Message From Michael Jackson's Parents/Family
Mood:  hug me
Topic: Main News

We wish to thank the fans, for their zealous support for our son. Without the supporting fans, we wouldn't have been able to get through these days, and final days. The parents of Michael wish for all to know, that they appreciated their voices as they leave their vehicles to enter the court. They are pleased to hear the words, "Fight Fight, Michael, Fight." They wish for all the fans -- supporters that come to the court in Santa Maria, to know that they thank you, and that they love you all.

Family Spokesperson: Angel Howansky

Source: PV4MJJ.Com (Positive Voices 4 MJJ)

Jackson makes hospital trip as case wraps up
Mood:  sad
Topic: Main News
Defense closing arguments, prosecution rebuttal expected Friday

NBC News and news services

Updated: 9:54 a.m. ET June 3, 2005
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Pop star Michael Jackson made a brief trip to a local hospital Thursday evening to be treated for dehydration, sources told NBC News, another sign of stress as his trial nears an end. His defense team is set to wrap up its closing arguments Friday, followed by the prosecution's rebuttal and then jury deliberations.

A spokeswoman for Jackson denied that the pop star was hospitalized but didn't rule out the possibility that he went to a hospital for a shot. Earlier Thursday, Dick Gregory, the comedian-turned-nutritionist and a Jackson friend, suggested to Jackson that he get a shot of electrolytes because he appeared dehydrated.

During Thursday's court proceedings, a prosecutor told jurors that the pop star targeted a vulnerable cancer survivor, brought the little boy “into the world of the forbidden” in his bedroom and molested him.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau countered that the accuser’s family consisted of “con artists, actors and liars.” He said prosecutors revealed the weakness of their case by attacking him during their closing argument.

“Whenever a prosecutor does that you know they’re in trouble,” Mesereau told the panel, which is expected to get the case Friday. “This is not a popularity contest between lawyers.” Jackson, who looked glum 24 hours earlier, said “I’m OK” as he left court Thursday.

Prosecutors, he said, engaged in a “nasty attempt, a barbaric attempt” to attack Jackson personally by bringing up his financial problems, collection of adult magazines and “sagging music career.”

Mesereau also showed charts suggesting it was ridiculous to believe that during a time when Jackson was under international scrutiny he would choose to commit a sex crime.
In a methodical closing argument, Senior Deputy District attorney Ron Zonen berated Jackson and his attorneys, stood by the testimony of the accuser’s mother, and used charts and graphics to show what he said was a pattern of criminal behavior.

Zonen argued for nearly two hours before he even brought up child molestation, focusing first on a complicated conspiracy alleging Jackson sought to hold the accuser’s family against their will.

He said it was toward the end of a period in which the accuser and his family stayed at Jackson’s Neverland ranch that “the behavior had turned to something terribly illegal.”

Zonen said Jackson began giving the boy alcohol and even though his mother at that time was unaware of any molestation, she insisted that her family leave Neverland.

“For all her shortcomings, (the mother), after learning Michael Jackson was giving her son alcohol, in 36 hours she had her children out of there,” Zonen said.

Is mother credible?

Mesereau said the real issue was “whether the accuser’s family was credible,” and he tore into the prosecutor’s claim the boy’s mother wasn’t out for money, repeatedly returning to the refrain, “Was she asking for money?”

“When she filed for emergency welfare 10 days after getting her (settlement), was she asking for money?” Mesereau asked. “If you do not believe (the family) beyond a reasonable doubt, Mr. Jackson must be acquitted. That’s the law.”

The prosecutor acknowledged she fraudulently applied for welfare after receiving a large settlement in a lawsuit, but asserted that was the only thing she had been proven to have done wrong in her life.

And Zonen ridiculed the idea the boy’s mother could have made up the entire story and prompted her children to lie in order to get wealthy at a future time.

“The suggestion this was all made up is nonsense,” he said. “It’s unmitigated rubbish.” Zonen depicted Neverland, Jackson’s fantasy estate and amusement park, as a place with no rules, no schooling and no discipline for children who stayed there.

“They rode rides, went to the zoo, ate whatever they wanted — candy, ice cream, soda pop. There was only fun. ... And at night they entered into the world of the forbidden. Michael Jackson’s room was a veritable fortress with locks and codes which the boys were given ... They learned about sexuality from someone only too willing to be their teacher.”
He said Jackson carefully chose the kind of boys he wanted to prey upon. “The lion on the Serengeti doesn’t go after the strongest antelope,” Zonen said. “The predator goes after the weakest.”

Referring to the boy’s testimony, he suggested the courtroom scared the teenager.
“It was intimidating. It’s intimidating for me. ... He had been molested by a man he once held in high regard,” Zonen said.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting the boy in 2003, plying him with wine and conspiring to hold his family captive to get them to rebut the documentary “Living With Michael Jackson,” in which Jackson held hands with the boy and said he let children into his bed but it was non-sexual.

Not coffeetable books

Zonen also projected on a large screen pages from books about male sexuality. Of one of them, he said, “This is a study of what two men are able to do with each other. The pictures are absolutely graphic. This is a publication you are not going to find on anyone’s coffee table.”

He added, “Are you comfortable with a middle-aged man who possesses this book getting into bed with a 13-year-old boy?” The prosecutor also showed again heterosexual adult material from Jackson’s collection of magazines and said jurors should understand these were part of the “grooming process” intended to get boys aroused. “These were not for him,” he said. “These were for the boys.”

Mesereau responded that Jackson wasn’t charged with possessing illegal pornography because everything in his home was legal, that no child pornography was found in his home or computers, and that prosecutors used the adult magazines just to make the singer look bad.
“They have dirtied him up because he’s human. But they haven’t proven their case because they can’t,” he said. Mesereau also said the boy was unemotional as he described the alleged molestation in the video and in testimony. “You saw no emotion whatsoever. When did you see him really get angry? When he talked about Michael Jackson abandoning his family,” Mesereau said.

Zonen spent much of his argument attacking Jackson’s current and former lawyers.He accused Mesereau of promising things in his opening statement that he could not produce, including mentioning celebrities who would testify who never appeared.

Zonen was defensive in talking about the boy’s mother, one of the most erratic witnesses of the trial.

“(She) never asked for one penny from Michael Jackson,” he said. “She never desired anything from him and she doesn’t today.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
? 2005 MSNBC.com
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8083261/

Jurors to get instructions in writing
Mood:  hug me
Topic: Main News
Judge allows alcohol charge to be considered lesser offense

SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Written copies of instructions will be given to jurors in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial, the judge in the case announced Tuesday.

Closing arguments could start as early as Wednesday after three months of testimony.

Lawyers on both sides spent Tuesday conferring with Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville over what would be included in those jury instructions.

Melville said jurors would not only be able to read along with his instructions to them, but they would be given "a packet they can use in deliberations."
Jackson, 46, did not attend Tuesday's hearing.

Spokeswoman Raymone Bain said the singer "is going through a lot of emotions right now -- relief that it's over, but very nervous. Because, of course you know, a very major decision is going to be made within the next several days."

The singer was indicted in April 2004 on 10 counts stemming from incidents prosecutors say occurred in February and March 2003.

The singer has pleaded not guilty to the charges and did not testify during the trial.

The charges against Jackson include:

 Four counts of committing a lewd act on a child;

 One count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion;

 One count of attempting to commit a lewd act on a child;

 And four counts of administering an intoxicating agent to assist in the commission of a felony.
On Tuesday, Melville said he would instruct jurors that the charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor -- normally a felony -- could be considered a misdemeanor.

