Mood:
surprisedTopic: Direct Testimonies
Sunday, 17 April 2005
These proceedings were held in open court in the hearing and presence of the jury.
After the jury was seated, Judge Melville instructed them in the following: "I'm going to read you again some instructions, and remind you that at the end of the case, I will fully instruct you on all of the law involved in the case, but I'm instructing you at this time to specifically deal with a specific problem that's arisen in the evidence of the case. So I'd like you to listen carefully to this.
The witness, Janet Arvizo, has made a claim of privilege under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. In a hearing held outside your presence, the Court has determined that the rules of evidence preclude the parties in this case from examination or cross-examination of Janet Arvizo on the subject of possible welfare fraud.
When a witness refuses to testify to any matter relying on the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination, you must not draw from the exercise of this privilege any inference as to the believability of the witness or any other matter at issue in this trial. This is a ruling that was not anticipated when the attorneys made their opening statements to you. Those statements, however, are not evidence. You should not consider the failure of the prosecution or the defense to cover this subject area in the examination or cross-examination of this witness as having any evidentiary significance or any importance in your ultimate decision on the case, nor should you speculate as to the possible reasons for the Court's decision. Evidence of possible welfare fraud and perjury may still at some point be presented in this case, but it will not be introduced through the testimony of this witness."
At this time, the prosecution was instructed to call their witness, Janet Arvizo Jackson. It was stated by the judge that she had previously been sworn and was reminded that she was still under oath.
Under direct examination, it was established that the witness currently is going by the name Janet Jackson, but throughout the proceeding may also be referred to as Janet Arvizo or Janet Ventura, her maiden name. It was further established that she is married to Jay Jackson, a major in the army, and she resides with him and her four children, Davellin, Gavin, Star, and an 8-month-old baby boy.
Mr. Zonen established, through questioning, that Ms. Arvizo first met Michael Jackson in August of 2000, through the circumstance of her son's illness with cancer. Someone had arranged an introduction at the time her son was going through chemotherapy, after his surgery. She and her family, including her now ex-husband, David, were taken to Neverland by limo in August of 2000, when Gavin was 10 years old. Ms. Arvizo described Gavin as having difficulty walking, "kind of like a toddler walk", taking medication, and tiring easily.
She also stated that, as a consequence of the surgery, Gavin continues on medications, one as a prophylactic because of "replacement of his spleen" to protect from infection, and the other medication because of a malfunctioning kidney.
When asked more about the family's first visit to Neverland, Ms. Arvizo couldn't recall the exact length of the visit, only that it was more than one night and not as long as one week. She stated that, "Me and David stood in one room. And my children were supposed to stay in another room
together, but it ended up just being Davellin." She and her husband were in one room, Davellin was in one room, and the boys stayed with Michael in his house. Mr. Zonen specifically asked, "Do you know, from personal observation - in other words, did you see where they stayed? Not from what anybody told you, but did you see where they stayed?" Ms. Arvizo replied, "No."
Ms. Arvizo was then asked if she had ever gone into Michael Jackson's residence. She said, "His residence -- there's an area where there's a -- like a kitchen area where everybody can go into, but the -- but -- it's -- it's open, you know, to that area, eating area." She stated that she did not go into his personal residence, his bedroom or his bedroom suite. She claimed that, to her knowledge and recollection, during the time her family was there for this visit, her sons did not ever stay in the guest cottage. At the end of this visit, her family returned to their home.
Mr. Zonen then asked where her home was at the time. She said, "Okay. It's -- can I explain to them?" Ms. Arvizo seemed to have trouble focusing on the question. She stated she did have a residence at the time and when asked if she had more than one or another place to stay, answered, "Me and the children, when Gavin - right after he would have -"
At this point, Mr. Mesereau objected, stating the witness was nonresponsive. The court did not rule, allowing Mr. Zonen to take care of it by instructing his witness to listen to the question as specifically as possible.
