Michael Jackson's two lead lawyers defending him in a child-molestation case have quit just days after the singer was indicted by a grand jury.
Mr Benjamin Brafman, the New York criminal lawyer hired by Jackson, said he and Mr Mark Geragos were stepping down but would not give a reason why.
"Mark and I elected to step down. There were a number of complicated legal and practical issues . . . but it's not appropriate for us to discuss them. I wish Michael Jackson well . . . and I hope he will be completely exonerated," Mr Brafman said.
Both Mr Brafman and Mr Geragos plan to appear at a hearing on Friday during which Jackson is expected to enter a "not guilty" plea to the indictment handed down last week by the Santa Barbara grand jury, Mr Brafman said.
The departure of the lawyers is expected to further delay the case, which had not been expected to go to trial until the end of 2004.
Jackson is in seclusion at the 12-bedroom central Florida estate of time-share magnate David Siegel while he awaits an arraignment.
As Santa Barbara County prosecutors kept the grand jury secret and the indictment was sealed, little is known about the charges Jackson is to face.
But the grand jury was known to be investigating the same accusations that led to charges against Jackson last December: seven counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 and two counts of plying the boy with alcohol in order to seduce him.