Melville told lawyers he would include instructions to jurors on evaluating contradictory testimony and testimony "showing a witness or witnesses has engaged in past criminal conduct."

The judge also said he would instruct jurors to consider testimony regarding prior allegations of sexual misconduct against Jackson "only for the limited purpose of showing a characteristic method, plan or scheme" similar to the allegations that brought the singer into court.

Testimony concluded last week, sooner than what some observers predicted. Prosecutors last week played a videotape in which Jackson's teenage accuser told investigators the singer gave him wine and masturbated him as many as five times. (Full story)

Jackson's lawyers have tried to paint the boy's family as grifters with a habit of wheedling money out of the rich and famous. The defense rested after testimony from comedian Chris Tucker, who contradicted a major element of the prosecution's case. (Tucker's testimony)

Prosecutors tried to show that Jackson and his associates whisked the accuser and his family off to Miami to keep them from seeing the U.S. broadcast of "Living With Michael Jackson," an unflattering television documentary in which Jackson held hands with the boy.

CNN's Dree De Clamecy contributed to this report.

Jackson jurors left with accuser's image
Mood:  on fire
Topic: Main News
SANTA MARIA, California (AP) -- Investigators' first look at the boy who accused Michael Jackson of molesting him is also the last one jurors will be left with as they decide whether he is credible enough to convict the pop star.

With evidence that included phone records and adult magazines and testimony from more than 130 witnesses including Macaulay Culkin, Chris Tucker and Jay Leno, the case may come down to whether jurors think the boy is believable.

Testimony ended Friday after prosecutors showed the panel the boy's videotaped interview with sheriff's detectives in July 2003.

"Bottom line, if they don't believe the accuser, the jurors end up voting not guilty," said Jim Hammer, a trial analyst and former San Francisco prosecutor.
Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting the then-13-year-old boy in February or March 2003, giving him wine and conspiring to hold his family captive to get them to rebut the damaging documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson."

Jury deliberations could come as soon as this week.
The interview and other tapes played throughout the trial gave jurors several images of the boy. He appears downcast, weak and ghostly in a September 2000 tape, a home movie in which Jackson takes the boy's hand to help him onto a train, holds an umbrella over him as his brother pushes him in a wheelchair and sits with him next to a lake.

In later appearances, he is fresh-faced and confident. In the documentary footage -- and in a February 2003 video made by Jackson's associates to rebut the documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bed -- the boy defends the singer and praises him for helping him beat cancer.

A different side of his personality appears on the tape jurors saw Friday. In a low, quiet voice, looking at the floor and pausing often, the boy tells sheriff's investigators that Jackson acted inappropriately with him almost from the beginning -- starting with his first trip to Neverland in 2000.
His account is similar to the one he gave on the witness stand in March, though a few details were missing or somewhat inconsistent.

In his first visit to Jackson's home, he said on the interview tape, Jackson showed him and his brother naked women on the Internet. But he did not tell investigators about two crude statements that he attributed to Jackson during his testimony.
He also said on the tape, as he did on the stand, that Jackson began fondling him one night in 2003 after saying he wanted to show him how to masturbate. The boy also told investigators that Jackson kept fondling him after he asked him to stop.
The boy did not tell the detectives something that he later said both Jackson and his grandmother told him: that men who don't masturbate sometimes commit rape.

The boy said on the tape that Jackson molested him no more than five times. In his testimony, he said he remembered two times, but that there may have been more. His brother testified that he saw Jackson fondling the boy twice.

After the police interview was played Friday, giving jurors their last look at the boy, the courtroom was silent. When the lights came up, jurors were looking down, appearing somber.

"This ending is really the best thing the prosecution could have hoped for," said Craig Smith, a Santa Barbara College of Law professor and former prosecutor.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Jackson jurors watch Neverland tape
Topic: Main News
Friday, May 20, 2005 ? Last updated 5:04 a.m. PT


By TIM MOLLOY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- In a victory for Michael Jackson's defense, jurors in his child molestation case were allowed to see a video tour of the singer's Neverland ranch that a prosecutor condemned as propaganda.

Jurors on Thursday saw idyllic scenes of amusement park rides, cheerful workers, zoo animals, blooming flowers and statues of boys and girls at play.

The video also showed numerous clocks, apparently countering testimony by family members of Jackson's accuser that they were unable to keep track of time while allegedly being held captive at the ranch.

Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville permitted the viewing over the vehement opposition of District Attorney Tom Sneddon.

Sneddon said the tape, made this year, showed a ranch that was somewhat different from its state on February and March 2003, when the accuser's family allegedly was held captive.

Sneddon, calling the video "propaganda," argued that it was designed to make Jackson look good, and cited a scene of a chalkboard containing a note by one of Jackson's children that said "I love you daddy."

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a boy and plying him with wine. He also is accused of conspiring to hold the boy's family captive. Prosecutors said he wanted them to rebut a TV documentary in which Jackson said he let children sleep in his bed, although he contended it was non-sexual.

On Friday, former Jackson attorney Mark Geragos was expected to return to the stand. Geragos testified last week that he once ordered surveillance of the accuser's family because he believed they were plotting to extort money from Jackson.

In other testimony Thursday, a witness said the accuser's mother told her the family was being kept away from Jackson during a time when prosecutors claim molestation took place.

Azja Pryor, a Hollywood casting assistant and girlfriend of movie star Chris Tucker, said the woman complained in March 2003 about two Jackson associates who were rude to her.

"I asked, 'Does Michael know anything about this?' She said, 'They won't let us around him because they know the children tug at his heart strings,'" Pryor testified.

The time period Pryor cited is significant because prosecutors allege Jackson molested the then-13-year-old boy between Feb. 20 and March 12, 2003.

Pryor testified that she and the boy's mother talked for hours on the phone and the woman never complained to her about Jackson.

Pryor said she and Tucker met the family at a Hollywood comedy club in 2001. At the time, the accuser was battling cancer and the club owner and comedians were raising money for his family.

The defense contends that the accuser's mother tried to bilk celebrities by exploiting her son's cancer fight.

Pryor said she gave the family money and that the accuser's mother and sister tried to pressure her to give them a car.

---

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

Larry King kept off stand in Jackson trial
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Main News
Judge: Talk show host's testimony isn't relevant

The Associated Press
Updated: 1:47 p.m. ET May 19, 2005


SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The judge in Michael Jackson?s child molestation trial ruled Thursday against allowing CNN host Larry King to testify for the defense, saying his statements would be irrelevant.

Judge Rodney S. Melville ruled after listening to King?s account of a conversation with an attorney, Larry Feldman, who represented the accuser?s family.

Without the jury present, King said that Feldman told him the accuser?s mother was out for money and referred to her as ?wacko.?

Testifying earlier for the prosecution, Feldman denied making such statements about his clients, saying, ?It is absolutely privileged, and if anybody tells you that, they are absolutely lying.?


After listening to an account by King and another man who heard the conversation, the judge ruled them out on grounds they would not impeach Feldman?s testimony because neither could say the attorney directly quoted the accuser?s mother.

The defense then moved on, calling Azja Pryor, the mother of comedian Chris Tucker?s son. She wept as she recalled meeting the accuser and his family when the boy had cancer.

Feldman was contacted by the accuser?s family members after they left Jackson?s Neverland estate for the last time in 2003. He referred them to Stan Katz, a psychologist who reported suspicions of child molestation to authorities after interviewing the family members.


