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Michael Jackson's Trial
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Author:  Madeline [ 07 Apr 05, 23:53 ]
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7th April 2005

Jackson denies any wrongdoing
A former security guard at Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch has said he saw the star performing oral sex on a boy in the early 1990s.

Ralph Chacon told Mr Jackson's child molestation trial in California that he saw the alleged incident while looking through a bathroom window.

But his credibility was attacked by defence lawyers who painted him as a cash-strapped and bitter ex-employee.

Mr Jackson, 46, denies a total 10 charges including child abuse.

In what correspondents describe as damaging testimony, the former guard said he first saw Jackson and the boy - who was then 13 - in a whirlpool bath.

The two then headed to the shower together, Mr Chacon said.

He added that he decided to peek through an open window to see what was happening.



"I was thinking: 'What's going on in there? Grown man in the shower with a boy... it wasn't right," he told the court in the town of Santa Maria. "I saw Mr Jackson caressing the boy's hair, he was kissing him."

Mr Jackson then performed oral sex on the boy, Mr Chacon said.

Mr Chacon, who first mentioned the alleged assaults when being questioned under oath in 1994, said he did not report the incident to police as he did not think he would be believed.

The boy involved in the alleged assault later won an out-of-court settlement from the pop star worth more than $20m.

Under cross-examination, Mr Jackson's lawyer Tom Mesereau accused Mr Chacon of trying to extort the star.

He said Mr Chacon, who worked for Mr Jackson between 1991 and 1994, had become bitter after losing a lawsuit against Mr Jackson for wrongful dismissal.

Mr Mesereau said Mr Jackson had countersued and Mr Chacon was ordered to pay more than $1m in legal costs and damages as well as $25,000 for stolen property.

On Tuesday a former maid at the ranch testified that she once found the singer showering with an eight-year-old boy.
BBC

Author:  Madeline [ 08 Apr 05, 23:15 ]
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8th April 2005


Chef 'caught Michael Jackson fondling child star'


Michael Jackson’s former chef claimed today he caught the pop star with his hand down Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin’s pants.

Phillip LeMarque told Santa Maria court, California he saw Jackson fondle the child actor in 1991.

He described how he had been summoned to cook and deliver French fries to the singer in the early hours of the morning.

As he walked in to the arcade area of Jackson’s Neverland ranch, Mr LeMarque recalled seeing the pair at a video game.

He claimed Jackson was holding Culkin up with his right arm so he could reach the controls. His left hand, he said, was inside the crotch area of the child’s pants.

“I was shocked,” the chef said. “I almost dropped the French fries.”

He said he started to retreat before he remembered that he had to deliver the meal.

He ventured back in, making a lot of noise, he told the court. Mr LeMarque, 70, said he never reported the incident to police because he thought no one would believe him.

Culkin has repeatedly denied ever being abused by the singer.

The chef did speak to a media broker who told him he could get up to £265,000 (500,000 dollars) for his story.

In the end he decided selling the story would be against his principles and claimed he never made a penny.

He said parts of his story had appeared in the tabloids because the broker released an unauthorised tape recording of his interview.

Under cross-examination, Mr LeMarque said he and his wife had sued Jackson for overtime and received a settlement.

Earlier, Adrian McManus, a former Neverland maid who claims she saw Jackson inappropriately touch four boys, was accused of being after Jackson’s money.

She claimed she once saw Jackson kissing Culkin’s cheek, his hand resting on the child’s bottom.

She also said she had seen him kiss 1993 accuser Jordy Chandler on the cheek and mouth and put his hand on his genital area.

Under cross-examination, Jackson’s lawyer Tom Mesereau sought to discredit her evidence by portraying her as greedy and vengeful after losing a lawsuit against the singer in the 1990s.

Ms McManus admitted she and other employees had sold stories to the tabloids, one which claimed inside knowledge of Jackson’s sex life with ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley.