It was then established that Ms. Arvizo had a residence in East L.A. that she was paying rent on, and that Gavin and her then husband David were staying with her mother in El Monte. She explained the reasons for this by saying, "Because Davellin and Star were still going to school. I got three kids, you know. Only because Gavin has cancer doesn't mean the other ones, they're off. They got to go to school." She added that, "Because in my bachelor apartment, there's no divided rooms, bedrooms". Gavin's special needs required him to stay at her mother's residence because he needed "a sterile room after chemotherapy" and that "my other two kids were still going to school, so they had to be separated for that moment, because the children could have picked up some other germs, which at the time Star was nine, and -" At this point, Mr. Zonen asked if she was staying in East L.A. at the Soto Street residence, which she confirmed.
Ms. Arvizo described the residence by saying that, "I've lived there for about five years. From 1998 to 2003. It was just a room and a wall to divide the kitchen. And it had a rest room, too."
Mr. Zonen inquired about the period of Gavin's illness. Ms. Arvizo indicated that he did not stay at the Soto Street residence at all during this time and that "he -- the whole entire time while he had cancer he did not attend school one single day", and he was either at her mother's residence or at the hospital. Ms. Arvizo explained that Gavin didn't just go to the hospital for chemotherapy, "he was hospitalized -- sometimes because he had fevers, he had to get hospitalized. Any - any fragility in his health, he had to be hospitalized", and that chemotherapy lasted for almost, but not quite, one year.
It was then established that Gavin was determined to be in remission by the doctors in May of 2001. According to Ms. Arvizo, "They did a full checkup, and they concluded that it was not -- it was in remission. And then that's when -- he had to have a little thing going through his heart, his main artery, because he was receiving such strong dosages, so he had to have the strongest artery. That was removed." She stated that he is in remission today, but when questioned if he is healthy today, Ms. Arvizo explained, "Outside the -- the two specialists that see him continuously, his oncologist, his nephrologist, he's a healthy boy, but he's got medical concerns." She then added, "And then the scare we just had where he had a very serious test." At which point, Mr. Mesereau made an objection that the witness was nonresponsive.
Mr. Zonen moved on to discussion of when the next visit to Neverland occurred, to which Ms. Arvizo responded, "Me? Oh, let me see. Um -- um -- September 2002, because Chris had invited me, Chris and Aja."
Again, Mr. Mesereau objected that the witness was nonresponsive. Mr. Zonen then requested that the witness simply answer by stating the time of the next visit, which was given as September of 2002. Mr. Zonen inquired if Ms. Arvizo's sons or sons and daughter returned to Neverland any sooner than that, and was told that the boys went right after the initial visit in August of 2000 without her or Davellin. Ms. Arvizo said that she felt "felt it was more important for Davellin to focus on her school. She was already starting high school, ninth grade." Therefore, she stayed with Davellin, and the boys were accompanied by their father. She also mentioned that she didn't go "because of the little incident that Dave did over there." Mr. Zonen asked if she had problems with David over the years of their marriage, and she said she did.
Ms. Arvizo was asked if she knew how many visits her children had to Neverland after the initial visit and approximately when they were. She replied, "Okay. The first initial visit in August, and these are all approximate, August of 2000. Then the boys, when they returned with David, right after that. Then in the spring of 2002, with Chris. And then Michael invited them immediately back up. And then with Chris's -- the family birthday party that Chris had, Chris and Aja. And then the filming of this stuff in September."
Mr. Zonen tried to work this out saying, "You're not -- all right. Let's see if we can work this out a little bit. We have the initial visit August of 2000. Then you said they returned, your husband David and the two boys, soon thereafter, and by "soon," are we talking about within a week or two?" Ms. Arvizo said, "Yes". When asked about the length of this visit, Ms. Arvizo said, "Oh, I couldn't tell you. Just days", establishing that it was more than one night but less than a week. During this time, Ms. Arvizo remained home at the Soto Street address with Davillin.
Ms. Arvizo described another visit with Michael Jackson, apart from Neverland, in the year 2000, saying, "Michael had invited Gavin and David to go to the Universal Hilton in Studio City, and that's -- and in this time it was only Gavin in the hotel." This was a day visit only.