On the stand and without jurors present, King said he spoke to Feldman at a Beverly Hills restaurant before the trial began. He said he and a producer were trying to get Feldman to appear on ?Larry King Live.?

He said Feldman told him he didn?t take the mother?s case because he didn?t find her credible and thought she was only after money.

?The mother was a ?wacko? was the term he used,? King said.

?He said he thinks she wants money. ... He said ?wacko? a couple of times and he said ?she?s in this for the money,?? King told the judge.

Jackson defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. asked King if he asked Feldman to clarify what he meant by ?wacko.?

?No, I think that?s self-explanatory,? King said.

There had been speculation that King might try to avoid testifying by invoking a state shield law that protects journalists from testifying in many circumstances. But the matter was not raised before the testimony was ruled out.

The judge also ruled against testimony by a publisher, Michael Viner, who was present during King?s meeting with Feldman.

Without the jury present, Viner told the judge that Feldman said ?he had met with them (the family) and felt that their statements, their case, didn?t hold up to scrutiny and he didn?t believe them.?

Accuser's behavior
On Wednesday, Jackson?s 12-year-old cousin testified that he saw Jackson?s accuser steal wine and money and secretly watch pornography on television while fondling himself.

Rijo Jackson said the accuser?s brother ? a key prosecution witness ? also took part in the misbehavior during visits to Neverland.


The defense elicited the testimony in an apparent effort to show that the accuser engaged in sexual activity and drank alcohol without Jackson?s involvement.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in February or March 2003 and plying him with wine. He is also charged with conspiring to hold the boy?s family captive to get them to rebut a damaging documentary in which Jackson said he let children sleep in his bed but that it was non-sexual.

Feldman testified in early April. The prosecution had called him as part of its explanation to the jury of how the alleged molestation came to the attention of authorities. But the defense used his appearance to pursue its contention that the accuser and his family were out to get money from Jackson.

Feldman had acknowledged under cross-examination that the boy, now 15, has until he turns 20 to file a civil lawsuit against Jackson.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
? 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7910923/

Jackson's cousin says saw accuser masturbating
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Main News
Wed May 18, 3:53 PM ET


Michael Jackson's 12-year-old cousin testified on Wednesday that he saw the boy who has accused the singer of molestation masturbating with his younger brother as they watched naked women on television.

Rio Jackson, who was 10 at the time he visited Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch in February and March of 2003, said one night he stayed in the same guest unit as the then 13-year-old accuser and his 11-year-old brother.

"I saw them go to the TV, turn to a channel that had naked girls, and they did nasty stuff," Rio Jackson told the jury. Asked by lead defense attorney Tom Mesereau what he meant by "nasty stuff," the boy replied that he saw the pair masturbating.

"They said why didn't I do that, and I said I didn't want to because it was nasty," he added.

Rio Jackson, wearing a long pony tail almost to his waist and dressed in a gray suit and pink tie, said during his visit to Neverland he saw the accuser and his brother steal money from a chef and with items from a ranch manager's office.

He also said he saw the boys take wine by themselves to the sleeping-area in Jackson's bedroom. Rio's elder sister, Simone Jackson, in testimony on Tuesday, said she saw the boys steal wine from a refrigerator.

In earlier testimony, the accuser said Jackson introduced him to wine and pornography. He and his brother denied drinking when he was not around.

Prosecutors have charged Jackson, 46, with furnishing his accuser, a recovering cancer patient, with alcohol in order to abuse the boy.

Jackson is also charged with four counts of molesting the boy in early 2003, and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all 10 counts.

Jackson's defense team is attempting to diffuse prosecution testimony from the accuser and his family by painting the mother as a grifter out to get money from the entertainer and the boys as youngsters who drank, stole and ran wild while they were at Neverland.

Wednesday's testimony from Rio Jackson was the first time the jury had heard of the accuser and his brother masturbating.

But under cross examination by prosecuting attorneys, Rio Jackson admitted that on the occasion of the alleged wine stealing he ended up going to bed with Jackson.

It was the singer's practice of sleeping with young boys, which he admitted in a now infamous documentary aired in Britain and the United States, that led to him being charged with child molestation.

Jackson appeared in the video holding hands with his accuser and talking about how he liked to sleep with young boys, although he insisted that the practice was innocent.

The younger Jackson also conceded that he did not know if the accuser and his brother meant to steal or simply borrow some plastic crystals and a deck of cards that he saw them take from the ranch manager's office.

He also conceded that he did not see the brothers stealing wine directly from Jackson's two-storey bedroom. He said he and the brothers and Jackson were in the bedroom when Jackson ordered in some wine.

Jackson was the in the bathroom when the wine arrived and the brothers took it to the sleeping section of the bedroom and then left. Some of the wine of the wine was missing from the bottle, the boy said, suggesting the boys had stolen a drink.

It was after that that Jackson and his young cousin went to bed together, he said.



Copyright ? 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.


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Jackson's cousin says saw accuser masturbating Wed May 18, 3:53 PM ET



Michael Jackson's 12-year-old cousin testified on Wednesday that he saw the boy who has accused the singer of molestation masturbating with his younger brother as they watched naked women on television.

Rio Jackson, who was 10 at the time he visited Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch in February and March of 2003, said one night he stayed in the same guest unit as the then 13-year-old accuser and his 11-year-old brother.

"I saw them go to the TV, turn to a channel that had naked girls, and they did nasty stuff," Rio Jackson told the jury. Asked by lead defense attorney Tom Mesereau what he meant by "nasty stuff," the boy replied that he saw the pair masturbating.

"They said why didn't I do that, and I said I didn't want to because it was nasty," he added.

Rio Jackson, wearing a long pony tail almost to his waist and dressed in a gray suit and pink tie, said during his visit to Neverland he saw the accuser and his brother steal money from a chef and with items from a ranch manager's office.

He also said he saw the boys take wine by themselves to the sleeping-area in Jackson's bedroom. Rio's elder sister, Simone Jackson, in testimony on Tuesday, said she saw the boys steal wine from a refrigerator.

In earlier testimony, the accuser said Jackson introduced him to wine and pornography. He and his brother denied drinking when he was not around.

Prosecutors have charged Jackson, 46, with furnishing his accuser, a recovering cancer patient, with alcohol in order to abuse the boy.

Jackson is also charged with four counts of molesting the boy in early 2003, and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all 10 counts.

Jackson's defense team is attempting to diffuse prosecution testimony from the accuser and his family by painting the mother as a grifter out to get money from the entertainer and the boys as youngsters who drank, stole and ran wild while they were at Neverland.

Wednesday's testimony from Rio Jackson was the first time the jury had heard of the accuser and his brother masturbating.

But under cross examination by prosecuting attorneys, Rio Jackson admitted that on the occasion of the alleged wine stealing he ended up going to bed with Jackson.

It was the singer's practice of sleeping with young boys, which he admitted in a now infamous documentary aired in Britain and the United States, that led to him being charged with child molestation.

Jackson appeared in the video holding hands with his accuser and talking about how he liked to sleep with young boys, although he insisted that the practice was innocent.

The younger Jackson also conceded that he did not know if the accuser and his brother meant to steal or simply borrow some plastic crystals and a deck of cards that he saw them take from the ranch manager's office.

He also conceded that he did not see the brothers stealing wine directly from Jackson's two-storey bedroom. He said he and the brothers and Jackson were in the bedroom when Jackson ordered in some wine.

