Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies

Jolie Rouge · 03-08-2005, 04:52 PM

Accuser’s brother admits lying
Boy admitted false testimony during JC Penney lawsuit

The Associated Press
March 8, 2005

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A boy who testified that Michael Jackson molested his brother acknowledged under cross-examination Tuesday that the pop star didn't show him a sex magazine that the prosecution introduced into evidence. The witness also said he lied under oath in a separate civil lawsuit.

Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. showed the 14-year-old witness the copy of Barely Legal magazine dated August 2003. The boy, who left Jackson's Neverland ranch for the last time in March 2003, testified for the prosecution on Monday that the magazine was one of those that Jackson had shown to him and his brother.

Confronted with the dates, the boy said, "I never said it was exactly that one. That's not exactly the one he showed us."

On Monday, District Attorney Tom Sneddon projected the cover of the magazine onto a courtroom screen for the jury to see.

The boy said he had looked at the magazine with Sneddon before it was presented as evidence.

Under questioning by Mesereau, the boy also said he lied under oath in another case when he swore that his mother and father never fought and that his father never hit him. "When you were asked if your dad ever hit you, you said 'never,'" said Mesereau. "Were you telling the truth?"

"No," said the boy, who is the only trial witness so far to testify that molestation occurred.

"Did someone tell you to lie in the J.C. Penney case?" the lawyer asked, referring to a civil lawsuit brought by the boy's mother against the department store company over an encounter with security guards.

"I don't remember," the boy said.

‘I don't remember nothing’

When Mesereau asked him to tell the jury why he lied under oath, the boy said, "I don't remember. It was five years ago. I don't remember nothing."

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the family captive to get them to rebut a damaging documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bedroom.

Mesereau focused much of his questioning on the lawsuit in which the mother claimed that she was sexually assaulted and the family was beaten by guards after the accuser in the Jackson case left a store with items that had not been paid for. The defense contends the suit shows the family has a history of filing false claims to get money.

The allegations that the father abused the family surfaced later during the parents' divorce.

The 14-year-old boy became a crucial prosecution witness Monday when he testified to actually seeing molestation by walking in on Jackson as he engaged in acts with his sleeping brother in Jackson's bedroom.

Mesereau asked the boy to tell jurors about an alarm system in Jackson's house which alerts the singer when anyone is in the hall outside his bedroom. The boy acknowledged there was an electronic bell and that anytime he was in that hallway the bell went off. "So the two times you claim you saw Michael Jackson touching your brother in bed, that alarm went off?" asked Mesereau.

"Yes," said the boy.

No mention of alarm system

When the boy testified about the alleged molestation on Monday he did not mention any bell or alarm system and said that his brother slept through both incidents, snoring at one point. Mesereau also said that the witness had in the past given a different description of the alleged molestation, including that he once said Jackson touched his brother's bottom during the incidents.

"I never said he touched his butt," the witness aid.

The boy responded to numerous questions about inconsistencies by saying, "I don't know exactly what I said."

Mesereau asked the boy about his testimony that Jackson encouraged him and his brother to use curse words, and the boy said he had never used them before meeting Jackson.

Mesereau then asked him about his J.C. Penney lawsuit deposition in which he described two profane words allegedly used by security guards.

The boy said he spelled out the words while giving the deposition.

The cross-examination began after the prosecution concluded its direct questioning Tuesday by eliciting testimony that Jackson had once issued a warning to the witness and his brother.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7129260

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Is is just me - or does the woman in this begining to sound like the infamous "Manda" ??

nanajoanie · 03-08-2005, 05:29 PM

All I have to say about this case is I feel Michael Jackson is GUILTY! GUILTY!

Jolie Rouge · 03-09-2005, 11:55 AM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7131611

harloo · 03-09-2005, 12:04 PM

It's a shame that these kids are being coached by their parents. The mother should be sent to the slammer for what she is doing to those kids.

Even if Michael is proven innoncent of these charges, he needs to be sent to jail so he can realize what he did was wrong. You don't have children sleeping in the bed with you, especially if they are not yours. He needs counseling.