But the former maid admitted she had no information about the pair’s sex life, and had never seen Presley or any other women sleep in Jackson’s bedroom.

Judge Rodney Melville rejected the defence’s request for a mistrial based on claims state witnesses had been discussing the case outside court.

The trial was adjourned until Monday. breakingnews

Author:  Madeline [ 08 Apr 05, 23:21 ]
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8th April 2005

Jackson trial: Witness quizzed on tabloid deals



Michael Jackson’s former maid testified today at the singer’s child molestation trial that she and other employees of the pop star used a ”media broker” to sell stories to tabloids including one claiming inside knowledge of Jackson’s sex life with ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley.

Adrian McManus, who earlier testified for the prosecution that she saw Jackson in compromising positions with young boys, insisted under cross-examination that she was not out to get Jackson’s money even when she and four other Neverland employees sued him for millions.

“I wanted justice,” she said of the suit, which backfired and resulted in a large judgment against the plaintiffs.

“But your idea of justice was millions of bucks?” asked Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr.

“That’s not what I call justice,” she told the court in Santa Maria . ”Honestly, a simple ’sorry for what we did to you’ would have been enough for me.”

But Mesereau noted that McManus and the others spent many months and large amounts of money pursuing their suit against Jackson, and he elicited from her the fact that they went to tabloids to fund their lawsuit.

Jackson is on trial for charges of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in February or March of 2003.

The testimony by some former Neverland employees deals with alleged improprieties by Jackson with young boys prior to the current allegations. It was allowed in an effort to show a pattern of abuse, although Jackson was never criminally charged in the past.

McManus acknowledged that she signed agreements with the Star and the Splash media and picture agency to sell purported secrets about Jackson’s life with Presley.

Jackson married Presley in May 1994. Presley filed for divorce in January 1996, saying they had formally separated the previous month. McManus was a Neverland maid from 1990 to 1994.

“Do you recall trying to sell what you called Mr Jackson’s sex secrets?” Mesereau asked McManus.

“Something like that,” she said.

She identified in court the contract with Star.

“And you were quoted in a Star story with the headline, ’Kinky secrets of Michael and Lisa Marie’s bedroom,”’ Mesereau said.

“I didn’t say that,” the witness insisted, adding, “A lot of times with those tabloids they say other stuff.”

But she acknowledged that during the time she was at Neverland she saw Presley visit and that through a media broker she offered the tabloids information on the relationship.

“And in that contract you agreed to provide information on Mr Jackson’s relationship with Lisa Marie Presley?” Mesereau asked.

“Yes,” she said, and also confirmed that a security guard, Ralph Chacon, also signed the contract.

Chacon, who was also part of the failed lawsuit against Jackson, claimed in his testimony on Thursday that he witness the singer perform a sex act on a boy in the early 1990s.

Prosecutor Ron Zonen asked McManus if she in fact had any information about kinky sex secrets of Jackson and Presley.

“No,” the witness said.

“Did you see her at the ranch?” asked Zonen.

“Yes,” she said.

“And did you see her stay in Mr Jackson’s room?” Zonen asked.

“No,” said McManus.

“Did you ever see any woman stay with Mr Jackson in his room in the four years you worked at Neverland?” asked Zonen.

“No, I did not,” she said.

During her tenure at Neverland, McManus was responsible for cleaning up Jackson’s room, and in an unexplained detour the prosecutor asked if she ever had to clean up after the singer’s pet monkey. McManus said she did and also had to clean the monkey’s diapers. breakingnews

Author:  Madeline [ 11 Apr 05, 22:56 ]
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11th April 2005


Jackson 'shared bed with my son'

Mr Jackson denies the allegations against him
The mother of a boy who received a large settlement from Michael Jackson has told a court the singer begged her to let him share a bed with her son.

At the pop star's trial, she said she initially refused to let her then teenage son sleep in Mr Jackson's bed, but relented when the singer got upset.

