Mood:
irritatedTopic: Main News
by Sarah Hall
Jan 21, 2005, 2:45 PM PT
Not a great day in Neverland.
Over objections from Michael Jackson's defense team at a pretrial hearing Friday, Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville ruled that the prosecution can call an expert witness to describe how children behave after abuse.
The prosecution specifically wants the expert's testimony to help "dispel myths commonly associated with child sexual abuse traumas," according to Ronald Zonen, a deputy district attorney.
Zonen said that there are four myths that commonly confuse jurors and are played up by the defense in molestation cases: the late reporting of child abuse by the victim; piecemeal accounts of what occurred; the fact that children often do not confide in those close to them; and that they retain affection and sometimes even love for their abuser.
He said the unnamed expert would be able to testify to how such perplexing behavior is part of a "grooming process."
Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau said that calling a molestation expert to testify was part of a desperate attempt by the prosecution to shore up a "horrific problem" with their case.
He argued that there was no need to call the expert to discuss the testimony of Jackson's accuser, now 15, and his brother, 14, if he can prove that they "aren't victims at all, they're flat-out liars."
"What if they have a history of lying?" Mesereau said of the witnesses. "What if the boy lied in the past to help his mother obtain money through the legal process?"
In spite of Team Jackson's strenuous objections, Melville granted the prosecution's motion, but said there will be strict limits that will be discussed before the expert takes the stand.
Also at the pretrial hearing, Melville said he had decided to keep the questionnaires that will be passed out to prospective jurors out of the public eye. He said he was dissatisfied with the lengthy questionnaires presented by both sides and that he was in the midst of making major changes.
"Quite frankly, I've gutted it," Melville said. "I don't know how many pages you gave me. But there is about seven pages left."
In other Jackson news, LaToya Jackson, who once made remarks indicating that she thought her brother was guilty of the child molestation charges he faced in 1993, has taken to the airwaves in support of her brother in an interview scheduled to air Friday on ABC's 20/20.
According to the middle Jackson child, her brother is simply "misunderstood."
"I love my brother...Michael is one of the sweetest persons on this earth. You have no idea," LaToya said in the interview.
"He's been so sheltered from the world that it's to extremes...He is so, I believe, well, I know, disconnected with the outside world, that he doesn't understand how they view him, and it's really sad," she said.
She said she did not think Jackson would ever veer from his Peter Pan-esque persona.
"I don't think that he will stop seeing children because...when you don't see anything wrong that you're doing, it's like, 'but I'm doing nothing wrong,'" LaToya said.
"He loves children. We all love children...It's been quite difficult, having this great love for children, because people take it the wrong way, and the results are upon us today, as we can see."
Indeed we can. Jackson faces trial on 10 felony charges ranging from child molestation to conspiracy. He has pleaded innocent across the board and remains free on $3 million bail. Jury selection in his trial is due to commence Jan. 31.