Jackson was charged with 1 count of conspiracy, 4 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under the age of 14, 1 count of attempted child molestation and 4 counts of administering an intoxicating agent. According to the new charges, Jackson allegedly conspired with five unnamed employees to kidnap the accusing family and force them into making positive statements about Jackson. Perhaps this was Sneddon's way of justifying the fact that the entire family had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on Jackson's part while the alleged abuse was supposedly going on.

- How will Sneddon explain the drastic differences between the charges in the original complaint and the charges in the indictment? Why did the accuser and his family change their story? Is the accusing family slightly confused or was this Sneddon's way of saving his case? Stay tuned...