Ms. Arvizo testified that there were no other visits in 2000 or 2001 that she was aware of. She was then asked about telephone conversations with Michael Jackson in 2000. She stated that he had conversations with her son over the telephone, and they took place "sometime in the hospital, but mostly at my mom's house. Gavin had his own room. And he had his own telephone line, his own -- his own answering machine, because usually they -- the doctor had suggested that sometimes when we use a phone, we can easily pass viruses or anything on the telephone." She was asked if she was ever present during any of the conversations and she said, "Sometimes. Sometimes, but not -- they'd go on forever, so I'd -- you know, I have to go do other things." The telephone conversations were described as lasting "hours" and that "they were frequent. I couldn't - I couldn't be able to tell you. But I know that after he met him, it was more." Ms. Arvizo said these conversations took place over weeks but could not say approximately how many.
Mr. Zonen stated, "After the third visit at the hotel, there were no other visits that either or any of your children had with Michael Jackson during the balance of 2000 or 2001", then asked, "Do you know why that was?"
At this point, Mr. Mesereau objected, saying this called for speculation, foundation, and hearsay. The objection was overruled and the witness was instructed to answer the question.
Ms. Arvizo said, "Because I just felt a little bit uneasy. That's all. He didn't do nothing, you know. You know, it just felt -- it just felt uneasy." When asked if she did something to stop communication between her son and Michael Jackson, she said, "Um -- um, yeah, I just expressed I was uneasy about it."
Mr. Zonen then asked about the first visit in 2002. Ms. Arvizo described it saying, "That was with Chris Tucker and Aja. They had built so much credibility with me, they took my -- it was like everything was -- like doing family activities together, and so when Chris had asked me that he wanted to take the children to Neverland, I felt it was okay, because Chris - you know, they're decent people, Chris and Aja." Mr. Zonen established that Chris Tucker is somebody who befriended her son during the time he was ill, but did not know him prior to that.
Mr. Zonen then asked about celebrities that knew the children prior to Gavin becoming ill and asked who they were. Ms. Arvizo replied, "Well, let me see. I don't know if you call them famous or something, but they're famous to me. For example, Wheezy. Her name is Louise Palanker. To me, she's famous. Jamie, George Lopez, Fritz. And then Jamie had -- Jamie had, like, guests, comics that came, and celebrities, and so they would -- they met them there.
It was established that the introduction to Chris Tucker had been made by Jamie during the time Gavin was ill. Ms. Arvizo was asked if Jamie Masada often visited her son in the hospital. She said, "Oh, yes. Yes. Almost daily. My son even -- my -- Jamie would try to -- there came a point where Gavin wasn't eating because he was vomiting blood, because he was a very sick boy. And so Jamie was trying to get him to eat, and he'd -- Gavin had vomited on him, and that didn't keep him away. He still kept coming."
Mr. Zonen inquired about the visit to Neverland in 2002 with Mr. Tucker, asking who had arranged it. Ms. Arvizo said that Chris did and he took the children there. Mr. Zonen wanted to know how many kids went on that visit, the first visit in 2002. Ms. Arvizo replied, "On the baby boy's birthday party? Oh, I see. The best I can remember, Chris -- this is another thing, too. Chris was working on a movie that he was trying to put together called "The President." And he took his writer, Kelly. And he took the kids because he says they're funny and they give him ideas, you know, by them joking around with him." When pressed on the time of the first 2002 Neverland visit, she said it was in spring.
The next visit to Neverland was right after that. Ms. Arvizo said, "Michael had invited the kids right after." She said that Evvy called and spoke to Gavin. When asked how long that was after the first visit with Chris Tucker, she said, "I can't remember right now, but -- I think it was Michael, too, but -- unless I know for a fact, I'll tell you, but that's the best I can remember." It was established that the kids did go, that it was still spring of 2002, and that she had already been separated from her husband, David, since May of 2001.
In discussing the separation, Mr. Zonen wished to know if David had contact with the children since that time. Ms. Arvizo said he had not. She was then asked if there was an order prohibiting him from seeing them, to which she replied, "Okay. During the summer, even though he was -- he had done the things he had done, during the summer I still tried -- I thought it was my fault, so I tried to encourage. I figured - I figured he -- he can have some kind of - start becoming or having a father relationship with them in the summer. But that ended when those criminal things --." She said there were two criminal prosecutions of David, one involving her and one involving Davellin, two different years. Following those prosecutions, there was no contact between David Arvizo and her children, other than being in court and "except for that one time that he had violated the restraining order with Davellin."