"He said, 'You don't trust me? We're a family... There's nothing wrong,'" the woman told the court in California.

Mr Jackson, 46, denies charges of molesting a different 13-year-old boy.

Judge Rodney Melville has allowed past accusations against Mr Jackson to be brought up at the trial, as permitted under Californian law.

Prosecutors are trying to establish a pattern of child sex abuse, alleging that five boys were molested or groomed for abuse by Mr Jackson.

Previous allegations against Mr Jackson have never been proved in court and are denied by some of the alleged victims.

'Vegas trip'

The woman in court on Monday was testifying about alleged abuse against her son. The family received a reported $20m (£12.7m) out-of-court settlement from the singer in 1994.

The woman testified that she and her then 13-year-old son stayed at Mr Jackson's Neverland ranch for the first time in February 1993, but she initially refused to let her son sleep in the singer's bed.

However, she said she relented when during a trip to Las Vegas the following month, the singer tearfully asked her why she would not allow it.

"He was sobbing and crying, shaking and trembling," she said. "He said, 'You don't trust me? We're a family.

"'Why can't he sleep in my bed? There's nothing wrong. There's nothing going on.'"

From then on, she said she always allowed the pair to share a bedroom, including for weeks at a time when Mr Jackson visited her family in southern California.

The woman admitted in court she had not spoken to her son for 11 years. He is not expected to testify in the trial.

Mr Jackson is charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy at his Neverland ranch two years ago, plying the boy with alcohol and conspiring to commit false imprisonment, child abduction and extortion.

He denies a total of 10 charges. If found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Several former employees at Mr Jackson's ranch testified last week, saying they had seen him fondling and abusing boys there.

The star's defence has sought to portray them as money-driven and vengeful. BBC

Author:  milly [ 11 Apr 05, 23:02 ]
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Tell me what you think but - I don't know too much about this trial but the evidence seems very :eek:

Many people are saying very similar things about him - worrying stuff :-?

Author:  Madeline [ 12 Apr 05, 7:49 ]
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I think he looks as quilty as sin, :evil:

Author:  Madeline [ 12 Apr 05, 7:53 ]
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12th April 2005

Jackson witness surprises prosecution

Michael Jackson’s prosecutors ran into another problem today when a witness did not testify as expected that he may have seen the pop star lick a boy’s head in the 1990s.

They had called Bob Jones, the star’s former publicist, to the stand to testify about an alleged incident on a flight from Paris to Los Angeles.

They wanted Jones to testify that Jackson licked Jordy Chandler’s head to show a pattern of behaviour. Jackson is alleged to have licked the head of his current accuser on a flight from Miami to Santa Barbara in February 2003.

But when asked if he had seen Jackson lick Jordy, Jones responded in the Santa Maria, California, court: “No, sir.”

Prosecutor Gordon Auchincloss then asked whether Jones had said during an interview with Auchincloss, Jones’ lawyer and a sheriff’s investigator that he may have seen Jackson lick the boy’s head.

“I was very adamant in saying I was not sure,” Jones said. “I don’t recall anything about licking. ... I don’t recall ever seeing any head licking.”

Jones was another prosecution witness to testify differently than prosecutors had hoped.

Previously, Jackson’s former house manager testified as a prosecution witness that he had brought wine and soft drinks to Jackson and several boys. Witness Jesus Salas had only told investigators that he brought wine, but said on the stand that he just remembered the soft drinks.

Jones said he had observed some other physical contact between Jackson and Jordy, who received a multimillion-dollar settlement after accusing the pop star of molestation and subsequently declined to participate in a police investigation of that case.

Jones said that at the World Music Awards in Monaco Jordy sat on Jackson’s lap and the boy’s sister also sat on the singer’s lap for a time. He characterised Jackson and the boy as inseparable during the trip and said that on the flight back they huddled closely together as they slept.