Jackson was the in the bathroom when the wine arrived and the brothers took it to the sleeping section of the bedroom and then left. Some of the wine of the wine was missing from the bottle, the boy said, suggesting the boys had stolen a drink.

It was after that that Jackson and his young cousin went to bed together, he said.



Copyright ? 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.


Copyright ? 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
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Jackson Trial in Family Way
Mood:  sharp
Topic: Main News

By Joal Ryan
19 minutes ago



She isn't Janet--or even LaToya. But she is a real, live member of the Jackson family.


Simone Jackson, a 16-year-old cousin of Michael Jackson, took the stand Tuesday in the pop star's child-molestation trial--the first member of the show-biz clan to appear on behalf the defense team.


Elsewhere, two Los Angeles social workers gave new takes on an old subject at the trial: the welfare-check interview in which Jackson's young accuser denied ever being molested by the pop star and the accuser's mother denied having anything but love for Jackson.


On the stand, Simone Jackson offered testimony to another now familiar topic--the accuser and alcohol.


The adolescent Jackson said that one late night at Neverland Ranch in March 2003 she saw the boy, then 13, and his younger brother each grab a bottle of wine from the estate's kitchen. The brother also snatched a wine glass.


"After they saw me...I told them that [they] weren't allowed--they weren't supposed to do that," Simone Jackson testified. "And they told me to be quiet and not to say anything."


The prosecution contends it was Michael Jackson who introduced the boys to the bubbly; the defense contends the boys were way ahead of the entertainer.


Later, Simone Jackson said the accuser's sister told her "out of the blue" one day that "she had to go to Brazil and I probably wouldn't see her again."


According to Simone Jackson, the sister noted that, while the girl was unhappy about the trip, "her mom wanted to go."


The prosecution contends Jackson and his henchmen were planning to force the accuser's family on a South American excursion; the defense contends that, no, they weren't--forcing them to go, that is.


Under almost-breathless questioning by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr., Simone Jackson also gave jurors an insider's look at a birthday party, Neverland-style.


"Was food served?" Mesereau asked.


"Yes," Simone Jackson said.


"Did everyone sit at a table?"


"Yeah."


"And were there presents?"


"Yes."


Simone Jackson's appearance comes as trial watchers have noted a decided lack of Jacksons in the Santa Maria, California, courthouse--save for the star defendant and his parents, Joe and Katherine.

The Jackson family has denied distancing itself from its most famed member. Joe Jackson is said to have insisted that he and his wife be the brood's designated courtroom observers.

Irene Peters and Karen Walker, meanwhile, told jurors of meeting the accuser's family on Feb. 20, 2003, as part of their investigation into possible child neglect.

Both women are employed by L.A. County's Department of Children & Family Services.

On the stand, Peters said her office received a complaint on Feb. 14, 2003--a complaint spurred by Martin Bashir's Living with Michael Jackson, which had debuted on ABC eight days earlier.

The accuser, then 13, was seen holding Jackson's hand in the Bashir special while the fortysomething entertainer talked about sharing his bed with children.

Peters said she was directed to look into both the accuser's mother and Jackson. The Santa Barbara County-based pop star, however, was out of her jurisdiction, so the investigation centered on the L.A.-based mother.

On Feb. 20, 2003, Peters, Walker and a third social worker met the accuser's family at the Los Angeles apartment of the mother's future husband, Peters said.

The mother immediately asked Peters to watch a video of "Michael Jackson and [her eldest son, the accuser] walking around Neverland looking at the swans," the woman said.

Then, Peters said, the mother proceeded to talk about how she made s'mores with Chris Tucker around Neverland's fireplace.

Later, once the social workers had cleared the apartment of ancillary personnel--Tucker's girlfriend, a couple of Michael Jackson associates--the interview began, as did the denials, Peters said.

The mother denied neglecting her children and declared she was "very upset" that Jackson's good name was being besmirched, as well, Peters said.

For the umpteenth time, jurors heard a witness--in this case, Peters--say the mother praised the pop star and hailed him as a father figure to her children.

When the mother was asked if she knew if Jackson ever slept in the same bed as her children, the woman said, "No, that never happened," Peters said.

When the accuser was asked if he'd ever been touched sexually by Jackson, the boy "became a little upset," Peters said.

"He [said], 'Everybody thinks that Michael Jackson sexually abused me. He's never touched me,' " Peters testified.

Jurors have heard the mother and the accuser talk about this confab themselves--the mother said she and hers had been kept up the night before shooting footage for a Jackson rebuttal documentary; the boy said he told the social workers that Jackson had never touched him because he hadn't--yet.

Indeed, the prosecution timeline fits quite nicely--for the prosecution--with the apparently conflicting statements of the social-worker interview. The prosecution alleges Jackson molested the boy "on or about and between" Feb. 20, 2003, and Mar. 12, 2003. In short, per the state, if the boy on the morning of Feb. 20, 2003, says he wasn't molested, despite frequent stays at Neverland and a cross-country trip to Miami with the pop star, that's because he wasn't--yet.

Prosecutor Tom Sneddon made no mention of how events stacked up for his side. He just hammered away at how it was unlikely that a teen boy, such as the accuser, would admit to abuse in the presence of women, such as Peters and the boy's mother.

Under questioning by Mesereau, Peters said she had had boys tell her they'd been abused, although the number was "very few."

Peters also said it wasn't just the boy's words, but his demeanor that she judged. To her, she said, he didn't show any signs of having been molested.

The part of the social workers interview that doesn't fit nicely into the prosecution's timeline is the contention that Jackson and his henchmen were holding the family against their will during much of February and March of 2003.

Peters said no one in the accuser's family told her they were captives of Jackson--the mother even suggested the interview be conducted at Neverland.

About a week after the interview, the L.A. social workers deigned that allegations of neglect against the mother and allegations of abuse against Jackson were "unfounded."

In an odd anecdote, both Peters and Walker testified of running into the accuser's mother and her children at a Fatburger in April 2003, shortly after the clan's final alleged escape from Neverland.

Even odder, Mesereau prodded Peters and Walker into talk about how the mother told them Jackson wanted to send her family to Brazil.

"Did she say the words to the effect, 'I don't want to go to that dump...?" Mesereau asked Peters.

Peters said that was correct.

Under questioning by Sneddon, Walker confirmed that the mother said her final days at Neverland had been "horrible."

Also on the stand: Angel Vivanco, the former Neverland chef's assistant, who wrapped his second day of testimony.

Something of a washout for the defense--Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville ruled Vivanco couldn't talk about potentially salacious conversations with the accuser's sister--Vivanco's most pointed testimony, that the accuser's younger brother pulled a nine-inch knife on him in the Neverland kitchen, was blunted by the prosecution.

When asked by prosecutor Ronald J. Zonen, if Vivanco thought the boy was joking, Vivanco said he did.

In March, the prosecution pulled a similar ploy on its own witness, former Neverland housekeeper Kiki Fournier, who under questioning by the defense revealed that she, too, had a knife pulled on her by the younger brother. With Fournier's help, the prosecution was able to suggest that that move was all for play.

The defense didn't let Vivanco's story go down without a fight. Jackson attorney Robert M. Sanger asked Vivanco if he thought the boy's joke was funny. "Not really," Vivanco said.

Then Sanger asked if the knife was dull or sharp. "It was sharp," Vivanco said.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molestation, administering alcohol to a minor and conspiracy. He has pleaded innocent to all charges.




Copyright ? 2005 E! Online, Inc.