In going back to the visit to Neverland by her children in 2002, Mr. Zonen asked, "Who did you understand Evvy to be?" Ms. Arvizo replied, ". Oh, his personal assistant, and his personal secretary, and his personal everything." It was established that she had never met Evvy but had "a lot of conversation with her on the phone". Ms. Arvizo did not speak to Evvy to arrange this trip to Neverland, Gavin spoke to her.
It was established that the three children did go back to Neverland in the spring of 2002, staying for a couple of days. Ms. Arvizo was then asked if she had been told that, at that visit, there might be a person filming a documentary. She stated, "No. That was spring. Now, this is - then we go -- the baby boy's birthday party is about September. And then right after that is the - that I come to find out now, that's when they did the filming for the Bashir tape."
Again, Mr. Zonen inquired, "We have one where the three kids went on invitation from Evvy in spring. They were gone approximately how long?" Ms. Arvizo said, "About a couple of days, and that was right after being with Chris."
It was established that after this visit they returned back to their home in East L.A. on Soto Street. Gavin, at this point, was back at this residence. It was during this period that Ms. Arvizo met Jay Jackson. She states, "I met him -- I met Jay in July of 2002, but just met. You know,
the children were attending this Sea Cadet program in his base. I don't know if you call it "base," but it's -- it's -- I don't know the appropriate -- correct thing. I used to do something. It's disrespectful, but it's funny. I would tell him that's the Sea Cadet Headquarters, but it was actually an Army base." This base was said to be in West L.A., where the two boys were taken. Ms. Arvizo said, "Just the two boys. But I was -- Davellin was involved with the LAPD Explorer program, but I was trying to see if Davellin would be interested in that, too." Mr. Zonen asked if Davellin was still involved in LAPD Explorers, to which Ms. Arvizo responded, "Yes. Well, to this day, no. Right now she's pretty busy. She's going to work and going to school."
Mr. Zonen wished to know how the boys became involved the Navy Sea Cadets program, and Ms. Arvizo explained, "Okay. Someone had gone to their school and kind of explained what this program was. And then I got interested, because in the packet it said a lot of interesting things to do to help them with hopefully becoming a better person, so - and leadership skills, so"?
When asked about a mandatory fee requirement, she said that as far as she knew there was none, but "there was a cost, depending on - depending on your -- if you wanted to volunteer/no volunteer. Not volunteer for everything, but -- you know, in the little thing." Regarding attendance, according to Ms. Arvizo, "They went -- well, Gavin -- Gavin and Star volunteered for just about everything possible. Twice a month, but because the boys were volunteering just about for everything, it would be more than twice a month."
Mr. Zonen asked Ms. Arvizo if she ever had a car from the time of her separation from David Arvizo. She stated, "From like when -- let me see. About the end of spring or the beginning of summer of 2001, they had -- the car that they had given Gavin they took back." According to Ms. Arvizo, she had the car for about one month after her separation. The vehicle was from Michael Jackson and had been delivered to her mother's house. The car was returned because "Well, the -- the little thing when you turn it on and off wouldn't work. Sometimes it would work, and sometimes it wouldn't. And where I live, you can't leave a car too long, because different streets are assigned parking things and they would tow the car away. And Michael had said if anything ever got broken, to send it back and he'll have it repaired. But it never came back."
Ms. Arvizo was asked if she had ever had a conversation with Michael Jackson prior to 2002. She responded that she did not, not even on the first visit to Neverland in August of 2000. She stated that she met with him at that time but David was doing all the talking, though she was present with Mr. Jackson at different times during that visit. She also stated she had no telephone conversation with Mr. Jackson subsequent to that visit.
Ms. Arvizo also did not go to Neverland in the spring of 2002, only her children went at that time. The next time she went to Neverland was "to Chris and Aja's baby boy's birthday party". She could not recall the age of the child, only that he was about "preschool age". She stated that those attending the party were, "Just about all of Chris's family. His mom and his dad. Everybody. All his family, practically. He flew them in from Atlanta." Ms. Arvizo said, "Me, my three kids, and Jay had also came."