Auchincloss then read an excerpt from a book Jones is writing about his experiences with Jackson.

“They were holding each other tightly, almost in a romantic sense,” Auchincloss quoted from the book, which also said Jackson and the boy were cooing and kissing and that Jackson licked the boy’s head.

Auchincloss asked Jones whether the passage in the book was accurate.

“Yes, with reservations,” Jones said.

When the defence objected to several questions, Auchincloss said he was asking for the sake of impeachment.

On cross-examination by Jackson lawyer Thomas Mesereau , Jones testified that his co-writer completes passages of the book and that he then checks them for accuracy.

Jones said that he had not yet reviewed the section Auchincloss read in court and that it was not accurate.

Mesereau also noted that Jones had not been sworn to tell the truth when working on the book.

“When you were dealing with your co-writer and publisher you were not under oath, and of course today you are,” Mesereau said.

Jones agreed.

Prosecutors are presenting witnesses from Jackson’s past to show he has a pattern of inappropriate behaviour with boys and to help the credibility of his current accuser.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient, plying the boy with alcohol, and holding his family captive in February and March 2003 to get them to help rebut a damaging documentary.

Jackson’s mother issued a statement explaining her reasons for leaving the courtroom during testimony Thursday.

Katherine Jackson, who has been present for every day of her son’s child molestation trial, said the media misinterpreted her absence from the courtroom as a reaction to testimony. She said she left to use the bathroom.

“I am only asking for fair and accurate reporting,” she said. ”Accusing me of leaving due to graphic testimony when I simply went to the rest room is not fair, not accurate.” breakingnews

Author:  Madeline [ 12 Apr 05, 21:01 ]
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12th April 2005
The stepfather of the teen accusing Michael Jackson of molestation described on Tuesday how the family had been both harassed and offered bribes to make a video exonerating the tarnished pop star.

The man also noted a marked change in his 13 year-old stepson's behavior after his last visit to Jackson's Neverland Valley ranch in March 2003, at one point describing the teen as appearing to be "brainwashed."

The stepfather took the stand as the trial returned to the central players in the sex abuse case against Jackson after a week in which witnesses have described what they saw as the singer's inappropriate behavior with young boys over the past 15 years -- allegations for which he was never charged.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of molestation in February or March 2003 and with plying the boy with alcohol. He is also charged with conspiring to commit child abduction, extortion and false imprisonment. He could face two decades behind bars if convicted.

The accuser's mother, a key witness in the case, is expected to testify later on Tuesday or on Wednesday. She has been portrayed by the defense as goading her son into inventing his claims to extort money from Jackson.

The boy's stepfather said on Tuesday there had been no problems with Jackson until after the February 2003 broadcast of a British TV documentary, in which the entertainer was pictured holding hands with his accuser and defending his practice of sleeping with young boys.

PRESSURE AND BRIBES

After that, he said, the family got numerous phone calls at their Los Angeles home from Jackson aides, sometimes every 15 minutes, pressuring them to sign a contract and make a video praising Jackson.

"I said, 'What are you offering this family to do this?'....He (the aide) said well, we're offering them protection. I said... the family doesn't need any protection. Who are you protecting them from?"'

The man said Jackson's aide offered the family a house, tutoring and money for a college education as incentives, all of which they declined.

The mother and her three children did go to Neverland to make the so-called rebuttal video, which has never been broadcast but was shown to the jury. When they finally returned home some three weeks later, however, the 13-year-old had changed.
"(He) didn't want to see me, he stayed back in the back room. There was some crying coming from the back room," the stepfather said.

"It appeared to me he had been brainwashed in some way," the man said. The judge ordered the response stricken from the record.

Testimony from the boy's mother is likely to be crucial to the case. She is expected to tell jurors that she was held against her will at Neverland after the broadcast of the TV documentary.

