Pretrial hearings are scheduled to begin today in the child molestation case against pop star Michael Jackson in Santa Barbara County, California. They are expected to last three days.

Jackson is accused of sexually molesting a boy after getting him intoxicated with alcohol. In all, there are ten charges pending against Jackson with a trial scheduled to begin January 31.

Jackson's attorneys have filed numerous motions including a request to delay the start of the trial by six weeks so they can have additional time to review evidence. They are also making a motion to dismiss the case altogether due to what they call 'vindictive prosectution and outrageous government conduct.'

The prosecution, meanwhile, will try to get allegations of Jackson's past sexual behavior admitted into evidence claiming that there is a pattern of behavior by the pop star. This would allow incidences like the 1993 case that was settled out of court into evidence.