Jackson Accuser Says Nothing Bad Happened
By TIM MOLLOY
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - Michael Jackson's accuser acknowledged under cross-examination Monday that he told a teacher that nothing bad had happened to him at the singer's ranch. Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. read to the boy from what appeared to be a transcript of an interview of the teacher, Jeffrey Alpert. Mesereau quoted the John Burroughs Middle School teacher as saying, ``Look at me, look at me ... I can't help you unless you tell me the truth - did any of this happen?''
The boy acknowledged from the witness stand that his answer was ``no.''
At another point the 15-year-old boy said, ``I told Mr. Alpert he never did anything to me.''
Mesereau walked the boy through his disciplinary history at the Los Angeles school, and the boy acknowledged he had argued with teachers and been disruptive.
Jackson arrived on time Monday, his first court appearance since a failure to appear last week triggered a threat of arrest by the judge and a race to the courthouse in his pajama bottoms from a hospital where he was said to be receiving treatment for a back injury. The question about the teacher triggered a discussion among attorneys about what exactly the boy told District Attorney Tom Sneddon about the conversation with Alpert.
ABC News' ``Good Morning America'' reported Monday that prosecutors and defense attorneys met during the weekend to interview the former teacher, and that the teacher's attorney, Thomas Forsyth, said he expects his client to be called as a witness.
Citing unidentified sources, the network reported that the conversation between the boy and teacher happened in spring 2003. That would have been after the airing of the TV documentary ``Living With Michael Jackson'' and the time period in which the molestation allegedly occurred, but before Jackson was indicted. Jackson was shown shown holding hands with the boy in the documentary, which set off a storm of criticism.
A telephone message left with the school Monday was not immediately returned.
Mesereau had begun cross-examination of the accuser later Thursday. It resumed Monday after a three-day break. Mesereau quizzed the accuser about similarities between a statement he testified Jackson made about masturbation and an earlier statement the boy attributed to his grandmother. He recalled that the boy testified Thursday that Jackson told him that if men don't masturbate they might rape women. The attorney noted that the boy told sheriff's investigators in an interview that his grandmother had told him the same thing.
The boy said that the context was different. ``She was telling me it was OK to do it and Michael was saying you have to do it,'' the boy said.
Prosecutors allege that Jackson, 46, molested the boy at Neverland in 2003, gave him alcohol and conspired to hold his family captive to get them to rebut the documentary in which Jackson said he shared his bed with children.
On Friday, jurors were not in court as the judge ruled that comedian Jay Leno, an expected witness, can continue to crack jokes at Jackson's expense as long as he doesn't discuss the facts of his testimony. Prosecutors also argued that Jackson was near bankruptcy and sought records to support assertions that Jackson had an underlying financial motive. The judge indicated he had little interest in allowing extensive testimony on finances.
03/14/05 13:54
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Accuser: Jackson 'Did Nothing to Me'
By LINDA DEUTSCH
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - The boy who says Michael Jackson molested him acknowledged under cross-examination Monday that he told an administrator at his school that the pop star ``didn't do anything to me.''
The teenager was asked about conversations he had with Jeffrey Alpert, the dean at John Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles, where the boy had a history of acting up in class. ``I told Dean Alpert he didn't do anything to me,'' the boy said under questioning by Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. ``I told him twice.''
Prosecutors allege Jackson, 46, plied the boy with alcohol and molested him at his Neverland Ranch in 2003.
The pop star, who was threatened with arrest when he failed to show up in court on time Thursday, arrived on schedule Monday. Unlike last time, when a disheveled Jackson finally arrived in a coat, T-shirt and pajama bottoms, he wore a smart red jacket with a black armband and black slacks. His parents escorted him inside.
Mesereau, during his cross-examination of the boy, quoted Alpert as telling the youngster: ``Look at me, look at me. ... I can't help you unless you tell me the truth - did any of this happen?''
When asked when the conversation occurred, the boy said: ``I believe it was after I came back from Neverland.''
It was not clear in court why the dean asked the boy about Jackson. But Mesereau confronted the teenager with school records that showed that nine teachers had complained about the boy's disruptive behavior, events that the boy acknowledged.
Of one teacher, he said, ``I felt as if he didn't deserve respect as a teacher. I didn't respect him as a person.'' He complained on the witness stand about the teaching methods of virtually every teacher mentioned. ``When I would stand up to teachers the other students would congratulate me,'' he said. He added: ``I was argumentative at times. I didn't like the way they taught me. I wasn't learning anything.''
Mesereau also cross-examined the accuser about similarities between a statement he testified Jackson made about masturbation and an earlier statement the boy attributed to his grandmother.
On Thursday, the boy testified Thursday that Jackson told him that if men do not masturbate, they might rape women. Mesereau noted that the boy told sheriff's investigators in an interview that his grandmother had told him the same thing. ``Why did your story change between that interview and your testimony last Thursday?'' Mesereau asked.
The boy denied changing his story. He said that both his grandmother and Jackson had told him the same thing, but the context was different. ``She was telling me it was OK to do it, and Michael was saying you have to do it,'' the boy said.
Associated Press Writer Tim Molloy contributed to this report.
03/14/05 14:49
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