But the mother has been portrayed by defense attorneys as a grifter who preyed on celebrities and who has a history of making false claims, including some of being groped. reuters

Author:  Madeline [ 13 Apr 05, 7:37 ]
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13th April 2005




Stepdad tells of distressed call from Jackson accuser's mother


The stepfather of Michael Jackson’s accuser testified today that the boy’s mother called him in distress from the pop star’s Neverland estate during the period in which prosecutors allege the family was held captive.

The stepfather took the stand in Michael Jackson’s child sex-abuse trial in Santa Maria, California, as the prosecution shifted from witnesses who alleged past improprieties by the singer back to the current allegations that led to charges that he molested the 13-year-old boy in February or March 2003 and conspired to hold his family captive to get them to rebut a TV documentary.

In the February 6, 2003, documentary Living With Michael Jackson, the stepfather said he allowed children to sleep in his bed but characterised it as non-sexual.

At the time the programme was broadcast, the star had taken the boy, his siblings and his mother to Florida, then returned with the family to Neverland.

The then-future stepfather testified that the boy's mother was upset when she called him during the family’s return to Neverland immediately after the documentary went out. He said she later returned with her family to her parents’ house, where he picked her up and took her to his home in Los Angeles.

During the three or four days the family stayed with him, the man said, Jackson's accuser's mother received numerous calls from Frank Tyson, a Michael Jackson employee who prosecutors have named as one of his unindicted co-conspirators.

“She was emotional. She was crying. She was sitting in the closet having these conversations with Frank… She was very distressed,” the stepfather said in evidence.

He also said she was very distressed about her treatment by two men at Neverland, alleged unindicted co-conspirators Dieter Wiesner and Ronald Konitzer.

However, the family eventually agreed to return to Neverland, he said.

He testified that he had only one conversation with Tyson, in which Tyson asked him what kind of car he drove. He said he later saw surveillance tapes of himself driving the car, but did not say where he saw the tapes.

The prosecution said yesterday that it would call the boy's mother as early as today after some legal problems with her testimony had been resolved.

However, ABC News reported that the mother might not take the stand to avoid potential legal problems concerning alleged welfare fraud.

Citing unidentified sources, ABC said a prosecution motion filed under seal asks that the defence be prohibited from asking questions about welfare fraud.

District Attorney Tom Sneddon said in opening statements that the mother would admit obtaining welfare funds to which she was not entitled, but ABC said she had threatened to plead the Fifth Amendment.

Yesterday the mother of a boy who received a multi-million-dollar settlement from Michael Jackson in the 1990s testified that the singer treated her to trips and jewellery after she agreed to let the boy sleep in Jackson’s room during a trip to Las Vegas in 1993.

June Chandler, mother of Jordan (Jordy) Chandler, said Jackson knocked on her door one night.

“He was sobbing, shaking, trembling. He said, ’You don’t trust me. We’re a family. Why won’t you allow him to be in my bedroom?’,” Mrs Chandler told the court.

She said she relented and the next day Jackson gave her a gold Cartier bracelet.

She never testified to seeing Jordy molested.

Jordy, now 25, and his mother received a settlement after the boy filed a lawsuit accusing Jackson of molestation. She was not permitted to say how much was paid.

Jordy later refused to co-operate with investigators and has refused to testify at Jackson’s trial.
Mrs Chandler testified that after the Las Vegas incident Jackson stayed with Jordy at their Santa Monica home more than 30 times.

“And where would he stay?” asked Sneddon.

“In (my son’s) bedroom,” she said.
breakingnews

Author:  Madeline [ 14 Apr 05, 8:19 ]
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14th April 2005

Jackson 'licked boy's head'


'KILLERS CHASED ARVIZOS'
The mother of Michael Jackson's young accuser has given a dramatic account of how she became convinced killers were after her family and only the singer could protect them.

Janet Arvizo tearfully begged the jury not to judge her as she described how she had come to trust the singer and believe everything he said.

She told Santa Maria court in California that the singer had frequently called her son Gavin after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2000.