Njean31 · 03-09-2005, 12:59 PM

he's guilty alright and so is his mother for handing her son over to a known pedophile and letting him get molested so she could sue

they all need to go prison and the boy given some of perv's money to be cashed out at age 25.

Jolie Rouge · 03-14-2005, 03:19 PM

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

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...p_news_jackson

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

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...51.htm&sc=1403

Jolie Rouge · 03-15-2005, 11:13 PM

Michael Jackson pleads for 'fairness'
Armstrong Williams

"...Please, please be fair," Michael Jackson pleaded during a telephone conversation I had with the pop star months ago. Journalist Martin Bashir had just released a documentary containing damaging footage of Michael Jackson sharing his bed with child visitors. He wanted me to tell his side of the story. Instead, I wrote about how regardless of whether he fondled the children or not, he still shared a bed with them, and that was unforgivable. As was the conduct of these kids parents, who were so star-craved that they funneled their own children into a stranger's bed.

Now Jackson is in the midst of a child molestation trial. Inside the courtroom, Jackson's accusers share salacious details about his sleepovers. Outside the courtroom, throngs of fans chant Michael's name in enduring admiration.

One of Jackson's representatives again called my office, pleading for me to treat him fairly in my column. Sure, I'll try. But Jackson doesn't make it easy.

Last week, he showed up to court more than an hour late wearing pajamas. The judge had threatened to arrest him, before Jackson finally limped into the courtroom looking dazed and weakened. It's probably an act, a way to garner public sympathy by giving the appearance of being persecuted. At the same time, he is laying the foundation to plead incapacity. My bet is that his lawyers file a motion next week claiming that Jackson is severely ill, and taking so much medication that he is having difficulty understanding the proceedings or meaningfully communicating with his attorneys. That would buy him time and allow him either to influence the jury pool by playing the part of the victim, or avoid the trial altogether by feigning incapacity indefinitely.

One wonders if it's even worth the effort though. It is hard to imagine a jury sentencing Jackson to jail. Never underestimate the gratification he brings them by putting them so close to center stage. Then there is the sympathy factor. Who wants to send a frail withered Michael Jackson to his final demise? We all know what criminals do to alleged child molesters in jail. Michael would probably hang himself before stepping into a cell.

Meanwhile, the public cocks an eager ear toward the television as Jackson's accusersshare lurid stories about sharing wine, pornography and a bed with the pop star. We read stories about how Jackson's empire is teerterting on eocnomic collapse. We stare with bizarre fascination at Jackson's oddly distorted face—that portrait of self hatred writ in flesh. And then E! television packages it all up into daily reenactments, beamed out for the edification of the star craved.

I guess it's the kind of story we feel we deserve. The public loves to put our heroes up on a hill, then gratify our egos by dragging them down. It's been this way all of Jackson's life. First his father crushed any childhood out of him; then the public refused to even let him walk down the street. He never really had a chance to be a part of society.

Somewhere along the line he freed himself. He got away from his father. He regressed away from an overbearing public and into the childhood he never had, sealing himself off from society in an amusement park fantasy world plucked from a child's imagination. It's a tragedy that he should be rewarded for his talent with such smothering scrutiny. Then again, he regularly slept in the same bed with kids. So who knows, maybe he's just fooling us. Maybe the guy who sagged into court in his pajamas, is just setting us up for plea
of incapacity. Maybe he is just performing. It seems fair to ask.

My prediction: he walks. His accuser's testimony has been riddled with inconsistencies and the jury will be looking for any excuse to let him walk. Still, his life will never be the same. This, not his art, will be the enduring legacy in people's minds.

Jolie Rouge · 03-16-2005, 05:50 PM

By TIM MOLLOY

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - The lead investigator in the Michael Jackson child molestation case testified Wednesday that the accuser told him he was molested five to seven times but could describe only two of the incidents in detail.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon asked sheriff's Sgt. Steve Robel about the numbers in order to account for differences that have emerged during testimony in Jackson's trial.

Robel testified Tuesday that the boy twice told investigators he was molested five times. The boy himself testified earlier to only two molestations but said he believed there may have been more.