When asked if she was in a relationship at that time with Major Jackson, if they were dating, she said, "Not really. I was kind of a little bit, you know, hesitant. I met him in July. But all we did was have phone conversations. It wasn't our first - he considered it our first date. I really considered it just a ride to the boys' graduation from Sea Cadet."
It was established that this visit to Neverland was not overnight. They returned the same day. Chris had asked them to meet outside a hotel where they were taken to Neverland by bus and returned home the same way. Ms. Arvizo said that Michael Jackson was not there during the birthday party.
Ms. Arvizo stated that the next time her children went to Neverland was "for the filming. But make it very clear, I wasn't -- now I know". This was in September of 2002. They happened to go to Neverland "because Evvy and Michael had called them over. And right before that, Gavin had -- had done a biopsy. So, you know, I thought -- I thought he was inviting him because of the biopsy". The biopsy was favorable, and Mr. Zonen asked, "And all of you were rejoicing in his remission?"
At this point, Mr. Mesereau made an objection that counsel was leading. This was sustained.
Mr. Zonen asked who had called them, and Ms. Arvizo said, "From -- from Evvy. But I didn't talk to them. Evvy - they hardly talked to me. It was always Gavin." She became aware of the fact that they were being invited back because Gavin had said that Evvy and Michael had invited them over to go have a day of fun. Ms. Arvizo stated, "And I figured -- I figured that Chris had communicated to Michael that he had -- you know, about his biopsy. Because Chris and Aja were very involved with my kids." Mr. Zonen asked if it was anticipated that this would only be for one day. Ms. Arvizo stated that it was, but they ended up sleeping there for just one night, and she did not go with them. She stated that she had no telephone communication with Michael Jackson personally with regard to that trip, or with Evvy. The children came home at the end of the second day.
Ms. Arvizo testified that she didn't know there was a film crew at Neverland "until he made me aware", "he" being Michael Jackson. She stated this was "way in February". She said her children did not discuss this with her and she did not know about it. Mr. Zonen asked if Mr. Jackson, Evvy, or anybody else from Neverland notified her personally prior to the visit that there was going to be a film crew there. Ms. Arvizo testified that they did not, and no one asked her to sign any documentation with regards to her children appearing in a film. This was in September of 2002. According to Ms. Arvizo, there were no more visits in 2002.
In 2003, she states she received a phone call from Michael Jackson, and that this call came to Gavin. She testified that she did get on the telephone with Mr. Jackson at this time, but had no other conversation with him prior to that phone call in February of 2003. She was asked if she knew the date of the telephone call and stated, "I've come to find out per the investigation, but I still always forget. The only way I know is because he had told me about it, and it had aired in England prior to it airing here. So consider the time difference and all that. So definitely before it aired here, and after it aired over there."
Mr. Zonen asked if Ms. Arvizo was aware of the documentary titled "Living with Michael Jackson". She stated she was not and that she had no personal knowledge it had been prepared. She testified that she was not aware that this documentary had been shown in England, and her kids had not mentioned to her that they had participated in a filming of some kind at any time prior to this conversation with Mr. Jackson. She testified that the name "Martin Bashir" had not been raised in her household and that she did not know who he was.
Ms. Arvizo stated that in early February Mr. Jackson called Gavin and she got on the phone at some point. She testified that, "He had told me that -- well, this is -- Gavin's talking to him first. He had told me that Gavin was in danger, and that there had to be a press conference because of this Bashir man." She states that she did not know what he was talking about, this Bashir matter, and she did not ask him to explain. When asked if he offered any explanation, Ms. Arvizo said, "No. At first I was telling him, "No, no, no, no, no, no," because he wanted him to come to Miami. But when he told me, you know, 'Janet, David'".
At this point, Mr. Zonen stopped and said, "Mrs. Arvizo, why don't you hold on a second. We're going to take it question by question. Listen carefully to the question asked, all right?"