Their conversations went on "forever and ever", she said, making her increasingly uneasy.

By September, 2002, her children were visiting the singer's Neverland ranch on their own, she said, and during one trip took part in Martin Bashir's controversial documentary.

Mrs Arvizo claimed that shortly afterwards, Jackson called her himself, insisting he needed Gavin to fly to Miami for a press conference to help limit the damage.

She said: "He said that he was receiving death threats about my children.

"I told him if my son is in danger, then me and my children have to go too."

The mother chastised herself, claiming she was "just like a sponge," believing everything he said.

On the plane back to California, she claimed she saw the singer licking the top of her son's head. "I thought I was seeing things," she sobbed. "I thought it was just me."

Jackson denies abusing the boy, plying him with alcohol and holding the boy's family against its will.Sky

Author:  Madeline [ 15 Apr 05, 7:47 ]
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Jackson accuser family 'coerced'


Jackson denies charges including child abuse and kidnapping
The mother of Michael Jackson's accuser has told how her family was forced into praising the singer in a video to rebut a damaging documentary about the star.

Testifying for a second day, Janet Arvizo said the singer's aides planned to whisk her family to Brazil after they appeared in the programme.

She told the Santa Maria court she was warned her parents and boyfriend would be killed if she did not co-operate.

Michael Jackson denies 10 charges, including child abuse and kidnapping.

If found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

'Threatened'

Mrs Arvizo said that after the documentary was broadcast in Britain, Michael Jackson's aides held her and her family at the star's Neverland Ranch and planned to fly them to Brazil.


I was confused, I was sad, so basically I was acting
Janet Arvizo
Mother of Michael Jackson's accuser
She said one of Michael Jackson's bodyguards warned her her parents and boyfriend "were going to be killed" if she did not acquiesce.

The trip did not take place, but Mrs Arvizo said she and her family were coerced into making a video depicting Michael Jackson in a positive light to try to clear his name.

Mrs Arvizo said the singer's associates coached her to praise the star

In the video, which has never been broadcast but has been shown to the jury, Mrs Arvizo repeatedly describes Michael Jackson as a "wonderful father" to he children.

She told the court she her family was kept up all night during the making of the video.

"I was confused, I was sad, so basically I was acting," she said.

'Father figure'

Mrs Arvizo said that after the airing of the British documentary, she was interviewed by child welfare officials investigating Michael Jackson's relationship with her son, then 13-years-old.

She said the singer's aides forced her to record the meeting surreptitiously, during which she again referred to the star as a father figure.

"I had to [say that]," Mrs Arvizo told the court. "I was monitored... by those people".

She said that before the interview, one of Michael Jackson's associates warned her that if she "put Michael in a bad light, that they knew where my parents lived".

Michael Jackson's lawyers have previously tried to discredit Mrs Arvizo as a liar who preyed on celebrities.

On Wednesday, the judge, Rodney S Melville, said she did not have to answer questions relating to claims she received benefit payments to which she was not entitled.
[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4446595.stmBBC[/url]

Author:  Madeline [ 15 Apr 05, 22:35 ]
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15th April 2005



Neverland 'all about booze, porn and sex with boys'



Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch is “all about booze, pornography and sex with boys”, a court heard today.

The mother of the pop star’s young accuser repeatedly accused his defence lawyer of lacking facts as they locked horns at the beginning of a long-awaited cross examination.

She told Santa Maria court in California that she was admonished by Jackson’s aides after filming a statement to defend the star because she was a “bad actress”.

“I think you’re a bad actress,” lawyer Tom Mesereau shot back in court.

He accused her of pretending to be naïve and confused while she plotted a scheme to extort money from the singer’s deep pockets.

She claims she was given a script when they filmed the rebuttal to British journalist Martin Bashir’s pivotal TV documentary and that she was then told off for failing to mention how Jackson had somehow cured her son of cancer.