Robel said Wednesday that the boy told him ``it happened between five and seven times but he could not articulate exactly'' what happened every time. Since the first interviews of the boy in July 2003, Robel said, he has been able to provide detailed accounts of two incidents.

In testimony Tuesday, Robel said he urged the accuser and his family to go forward with his claims against the singer by promising them, ``We're going to try our best to make this case work.''

Defense attorney Robert Sanger confronted Robel with those and other statements from recorded interviews, suggesting that they indicated investigators were biased against Jackson from the beginning.

He quoted Robel as saying: ``One thing I want to emphasize is you guys are doing the right thing here. ... I don't care how much money they have. He's the one who's done wrong. ... We're going to try to bring him to justice.''

Sanger asked: ``That's not the statement of someone with an open mind who's trying to find the truth, is it?''

Robel said he was taught to make such a statement to alleged victims ``to reassure them.''

Robel's testimony came after the singer's accuser wrapped up his testimony by saying he told a school administrator that Jackson had not molested him because he wanted to avoid teasing from classmates.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. revealed Monday in the cross-examination of the boy, now 15, that he had once denied being molested in a talk with Jeffrey Alpert, a dean at John Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles.

The boy testified Tuesday that he got in fights with other students when he returned from Jackson's Neverland Ranch in March 2003 because they would mock him. ``All the kids would laugh at me and try to push me around and say, 'That's the kid that got raped by Michael Jackson,''' said the boy.

He said fighting got him summoned to the office of a school dean, and that was when ``I told him that it didn't happen.''

The conversation was prompted by the Feb. 6, 2003, TV documentary that showed Jackson with the boy and in which Jackson acknowledged sharing his bed with children, although he characterized it as innocent and non-sexual.

Mesereau concluded his questioning of the boy Tuesday by asking if he realized he could profit by filing a lawsuit against Jackson before he turns 18. The boy said he did not know that.

Prosecutors claim Jackson conspired to hold the boy, his mother, sister and brother captive to get them to record a video rebutting the TV documentary. The family heaped praise on Jackson in the rebuttal video.

Sneddon's redirect questioning was relatively brief. He had the boy talk again about his bout with cancer, how he had become close to God and what he thinks of Jackson now. ``I don't really like him anymore,'' the boy said. ``I don't really think he's deserving of the respect I was giving him as the coolest guy in the world.''

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

03/16/05 12:53

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...50316C ADD101

heartlvrs · 03-16-2005, 07:42 PM

truly interesting to me.."lies admitted" i think more like some pressure to say that!

Jolie Rouge · 03-18-2005, 12:30 AM

Neverland housekeeper: Kids drank, slept with Jackson
Woman called atmosphere 'Pinocchio's Pleasure Island'
Thursday, March 17, 2005

SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's former housekeeper described Neverland Ranch on Thursday as a place where children "became wild" during long stays without their parents, drank alcohol in Jackson's presence and often slept with the pop star, instead of in their assigned guest rooms.

But under cross-examination, the woman testified that she never saw Jackson serve alcohol to minors. Additionally, she said she believed the accuser and his brother were staying in guest rooms -- not Jackson's room -- during the time the boy says he was molested.

Testifying in Jackson's child molestation trial, Kiki Fournier said Jackson would focus his attention on particular children -- all of whom were boys between 10 and 15. She said the string of boys included movie star Macaulay Culkin; the accuser in the current case and his younger brother; a boy whose family reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Jackson in 1993 after alleging molestation; and Frank Tyson, a Jackson associate now in his early 20s, who has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the current case.

The indictment against Jackson alleges that he paid Tyson $1 million on March 31, 2003 -- about two weeks after the accuser and his family left Neverland for the final time.

Fournier worked at the Jackson home for about 12 years before leaving in September 2003. Also Thursday, one of the investigators who searched Neverland, Sgt. Konn Able of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department, testified that he found books with nude and semi-nude photos of adolescents in the restroom of Jackson's office, and the office also contained surveillance equipment that could be used to monitor phone calls.