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Mom praised Jackson for helping ailing son-witness
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Main News
By Dan Whitcomb
Tue May 17, 3:55 PM ET



A social worker testified on Tuesday that the mother of the boy who says he was molested by Michael Jackson told her she believed the singer helped her son survive cancer.

Child services worker Irene Peters said she interviewed the accuser and his family shortly after the February 2003 U.S. broadcast of a television documentary in which Jackson held hands with the then-13-year-old boy as the entertainer talked about sharing his bed with young boys.

The broadcast created a media furor and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was asked to look into the case.

Peters said the mother told her that Jackson had been like a father to her children, saying at one point she thought Jackson was "responsible for helping (the boy) survive his cancer."

Peters said when she interviewed the boy, "I asked him very point blankly did he ever sleep in bed with Michael Jackson. He told me no. He became a little upset. He said, 'Everybody's saying Michael Jackson sexually abused me. He never touched me."'

The social worker said the interview took place on Feb. 20, 2003. The incident in which Jackson allegedly fondled the boy took place after that date. Jackson has denied the charge.

Peters said the boy's mother also told her she was very vigilant at Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch in central California, and knew that her children spent time in Jackson's bedroom, "because the kids all play in the room."

"I did ask her if she was aware of her kids ever sleeping in bed with Michael Jackson. She said no, that never happened."

In testimony last month, the mother said she and her family had been pressured to paint Jackson in a good light in the interview with the social worker.

She said an aide "told me if I put Michael in a bad light, that they knew where my parents lived."

The mother also said during her testimony for the prosecution that Jackson aides attempted to sit in on the interview to make sure her answers were favorable to Jackson.

Peters said other people were initially present in the room she told them to leave.

She said the family did not seem to be giving scripted answers or be under pressure. Their answers to her questions, she said, seemed spontaneous and natural.

Jackson's lawyers are attempting to convince jurors that the family fabricated claims of molestation and false imprisonment at Neverland so they could extort money from the 46-year-old entertainer, who faces more than two decades in prison if convicted on all charges.

Jackson is accused of molesting the boy, plying him with alcohol in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit false imprisonment, child abduction and extortion. He has said he is innocent on all counts.




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Social Worker: Boy Denied Abuse by Jackson
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Main News

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Tue May 17, 6:15 PM ET



A social worker testified Tuesday at Michael Jackson's child molestation trial that she met privately with the accuser and his family during the time they claim they were Jackson's captives, and they praised the singer and denied any sexual abuse.

Irene Lavern Peters, a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, said she met with the mother and her three children on Feb. 20, 2003, after the airing of a documentary that drew attention to Jackson's relationship with the boy who is now his accuser.

"I asked him if he had ever been sexually abused by Michael Jackson and he became upset. He said, 'Everybody thinks Michael Jackson sexually abused me. He never touched me,'" Peters testified. She said the accuser told her Jackson "was very kind to him and treated him like a father."

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting the then-13-year-old boy between Feb. 20 and March 12, 2003, plying him with wine and conspiring to hold the family captive to get them to make a video to rebut the documentary "Living With Michael Jackson," which aired in the U.S. on Feb. 6, 2003.

The boy, a cancer survivor, appeared with Jackson in the documentary. Jackson told interviewer Martin Bashir that he let children sleep in his bed but that it was non-sexual.

Prosecutors first charged Jackson with committing lewd acts with the boy between Feb. 7 and March 10, 2003. A superseding grand jury indictment pushed back the time period to between Feb. 20 and March 12.

Peters said when she interviewed the mother, the boy, his younger brother and older sister on Feb. 20, all of them praised Jackson. She said the mother, who was present at each child's individual interview, even gave Jackson credit for curing her son.

Rather than wanting to flee Jackson's Neverland ranch, the mother initially asked if the social worker could do her interview at the pop star's estate, Peters said.

Peters said, however, that she wanted to see where they were living, so she was invited to the home of the mother's boyfriend, who is now her husband.

"She denied all allegations of general neglect," Peters said. "I asked her about the relationship with Michael Jackson. She went on to say he was like a father to her children and she felt he was responsible for helping (the boy) to survive his cancer, for his cancer to go into remission.

"I asked her if the kids ever slept in Michael Jackson's room and she said no, that never happened."

Under questioning by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr., Peters said the family members never mentioned being held against their will.

The interview took place the morning after the family made the rebuttal video, which they later claimed they were forced to do by Jackson's associates.

Peters' testimony touched on an element of the prosecution's conspiracy case when she noted that she ran into the boy's mother in April 2003 at a restaurant.

Peters said the mother told her that "Michael wanted to send them to Brazil and she didn't want to go." Peters said the mother referred to Brazil as "that dump."

The prosecution claims that Jackson and associates wanted to send the family on a one-way trip to Brazil after the documentary aired. A travel planner has testified that she arranged a March 1, 2003, flight but the trip was abruptly canceled.

___

Associated Press Writer Tim Molloy contributed to this report.



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Accuser's mom wanted kids to call Jackson 'Dad'
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Main News

By Dan Whitcomb
Mon May 16, 4:43 PM ET

A housekeeper at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch on Monday told the jury in the singer's sex molestation trial that the accuser's mother praised Jackson and said she wanted her children to call him "Dad."

The housekeeper, Maria Gomez, said she was present at the ranch during February and March 2003, when the mother claims she and her children were held at Neverland against their will.

Gomez said that during one conversation, the mother said, "that Mr Jackson was like a father to her children and she wanted them to call him 'Dad."'

The mother told her that Jackson "had been a blessing" to the family, she testified.

Gomez, who has worked for Jackson for 10 years, said a week after that conversation the mother started to talk about being there against her will. "That we should help her leave," she said.

Gomez also said that while cleaning a guest room shared by the accuser's brother and sister she found a backpack full of pornographic magazine, which she assumed belonged to the brother.

The brother had earlier testified he had never seen pornography until Jackson showed it to him.

Jackson is charged with molesting the then-13-year-old boy at his Neverland Valley Ranch, plying the young cancer patient with alcohol in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit false imprisonment, child abduction and extortion.

'FATHER FIGURE'

The self-styled King of Pop, who has pleaded innocent, faces more than two decades in prison if convicted.

Another witness, Neverland administrative worker Kate Bernard, testified on Monday that the accuser's mother had asked to be taken to a day spa.

Bernard drove her to the spa and picked her up an hour later. The visit to the spa occurred during the time period the mother previously testified she and her family were being held against their will.

Jackson's defense is trying to show that the family was free to leave whenever they wanted.

During the drive to and from the spa, Bernard said, the mother praised Jackson. "She talked about how well Michael had been treating her, how he was a father figure to her kids," Bernard said.

Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville was expected to hear arguments from Monday over the testimony of celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, who represented Jackson for more than a year until Jackson's indictment in April 2004.

Geragos testified on Friday that Jackson had assured him that nothing improper had happened with the teenaged accuser.

Though lawyers in California are barred from discussing private conversations they have had with clients, Jackson agreed to waive that attorney-client privilege so that Geragos could testify in his defense.

But the judge halted Geragos' testimony and sent jurors home when Jackson's current lead defense lawyer, Tom Mesereau, disclosed that Jackson had only agreed to let Geragos testify about events leading up to the singer's arrest in November of 2003 -- limiting cross-examination by prosecutors.



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Jackson witnesses portray family as rude, greedy
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Main News

May 16, 9:07 PM (ET)



By Dan Whitcomb

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (Reuters) - Michael Jackson's accuser drank alcohol, his younger brother secreted a stash of porn magazines and his mother drove off for a body wax at the singer's expense at the time the family claims they were being held at Neverland, defense witnesses told jurors on Monday.

