Date:29/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/29/stories/2008082961131500.htm

National

Half the charges against Anand Jon dropped

Silicon Valley: More than half of the 59 charges against India-born celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon have been dropped by U.S. prosecutors, even as the jury selection is set to begin in his trial for allegedly sexually assaulting aspiring models.

The prosecutors in Los Angeles on Wednesday announced that they were striking 30 of the 59 charges against the 34-year-old designer without specifying reasons for the move.

The decision to strike the counts, involving 10 of the 20 alleged victims, was made just as jury selection was set to get under way in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Jon is well-known in the fashion world and designed clothes for Paris Hilton, singer Mary J Blige and others.

But, prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said they still had “a very strong case” against Jon, local media reported. — PTI