However, under defense cross-examination, he said he could not say for sure whether it had ever been used and did not know if the equipment could be bought legally. He also conceded it could have been used as part of the security system at the ranch.

The prosecution alleged in its indictment of Jackson that the singer monitored the phone calls of his accuser's mother as part of a conspiracy to intimidate and control the family.

Court recessed Thursday afternoon, with testimony to resume Monday.

However, prosecutors and defense lawyers will be in court Friday arguing over several motions, including an effort by prosecutors to subpoena Jackson's financial records.

b]Kids 'became wild'[/b]

Fournier said she coined the phrase "Pinocchio's Pleasure Island" to refer to the atmosphere at Neverland, where she said children stayed for weeks at a time without their parents and were given "free rein." "With the absence of authority figures, these children became wild," Fournier said. Jackson's child guests were allowed to watch movies, eat as much candy as they liked and stay up as late as they wanted.

However, Fournier said she did sometimes see Jackson discipline the children when they got "too rowdy."

Fournier also said that on three or four occasions, she saw children she believed were intoxicated in Jackson's presence. She described one of those incidents, shortly before she left the ranch in September 2003, in which Jackson and four or five kids were at the dinner table. At least three of the kids appeared to be intoxicated, she said.

However, she said she never saw Jackson give alcohol to a minor. She also said she doesn't remember seeing Jackson's teenage accuser or his siblings intoxicated at the ranch.

Fournier also said that overnight guests at Neverland were given assigned guest rooms, but "a lot of the time, they'd stay with Mr. Jackson."

Defense raises possible contradiction

However, during cross-examination by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr., Fournier appeared to contradict testimony by Jackson's accuser that he slept with Jackson in his bedroom every night the pop star was at Neverland in February and March 2003, when he says the molestation occurred.

Fournier said that during that period, the guest room that the accuser and his younger brother were sharing was "just torn apart," with garbage and food strewn about, drinks spilled and glasses broken.

She also said that the accuser's younger brother -- who testified earlier in the trial that he witnessed Jackson molesting his brother -- became "ornery" and demanding while staying at the ranch. She said he once pulled a knife on her when they were both in the kitchen and the boy was trying to cook.

Mesereau also asked Fournier whether, given that Neverland was designed to be a fantasy land for children, it would be surprising that "they would go a little wild."

"No, that would not be unusual," she said.

Jackson 'detail-oriented,' maid testifies

Fournier indicated that she was a very reluctant witness against her former employer. "I don't want to have anything to do with this," Fournier said.

Fournier also described Jackson as a "very detail-oriented" person who usually communicated with her through the ranch's manager. She said Tyson was Jackson's employee and the two of them were also "close friends." She said Tyson would sometimes stay at the ranch for a month at a time, though there would also be absences of six months between stays.

Under cross-examination by Mesereau, Fournier admitted that what she knew about Tyson's business relationship with Jackson came from Tyson. When Mesereau suggested that Tyson might have been exaggerating the extent of his relationship with Jackson to promote himself, she agreed he was egotistical.

In their indictment against Tyson, prosecutors allege he was part of a conspiracy by Jackson to intimidate the accuser's family into silence. In trial testimony, the accuser and his brother said Tyson showed them sexually explicit images over the Internet, at Jackson's suggestion.

Weatherman's testimony

Also taking the stand Thursday was Fritz Coleman, a weatherman at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles who moonlights as a comedian. He testified that he met the accuser and his family when the boy, his brother and his sister came to a comedy camp for disadvantaged children in 1999 at the Laugh Factory, a Los Angeles comedy club.

That Christmas, he said, he and another comedian, Louise Palanker, delivered presents to the family at their "very small" apartment in a low-income area of eastern Los Angeles.

In 2000, after Jackson's accuser became ill with cancer, Coleman said, he visited him in the hospital. On the last visit, the boy was "beaming" because he had gotten a "huge box" of gifts from Jackson, Coleman said.

Coleman said he had met the boy's mother only three times, and she never tried to solicit money from him. He said there had been conversations around the Laugh Factory about the boy's father soliciting money from celebrities, but the father had never asked him directly for money.