Jackson's lawyers called a series of witnesses designed to tear down the credibility of the pop star's teenage accuser and his family, portraying them as rude, dishonest, greedy, and, in one case, violent.

Several witnesses painted the mother, who the defense claims is a grifter who saw celebrities as fat targets, as desperate to attach herself to Jackson and eager to flaunt her newfound status as a guest in his home.

"(The mother) said that Michael Jackson was like a father figure to her children and she wanted them to call him Dad," Neverland housekeeper Maria Gomez said. "She said that he had been a blessing to them and that he was like a father to her children."

The testimony was a bid by Jackson's lawyers to destroy the family's credibility and convince jurors that they fabricated claims of molestation and false imprisonment at Neverland so they could extort money from the 46-year-old entertainer.

Gomez said that while cleaning a guest room assigned to the accuser's brother and sister she found a backpack full of pornographic magazines that she assumed belonged to the boy.

Prosecutors say it was Jackson who showed the brothers pornography. On cross-examination Deputy District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss tried unsuccessfully to get Gomez to say Jackson might have given them the magazines.

BATTLE OVER BODY WAX

Administrative assistant Katie Bernerd said the mother would routinely call her with requests, once demanding to be taken into town for a body wax within the hour.

On the way there, Bernerd said, "She was telling me how well Michael had been treating her and how he was a father figure to her kids. She was pretty much praising Michael."

Though the trip to the day spa came on Feb. 11, 2003, at a time when the family claims they were being held against their will at Neverland, Bernerd said she dropped the mother there for an hour and that the woman made no effort to leave. Bernerd said Jackson paid for the treatment.

The trip to the day spa has become an odd point of contention in the trial, with lead defense attorney Tom Mesereau raising it in his opening statement. The mother angrily insisted during her testimony that she got only a hair-removing leg wax -- not a full body wax -- and claimed Jackson did not really pay for it because his aides had lost an equivalent amount of her luggage.

The bill for the cosmetic treatment was displayed in court on Monday and included a brow wax, lip wax, face wax and bikini wax for a total of $140.

Jurors also heard from Neverland security guard Shane Meridith, who said he caught Jackson's accuser and his brother drinking in the superstar's wine cellar and assistant chef Angel Vivanco, who testified that the younger boy once ordered him to add alcohol to a milkshake or he would have him fired.

Vivanco said the younger boy once held a large knife up to his neck for no apparent reason, which made him "nervous."

Defense attorneys say Vivanco had a brief romance with the now 19-year-old sister of Jackson's accuser, who they say confided in him that her mother was "psycho."

Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville has not yet decided if the young man can testify about that conversation.

Ex-employee saw boys with wine
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Main News
By Quintin Cushner/Staff Writer


A former security guard at Neverland Valley Ranch testified Monday that he once caught Michael Jackson's teenage accuser and the boy's brother with an open wine bottle.

Shane Meridith, testifying in Superior Court in Santa Maria, said that during a night patrol in early 2003, he discovered the accuser, then 13, and his younger brother in the estate's wine cellar.


Defense witness Carole McCoy arrives at Michael Jackson's child molestation trial Monday at the Santa Maria Courts Complex. Damian Dovarganes/Pool

"They were with an open bottle of alcohol ... " Meridith said. "I took a closer look at the bottle and some of the contents were missing."

Meridith, who now works as a corrections officer at the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary, said Jackson was not in the cellar. The witness recalled scolding the boys for being in the cellar without permission.

"They were pretty shaken," he said.

Under cross-examination, Meridith admitted that although he told his supervisor that the two were drinking, he was not absolutely certain they were.

Prosecutors allege Jackson plied his accuser with alcohol, then molested him on four occasions in 2003. The accuser earlier said that the only time he drank alcohol outside Jackson's presence was at church.

Angel Vivanco, a former assistant chef at Neverland, testified Monday that the accuser's brother threatened to have him fired if he didn't mix liquor into a milkshake. Vivanco also recalled the accuser making rude demands at the ranch.

"Give me the (expletive) Cheetos," Vivanco recalled the accuser saying.

Vivanco, who has claimed a former romantic relationship with the accuser's sister, had difficulty Monday placing when and where certain events had occurred. He was expected to continue his testimony today.

Also Monday, two Santa Ynez Valley business people who waxed legs and removed braces for the accuser's family said the clan did not appear to be captives. The family has alleged that Jackson and others falsely imprisoned them at Neverland during February and March 2003.

Dr. Jean Seamount, a Solvang orthodontist, testified that she saw members of the family on Feb. 24, 2003, after an employee at Neverland scheduled an appointment for the accuser and his brother, who wanted their braces removed.

Seamount testified that the family did not say that they were in trouble, that they were scared, or that they needed to escape.

Los Olivos aesthetician Carole McCoy testified she gave the accuser's mother a leg, face and bikini wax on Feb. 11, 2003. The mother earlier had insisted that she only received a leg wax during the visit.

McCoy testified that the mother never said that she was being held captive during the procedure.

Neverland housekeeper Maria Gomez testified Monday that the mother of Jackson's accuser did complain she was being held captive at the ranch in early 2003, but not by Jackson.

Instead, the mother told the housekeeper that three of Jackson's associates were "interfering" with her relationship with Jackson and that she wished to leave, Gomez said.

Gomez also recalled finding an open backpack with adult magazines in the guestroom occupied by the accuser's brother. The boy earlier testified they he had not seen adult magazines outside of Jackson's presence.

The defense may call talk-show host Larry King as a witness as early as Thursday, according to Jackson spokeswoman Raymone Bain. King may testify about whether he ever heard Larry Feldman, the accuser's lawyer, say the molestation claims were fabricated by the boy's mother.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of molesting the 13-year-old boy and four counts of administering alcohol to help him with the alleged lewd acts. He also has pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charge involving abduction, false imprisonment and extortion and a count of attempted child molestation.

The Santa Maria Times, following its established policy, is not identifying those who allege they were abused by Jackson, even though they are being named in court.

* Staff writer Quintin Cushner can be reached at (805)739-2217 or qcushner@pulitzer.net.

May 17, 2005

Jackson guard says he caught accuser with wine
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Main News
By Associated Press


SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A security guard at Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch testified Monday that he caught the pop star’s teenage accuser and his brother with a bottle of wine, and a maid told the jury that she saw adult magazines in the brother’s backpack.

Defense attorneys in Jackson’s child molestation trial called the Neverland employees to challenge prosecution claims that it was Jackson who exposed the children to alcohol and adult materials — suggesting instead that the boys found the items on their own.

The defense also attacked the family’s claims of being held against their will, calling witnesses who said there was no hint of captivity when the mother went to a spa.


Copyright ? 2005 The Quad-City Times



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Motions on Witnesses Loom in Jackson Case
Mood:  blue
Topic: Main News
By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer
Mon May 16, 5:09 AM ET


Attorneys for Michael Jackson are awaiting key rulings as they proceed with defending the entertainer against child molestation charges.

The defense lawyers hope to call an employee at Jackson's Neverland ranch who they said would testify that he was told by the sister of Jackson's accuser that her mother and the mother's boyfriend were planning "something big" involving Jackson.

Prosecutors say the statements are hearsay and should not be admitted.

The defense also hopes to call Vince Amen, a former Jackson associate who received special immunity from prosecutors in exchange for his cooperation. The government, however, decided not to call Amen when his account conflicted with that of the accuser's family.