Mr. Zonen asked if Mr. Jackson explained to her what the documentary was. She stated he did not, not there on the phone. He asked if Mr. Jackson mentioned the name "Martin Bashir'. Ms. Arvizo stated, "He just said 'Bashir'." She said she did not know what that meant. When asked if he said to her that her child was in danger, she said he told her "that he was receiving death threats" and that "he was in danger". She testified that she was alarmed.
Mr. Zonen asked if she believed what he said at that time. Ms. Arvizo said, "It's until he -- until he started telling me that the children had shared with him about how David was a bad guy, because my guard was here (indicating). And when he started telling me those things, oh, 'waarrrrr.'"
Mr. Zonen asked if the nature of the danger had been described. Ms. Arvizo stated, "Just death threats because of this Bashir thing." She testified that he did not tell her who the people were who were issuing the death threats. When asked if Mr. Jackson used the word "death threats" or the term "death threats", Ms. Arvizo stated, "He said he was in danger." She testified that her other children were not mentioned in that regard until they got there, and the conversation was "long enough to convince me", but she could not approximate the length of time.
Mr. Zonen then asked her what Mr. Jackson told her with regards to her ex-husband. Ms. Arvizo stated, "He told me that the children had shared with him what the children had gone through. And then he had told me that he understands, and that he doesn't want the children nor me around David anymore; that he's a bad guy. And -- you know. And to me - you know." She testified that her response was, "I was, like, wow, he understands." Ms. Arvizo stated that her kids had never told her they had talked with him about David Arvizo, and she was surprised that he had that kind of information, saying, "but I believed him. I believed him. And maybe they did, maybe my kids did."
Mr. Zonen inquired what Ms. Arvizo was asked to do in this telephone call. She testified, "That Gavin -- that he needed Gavin to do a press conference, and he could protect him." She said Mr. Jackson was calling from Miami and said the press conference would be there. She did not remember if she was told what he wanted Gavin to say in the press conference. Ms. Arvizo stated that she did not agree that Gavin could go to Miami. She told Mr. Jackson, "that if my son is in danger, then me and my kids have to go." She said she did not ask him if he contacted the police. When asked if she had any discussion with him about what he was doing to remedy this problem of danger, she said, "No, I just trusted him."
Mr. Zonen asked if Ms. Arvizo had come to an agreement with Mr. Jackson as to who was going to go to Miami. She stated, "Yes, my kids and me." She said she wanted to do that because, "Well, because if Gavin's going to be - you know, if there's death threats, then I guess we all have to be together." She testified that he did agree to that, "actually, he's the one that was going that route, because I had told him no." Ms. Arvizo testified that Mr. Jackson suggested that the whole family go to Miami, to which she agreed. She further stated that he wanted her and the children to go to Miami immediately.
Ms. Arvizo was asked whether Mr. Jackson or someone else make arrangements for them to get to Miami. She stated that it was "Michael and Evvy" and that Evvy contacted her after the telephone call from Mr. Jackson. Ms. Arvizo said the arrangement was to be that, "Gary Hearn, his personal, like, driver, the person who takes care of his cars, was going to fly with us on a commercial air flight to Miami." She stated that Davellin was in school and the boys were not. When asked where Gary picked Davellin up, she said, "From -- from -- I don't remember. I think it was -- I think it was my mom's. I think he went to go pick her up from my mom's or East L.A., one of those. Best person to ask that is Davellin."
Ms. Arvizo testified that, at the time of the phone call from Mr. Jackson, she was at Jay's house because, "Our phone in East L.A. had been disconnected. And so I had received a message from -- from Evvy that they had to be able to make contact, so I was in Jay's house." She was asked through whom the message she received was forwarded and she replied, "It was both, Evvy and Michael, to Jay's." When asked of she returned a call or if they had reached her there, she said, "They actually -- it was a combination of everything." She was asked to explain, and stated, "They contacted me there, and I returned phone calls from there to Evvy." It was after that when Mr. Jackson called. Ms. Arvizo stated, "And Evvy had also left messages at my mom's house before that."
At this time, Judge Melville called for a break, and recess was taken.
Posted by MJ Friend Anna
at 4:27 PM JST
Updated: Fri, May 20 2005 4:47 PM JST
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Updated: Fri, May 20 2005 4:47 PM JST
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