Jackson, 46, was indicted in April by a state grand jury on 10 felony counts in connection with incidents alleged to have occurred in February and March 2003. The charges 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.

Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

CNN's Dree De Clamecy contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/17/ja...ial/index.html

Jolie Rouge · 03-19-2005, 11:19 PM

Jackson Accuser's Poor Performance
March 14, 2005

If prosecutors were hoping that Michael Jackson's accuser would come to the witness stand Monday and cement into place their case, they surely are disappointed, and perhaps even mortified, by the young man's courtroom demeanor and testimony. The alleged molestation victim did not talk or act like one in court. And on Monday, during the heart of the prosecution's case, no part of his story was immune from serious and substantial questions about its accuracy or reliability.

At times sullen and combative, cheeky and evasive, acting more like a punk than a crime victim, and often mumbling so badly that the court reporter had to ask him to repeat his answers, the young man did little to persuade jurors that he is telling the truth and Jackson is lying about their alleged encounters together. And it wasn't because Jackson's attorney, Thomas Mesereau, went after the complaining witness like the pit bull attorney we all know he can be. Indeed, part of the reason why Monday was such a devastating day for prosecutors is because the accuser so often during the course of the cross-examination did himself in through word and deed. Calling the young man "Mister," Mesereau was subtle and soft because he didn't have to be blunt and firm. The witness was doing his dirty work for him.

By far the most important revelation from the day's testimony is that the young man apparently told a former middle school dean of his that Jackson had not molested him. "I told him that Michael didn't do anything to me," the young man told jurors after Mesereau asked him what he had told the dean. And what had the dean said to the young man to elicit that response?

Mesereau said the school official asked the young man: "Look at me, look at me. I can't help you unless you tell me the truth." Powerful stuff for the defense, especially since it appears that prosecutors were unaware of the dean's purported testimony until this past weekend.

If the dean does testify, and if he says what Mesereau says he will, that testimony alone could easily create the reasonable doubt Jackson needs to be acquitted of the charges against him. What possible incentive would the dean have to lie? Why would he want to help Jackson? Why would he want to sink the prosecution's case? And even if the young man eventually says on re-direct examination that he didn't want to level with his dean because he was embarrassed, the fact is that then he's lied to a person of authority when asked him to tell the truth about molestation -- which is exactly what this trial is all about.

If this were the only problem prosecutors faced with their most important witness, it might be enough to sink the case. But it is not. On point after point, the alleged victim came across as incredible, at worst, and just plain confused at best. During the afternoon, he even seemed to suggest that he was unclear about when the molestation took place; whether it took place before or after the family made a "rebuttal" video designed to respond to the infamous network video of Jackson at Neverland; the one in which he admitted to the world that he enjoyed sleeping in the same bed with boys not related to him. This, too, is the essence of reasonable doubt.

The timing of the alleged molestation is so important to the case that the defense Monday afternoon trotted out for a third time the rebuttal videotape. If the alleged molestation took place before this rebuttal video was made, its floridly pro-Jackson tone makes even less sense than it did last week, when jurors were told that the alleged molestation took place after the rebuttal video. But no matter when jurors are told the molestation occurred, the rebuttal video is powerful evidence for Jackson and his lawyer made great use of it with the accuser in the courtroom. Over and over again, Mesereau stopped the videotape to ask the young man if he and his family were lying or telling the truth in it. Sometimes the answer was yes; sometimes it was no.

Long hours before the rebuttal video graced the courtroom again came the first question of the day. Before jurors even got settled in their seats, Mesereau was talking about the young man's comments about masturbation. Mesereau asked the accuser why he had ascribed the same words about masturbation to both Jackson and his grandmother. In other words, the alleged victim apparently told some people that Jackson had told him that masturbation was necessary because it prevented rape while telling others that his grandmother had said that. The young man tried to explain away the inconsistency but it wasn't persuasive. And from that icky start it went downhill quickly. It got so bad, in fact, that the young man's answers to questions about his cancer made it seem like he often used the disease as a sword, not a shield, and had unrealistic and sometimes even offensive expectations about what Jackson and the rest of the world owed him.