Jackson's attorneys asked the judge to clarify whether Amen's immunity would apply even if he testifies on their client's behalf. Under the "use immunity" agreement, Amen's words cannot be used against him if he is charged.

Prosecutors have named Amen as an unindicted coconspirator in an alleged plot to hold the accuser's family captive and get them to praise Jackson in an interview.

It was unclear when the judge would rule on the motions. The defense has not said who will testify Monday.

On Friday, Jackson's former attorney, Mark Geragos, defended Jackson from the witness stand, telling jurors that the singer had once denied to him that anything inappropriate happened with the accuser.

Geragos said he believed before charges were filed against Jackson that the boy's family was plotting to "shake (Jackson) down."

Geragos was scheduled to return to the stand this Friday.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient in February or March 2003 and plying him with wine.

He is also accused of conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to make a video rebutting a documentary in which the boy appeared with him and in which Jackson told an interviewer that he let children sleep in his bed, a practice he described as nonsexual.


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Celebrities Aid Jackson Defense
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Main News
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Sun May 15, 1:49 PM ET



In the grand theater that is the Michael Jackson courtroom, a celebrity cast is lining up in defense of the pop singer, testing whether star power can help persuade jurors.

Actor Macaulay Culkin of "Home Alone" fame was first among the famous witnesses, followed a few days later by celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos. Elizabeth Taylor is on the list of possible witnesses along with Jay Leno, Chris Tucker and many others.

But there is no greater star in this tableau than Jackson himself.

An intensely personal, three-hour video interview of the singer shown to jurors has been the showstopper so far in his child molestation trial and may have supplanted the need for him to take the witness stand.

On a big screen, jurors watched Jackson in scenes left out of "Living With Michael Jackson," the Martin Bashir documentary that aired on ABC in which Jackson and the alleged victim appeared holding hands and the pop star acknowledged having innocent, nonsexual sleepovers with children.

In what can only be described as a stroke of luck, Jackson decided to have his own videographer record a backup of the interview. While Bashir's edited version brought a firestorm of bad publicity, the outtakes show Jackson as a man hurt by criticism of his lifestyle.

In the footage, Jackson occasionally powdered his famous nose or was tended to by a makeup artist. But mostly he just sat and talked. And talked.

He described his lonely childhood, his ascent to the pinnacle of superstardom and his realization that once he got to the top it was even more lonely.

He spoke of creating his Neverland ranch fantasy world as an escape to childhood.

"It's like stepping into Oz," he said. "Once you come in the gates, the outside world does not exist."

"When I was under contract to Motown," Jackson recalled in the interview, "I had to go make these albums. Across the street from the studio was a ball park. I could hear the kids playing ball and sometimes I wanted so passionately to go over there and play and I couldn't. It made me sad, very sad."

At another point, he said, "I wanted to know what it's like to have a slumber party or a buddy or a birthday party. That's why I do it now."

Jackson also talked about his bond with former child stars.

Of Taylor, he said, "We've been through the same things. She's a little girl inside. She's a wonderful person. ... It's like when I met Shirley Temple for the first time. She said, 'You're one of us, aren't you?' And I said yes."

The video was buttressed by the testimony of three young men, including Culkin, who said they visited Neverland many times and slept in Jackson's room. But it was all innocent, they said, insisting under harsh cross-examination by a prosecutor that Jackson never touched them inappropriately.

Culkin, who was 10 when he met the pop star, told of forming a special bond with Jackson that exists only among current and former child stars. Culkin said he knew he and Jackson were "part of a unique group" and it was "a very comforting thing."

Geragos also provided Jackson support, saying he discussed with his former client his practice of having children sleep in his bedroom.

"He said nothing happened. He said he didn't do anything untoward or sexual and if anyone spent the night in his room it was unconditional love," Geragos said.

Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, said the Culkin testimony followed by the video was like a one-two punch.

"Michael Jackson is no dummy," she said. "He knows the courtroom is his theater. No one would pay to see (prosecutor) Tom Sneddon on Broadway."

Levenson said celebrity witnesses have an advantage in that they are great communicators. Jurors will always say they are not influenced by celebrities, but certain stars can outshine others on the witness stand, she said.

"Elizabeth Taylor is a legend," she said. "If you call a legend to the stand, well, it's like calling Elvis."



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Jackson lawyers admit he slept with children, but say it was love, not sex
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Main News
Sat May 14, 9:55 PM ET



After 11 weeks of trial, even Michael Jackson's lawyers don't deny their client slept with young boys, though they insist it entailed love and no sex.

Jackson himself has admitted in the past he liked sharing his bed with children, making it all the more difficult for his defense team to convince jurors at his child sex trial that he is innocent.

The lawyers hope the 12 jurors will eventually believe that the "King of Pop" is a misunderstood genius whose love for children is pure and innocent, and who, at age 46 is still like a child himself.

A criminal lawyer who worked for Jackson in 2003 testified on Friday that Jackson did indeed tell him at the time he shared his bed with children, but that it was out of "unconditional love."

Mark Geragos testified that Jackson had told him "nothing untoward, nothing sexual" happened during the sleepovers.

The prosecutors have portrayed the entertainer as a sexual predator who used porn and booze to lure young boys into his bed.

Jackson could face 20 years behind bars if he is found guilty of the 10 charges of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor, serving him alcohol and conspiring to kidnap him and his family two years ago.

The prosecutors also claim Jackson molested at least five young boys in the 1990s, though none of those allegations figure in the charges against him

One of those boys testified that Jackson fondled him on several occasions, but three others, including actor Macaulay Culkin, have denied claims the pop star ever behaved inappropriately when they spent time with him as young boys.

The defense argues that the current charges and the prior, uncharged claims were cooked up by money-grubbers eager to get hold of some of the entertainer's cash.

Geragos said Friday that when he started working for Jackson in February 2003, he rapidly grew suspicious of the young boy now accusing the famed father of three.

He said he hired a private investigator to engage in background searches and surveillance of the boy and his mother. "I was trying to prevent a crime against my client. I thought they were going to try to shake him down," Geragos told jurors.

The defense has maintained throughout the trial that the boy was a pawn in his mother's devious scheme to extort money from Jackson.

Jackson's lawyers have also ridiculed claims that their client had conspired with his aides to hold the boy and his family captive in a bid to force them to clear the entertainer's name amid a mounting outcry over a documentary about Jackson.

Prosecutors claim the film caused major panic in the Jackson camp amid worries it could further damage the star's fading career and dwindling finances.

Jackson's lawyers claim British journalist Martin Bashir misrepresented the pop singer, who was seen in the documentary holding hands with his future accuser and saying he enjoys sharing his bed with children.

Jurors were shown footage taken during the filming, in which Jackson is heard proclaiming his pure love for children while Bashir lavishes praise on him.

Asked whether that would be as close as jurors will get to hearing Jackson testify, his spokeswoman Raymone Bain insisted lead lawyer Thomas Mesereau has yet to decide whether to put his client on the witness stand.

Jackson, who has attended all the proceedings since the trial started with jury selection on January 31, is upbeat, said Bain.

"He feels he will be vindicated," she said.

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Judge asked to strike Michael Jackson?s ex-wife?s testimony
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Main News
1 May 2005


Filed under: Hollywood News— ankit @ 9:45 am


Michael Jackson’s defense today asked the judge in his child molestation trial to strike the testimony of ex-wife Deborah Rowe but did not reveal the reason in open court.