In a fast-paced and fiery exchange, the woman said she had not needed a script, she would have been happy to praise Jackson of her own accord.

It was his associates who were the bad guys, she claimed.

“Now I know that Neverland is all about booze, pornography and sex with boys,” she declared.

The comment was immediately ordered to be struck from the record by Judge Rodney Melville.

She maintained that she was held captive at Neverland in February, 2003. While acknowledging that she had left the property several times, she said she was always enticed back by Jackson’s aides.

She claimed the time she had a leg wax at a local salon was simply a PR exercise by the Jackson camp and a camera crew had been sent along to portray the singer in a good light.

When Mr Mesereau played a recording of a conversation between her and one of Jackson’s associates, she snapped: “This tape has been manipulated.”

The cross examination is expected to be lengthy. The defence team contend she is a money grabber who used her children to entice money from celebrities.

Mr Mesereau has made no secret of his wish to come face to face with her before the jury.

Earlier, the court was played surveillance tapes found in the office of Jackson’s private investigator.

The footage of the boy and his family was proof they were closely monitored as they were held captive at Neverland, the prosecution claimed.

The tapes included shots of her, her parents and boyfriend, mostly filmed in February 2003.

Jackson denies molesting the 13-year-old boy, plying him with alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive. breakingnews

Author:  Madeline [ 15 Apr 05, 22:39 ]
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15th April 2005




Prosecutors show video of accuser's family



Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson molestation trial today showed jurors videotapes found in a private investigator’s office to demonstrate that the pop star’s associates had closely monitored his accuser’s family while he, his mother and siblings were allegedly being held captive.

Much of the footage was taken in mid-February 2003, when prosecutors say the boy's family was being kept at Jackson’s Neverland ranch because the pop star’s associates wanted them to help rebut a damaging documentary.

Prosecutors contend Jackson associates tried to prevent escape by threatening to harm people close to them.

The tapes, some of which had time stamps showing they were shot as early as 4:48am, were taken from the office of Bradley Miller, an investigator hired by former Jackson attorney Mark Geragos.

One shows both the boy’s mother and Jackson associate Vince Amen, named by prosecutors as one of Jackson’s unindicted alleged co-conspirators. In other sections of the footage, the boy's mother identified her parents emerging from their home and her then boyfriend driving.

Jurors were also shown a recording of men cleaning out and removing furniture from the family’s cramped East Los Angeles apartment. “Cucarachas,” one of the men remarked, apparently referring to a cockroach problem.

Prosecutors contend Jackson associates took the accuser's family items and kept them after the family left Neverland. The video was dated March 5, 2003, and the family left Neverland for the last time a week later.

After the tape concluded, Judge Rodney S. Melville called for cross-examination to begin. The questioning of the accuser’s mother by lead defence attorney Thomas Mesereau was expected to be one of the most heated episodes in the trial.

Mesereau repeatedly has told jurors the mother ripped off celebrities and other targets by exploiting her son’s fight with cancer, and also has accused her of filing a past lawsuit that Mesereau says was bogus.

The family received a settlement of more than £100,000 after alleging they were roughed up by department store security guards.

Yesterday, the accuser’s mother pledged that she had no plans to sue the singer. The statement came after two days on the stand in which she delivered a story of Jackson’s associates shuttling her family from one location to the next to protect them from “killers.” She said Jackson’s people never told her who the alleged killers were.

She testified that she never had a chance to seek help, and that even if she did, she doubted police would believe her story.

“Who could possibly believe this?” she said.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy and keeping the youngster and his family captive. He denies all the charges against him. The trial continues. breakingnews

Author:  ADRIAN_L [ 15 Apr 05, 23:56 ]
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.....this is possibly, the most tedious and pointless thread, in the history of BBFANS. :zzz: :zzz:

Author:  Rincewind [ 16 Apr 05, 0:13 ]
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Very constructive comment :roll:

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