Then there were moments where the young man's testimony simply defied belief. For example, the young man told jurors that his mother was "scared the whole time" he spent at Neverland toward the end of his relationship with Jackson. Fair enough. But he also told the jury that he never told her that he was sleeping in Jackson's bed during that whole time. How can that be? How could a mother scared about her son's relationship with Jackson either not ask where they were sleeping or not do anything about it? Mesereau repeated that line of questions several times in order to ensure that the jury understood the lack of logic. It's not an issue that breaks the case wide open against Jackson but it surely doesn't help prosecutors, either.

Jackson's attorney also focused during the day on portraying the young man as a poor student with a long history of discipline problems; a mercenary punk who was renown for talking back to his teachers and defying authority. The alleged victim told jurors that he lost respect for one of his teachers because that teacher had brought himself "down to my level." One teacher wrote about the alleged victim's "good acting skills" and the young man himself told the jury that he "wasn't that good of a kid then." Now, as the parent of most young teenagers might tell you, some of this behavior is typical. But Mesereau listed at least nine teachers who all complained in one way or another about the young man. This jury has a few teachers on it and you can bet that this testimony in particular resonates with them.

But Mesereau wasn't trying to get jurors to "tut-tut" the witness for his bad school behavior. He was trying to get them to buy into the notion that the accuser in this case is capable of deceit, of defiance in the face of authority, of not suffering fools gladly even at a tender age. In a case where the young man ought to be appear wholly as a victim, Jackson's attorney Monday may him seek more like a punk, like a tough street kid who would be more likely to torment Jackson than vice versa. None of this means that the alleged molestation didn't take place, of course, but in a case about perceptions, about who was more likely to be victimizing who, it's a big deal. Simply put, it is harder tonight for me to believe that the young man would have allowed Jackson to molest him.

03-08-2005, 04:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jolie Rouge C & P Queen Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Missin' Mesue ... Posts: 33,955 iTrader: (2) Thanks: 737 Thanked 1,401 Times in 761 Posts	Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies *Accuser’s brother admits lying* Boy admitted false testimony during JC Penney lawsuit The Associated Press March 8, 2005 SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A boy who testified that Michael Jackson molested his brother acknowledged under cross-examination Tuesday that the pop star didn't show him a sex magazine that the prosecution introduced into evidence. The witness also said he lied under oath in a separate civil lawsuit. Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. showed the 14-year-old witness the copy of Barely Legal magazine dated August 2003. The boy, who left Jackson's Neverland ranch for the last time in March 2003, testified for the prosecution on Monday that the magazine was one of those that Jackson had shown to him and his brother. Confronted with the dates, the boy said, "I never said it was exactly that one. That's not exactly the one he showed us." On Monday, District Attorney Tom Sneddon projected the cover of the magazine onto a courtroom screen for the jury to see. The boy said he had looked at the magazine with Sneddon before it was presented as evidence. Under questioning by Mesereau, the boy also said he lied under oath in another case when he swore that his mother and father never fought and that his father never hit him. "When you were asked if your dad ever hit you, you said 'never,'" said Mesereau. "Were you telling the truth?" "No," said the boy, who is the only trial witness so far to testify that molestation occurred. "Did someone tell you to lie in the J.C. Penney case?" the lawyer asked, referring to a civil lawsuit brought by the boy's mother against the department store company over an encounter with security guards. "I don't remember," the boy said. ‘I don't remember nothing’ When Mesereau asked him to tell the jury why he lied under oath, the boy said, "I don't remember. It was five years ago. I don't remember nothing." Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the family captive to get them to rebut a damaging documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bedroom. Mesereau focused much of his questioning on the lawsuit in which the mother claimed that she was sexually assaulted and the family was beaten by guards after the accuser in the Jackson case left a store with items that had not been paid for. The defense contends the suit shows the family has a history of filing false claims to get money. The allegations that the father abused the family surfaced later during the parents' divorce. The 14-year-old boy became a crucial prosecution witness Monday when he testified to actually seeing molestation by walking in on Jackson as he engaged in acts with his sleeping brother in Jackson's bedroom. Mesereau asked the boy to tell jurors about an alarm system in Jackson's house which alerts the singer when anyone is in the hall outside his bedroom. The boy acknowledged there was an electronic bell and that anytime he was in that hallway the bell went off. "So the two times you claim you saw Michael Jackson touching your brother in bed, that alarm went off?" asked Mesereau. "Yes," said the boy. No mention of alarm system When the boy testified about the alleged molestation on Monday he did not mention any bell or alarm system and said that his brother slept through both incidents, snoring at one point. Mesereau also said that the witness had in the past given a different description of the alleged molestation, including that he once said Jackson touched his brother's bottom during the incidents. "I never said he touched his butt," the witness aid. The boy responded to numerous questions about inconsistencies by saying, "I don't know exactly what I said." Mesereau asked the boy about his testimony that Jackson encouraged him and his brother to use curse words, and the boy said he had never used them before meeting Jackson. Mesereau then asked him about his J.C. Penney lawsuit deposition in which he described two profane words allegedly used by security guards. The boy said he spelled out the words while giving the deposition. The cross-examination began after the prosecution concluded its direct questioning Tuesday by eliciting testimony that Jackson had once issued a warning to the witness and his brother. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7129260 -------------------- Is is just me - or does the woman in this begining to sound like the infamous "Manda" ?? __________________ Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT!** Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