Superior court judge Rodney S Melville told defense Attorney Robert Sanger he wanted to hear more testimony from Rowe before deciding on the request.

“She hasn’t testified long enough for me to hear what she’s going to say,” the judge said. “I understand what she said yesterday, but I don’t really know what she has to say today.”

Rowe, a prosecution witness, gave testimony on Wednesday that was favorable to Jackson but contradicted what the prosecution had promised the jury she would say about the making of a video on the pop star’s behalf.

Rowe also testified that she had not been truthful about everything in her videotaped interview but said she could not remember specific areas where she had been dishonest.

She had returned to the stand on Thursday morning when attorneys went into chambers for a private meeting. When they returned to open court, the judge discussed the motion without revealing the basis for it. Rowe then resumed testifying.

Debbie Rowe has defended the singer, while attacking his aides as “vultures” who were trying to exploit him.

Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in February or March 2003 and conspiring to hold the accuser’s family captive to get them to rebut the documentary that showed the singer saying he lets children sleep in his bed.

Lawyer: Jackson Said Nothing Happened
Mood:  happy
Topic: Main News
By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer
Sat May 14, 5:24 AM ET



SANTA MARIA, Calif. ? Michael Jackson's former attorney took the stand in the pop star's child molestation trial, testifying he investigated the accuser's family and became "gravely concerned" about them as a threat to his client.

Mark Geragos told jurors Friday that he had both researched the family himself and hired a private investigator to check their background. The findings, Geragos said, disturbed him.

"Michael should have nothing to do with them," he said. "It was a pending disaster."

Geragos testified under cross-examination that he had asked Jackson if the boy slept in his bed and the entertainer had answered yes.

"He said he didn't do anything untoward or sexual and if anyone spent the night in his room it was unconditional love," Geragos said.

Geragos said an initial visit to Jackson's Neverland Ranch made him worry that his client would be a prey for possible allegations.

"When I was there what I saw was a gentleman who was almost childlike in his love for kids. I didn't see anyone doing anything nefarious or criminal. I saw someone who was ripe as a target," he said.

Geragos said he was hired about the time of the February 2003 airing of a documentary in which Jackson appeared with his now-accuser. In the documentary, Jackson said that he let children sleep in his bed but that it was non-sexual.

Under questioning by Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr., Geragos said he was concerned about allegations spawned by the documentary and was particularly concerned that the boy or his family might take advantage of them.

He said he conducted database searches to see if the family had a "litigious history" and was disturbed to find they had sued J.C. Penney over allegations they were beaten by security guards. The family received a $150,000 settlement.

"I was gravely concerned," Geragos said.

Geragos said he hired a private investigator to look into the family, and the results led him to believe the family was bad news.

"Michael should have nothing to do with them," he said. "It was a pending disaster."

Mesereau asked Geragos if he was aware of any crime committed against the family. Geragos said no.

"I was trying to prevent a crime against my client," he said. "I thought that they were going to shake him down."

Geragos worked for Jackson until he was replaced in April 2004.

At one point, Geragos declined to answer a prosecution question on grounds that Jackson only waived attorney-client privilege concerning events before his arrest in November 2003, surprising Judge Rodney S. Melville and prosecutors.

The judge sent the jury out of the room to address "the misrepresentation Mr. Mesereau has made to the court and counsel." The judge said he believed it was a total waiver of the privilege.

Mesereau apologized, saying he did not think events after Jackson's arrest were relevant.

Geragos did not complete his testimony before court recessed for the weekend. The judge scheduled him to return on May 20.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient in February or March 2003 and plying him with wine. He is also accused of conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to make a video rebutting the documentary.

Late Friday, both sides filed documents concerning potentially important testimony by a Neverland employee who claims the accuser's sister confided to him that her mother and the mother's boyfriend were planning "something big" regarding Jackson.

The witness, Angel Vivanco, whom prosecutors described as having a "quasi-sexual relationship" with the sister while she was at Neverland, would testify that the girl referred to her mother as "Psycho Mom" and said she was "not OK in the head."

Among statements he attributed to the sister were that the mother was "making her do something" and that "something bad is going to happen."

The prosecution seeks to bar the statements from the trial as hearsay. The defense says they support the theory that the family planned to allege molestation to get money from Jackson.

The mother and sister testified that the family was held against their will at Neverland.

___

Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.



Copyright ? 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.


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Culkin says molestation claims ?absolutely ridiculous?
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Main News


Child star testifies that prosecutors never spoke to him about allegations

The Associated Press
Updated: 12:04 p.m. ET May 11, 2005


SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Actor Macaulay Culkin took the stand at Michael Jackson?s child molestation trial Wednesday and denied he was molested, saying the accusations against the pop star were ?absolutely ridiculous.?

Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. asked Culkin what he thought of the charges against Jackson.

?I think they?re absolutely ridiculous,? Culkin said.

He said prosecutors never approached him about whether he had been molested and he only learned of the allegations that he had been molested by watching news coverage of the trial.

?Somebody told me you should probably check out CNN because they?re saying something about you,? Culkin said. ?I just couldn?t believe it. ... It was amazing to me that nobody even approached me and asked if these allegations were true.?

Prosecution witnesses testified earlier that Jackson inappropriately touched Culkin, who was a frequent childhood guest of Jackson. That testimony was used to allege that Jackson has a pattern of inappropriate behavior with boys.

During testimony Tuesday, the manager of Jackson?s Neverland ranch acknowledged he lied to law enforcement officials in 2003 when he said he had no knowledge of Jackson sharing his bed with children.

The testimony by Joe Marcus came during cross-examination by prosecutors, who sought to show he had lied to protect Jackson. At one point, prosecutor Gordon Auchincloss said, ?You keep looking at Mr. Jackson. Why is that??

Marcus appeared startled and didn?t answer, and a defense objection was sustained.

Auchincloss then asked Marcus if he was loyal to Jackson. He answered, ?Yes.?

Marcus acknowledged he lied when he told authorities during a November 2003 search of Neverland that he did not know about children sleeping in the singer?s bedroom.

He later added the events of that day were chaotic and ?I was overwhelmed.?

The defense called Marcus to the stand Monday to testify that he never instructed anyone to hold Jackson?s accuser and the boy?s family against their will. He suggested Tuesday no such captivity happened.

The captivity claim is part of the conspiracy portion of the case against the pop star, who is alleged to have molested a 13-year-old boy in 2003.

Prosecutors claim the singer conspired to hold the family to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary in which the boy appeared with Jackson. They also claim Jackson associates planned to send the family on a one-way trip to Brazil.

Marcus, an 18-year employee, testified Tuesday that the family of Jackson?s accuser never objected when there were discussions about them going to Brazil. He said the only thing the boy?s family wanted to know was where to go to have passport pictures taken.

?Did you ever receive any instructions from anyone to hold the (family) against their will?? Jackson attorney Robert Sanger asked.

?No,? Marcus said.

Also Tuesday, the prosecution tried to show Jackson has more ?special friends? who are boys than girls or women.

Marcus said there were also females who were close to the star, but when asked to name them off the top of his head he could only come up with Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli, a granddaughter of Marlon Brando and Karlee Barnes, the sister of a boy who spent time at Neverland.

Auchincloss also asked whether Marcus knew Jackson had adult materials at the ranch. Marcus said no, but acknowledged that dolls in bondage attire were kept on Jackson?s desk. He called them ?artwork.?

?Do you think it?s appropriate for children to be exposed to these?? Auchincloss asked.

Marcus paused and quietly said no.

? 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
? 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7816771/