03-08-2005, 05:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
nanajoanie Registered User Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Wallburg, NC Posts: 17,496 iTrader: (0) Thanks: 603 Thanked 174 Times in 130 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies All I have to say about this case is I feel Michael Jackson is GUILTY! GUILTY! __________________ Toodles, Nanajoanie

03-09-2005, 11:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
Jolie Rouge C & P Queen Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Missin' Mesue ... Posts: 33,955 iTrader: (2) Thanks: 737 Thanked 1,401 Times in 761 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7131611 __________________ Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT!** Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

03-09-2005, 12:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
harloo BigBig #1 Stunna Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Most suniest place on earth!! Posts: 1,314 iTrader: (9) Thanks: 1 Thanked 6 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies It's a shame that these kids are being coached by their parents. The mother should be sent to the slammer for what she is doing to those kids. Even if Michael is proven innoncent of these charges, he needs to be sent to jail so he can realize what he did was wrong. You don't have children sleeping in the bed with you, especially if they are not yours. He needs counseling. __________________ We all must live to love ourselves, without love their is no life. My trader feedback: http://forums.bigbigsavings.com/show...&pagn umber=1

03-09-2005, 12:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
Njean31 nancy jean Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: spring lake, nc Posts: 3,133 iTrader: (4) Thanks: 69 Thanked 198 Times in 115 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies he's guilty alright and so is his mother for handing her son over to a known pedophile and letting him get molested so she could sue they all need to go prison and the boy given some of perv's money to be cashed out at age 25.

03-14-2005, 03:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
Jolie Rouge C & P Queen Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Missin' Mesue ... Posts: 33,955 iTrader: (2) Thanks: 737 Thanked 1,401 Times in 761 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies 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 http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...p_news_jackson 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 http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...51.htm&sc=1403 __________________ Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT!** Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

03-15-2005, 11:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
Jolie Rouge C & P Queen Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Missin' Mesue ... Posts: 33,955 iTrader: (2) Thanks: 737 Thanked 1,401 Times in 761 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies Michael Jackson pleads for 'fairness' Armstrong Williams "...Please, please be fair," Michael Jackson pleaded during a telephone conversation I had with the pop star months ago. Journalist Martin Bashir had just released a documentary containing damaging footage of Michael Jackson sharing his bed with child visitors. He wanted me to tell his side of the story. Instead, I wrote about how regardless of whether he fondled the children or not, he still shared a bed with them, and that was unforgivable. As was the conduct of these kids parents, who were so star-craved that they funneled their own children into a stranger's bed. Now Jackson is in the midst of a child molestation trial. Inside the courtroom, Jackson's accusers share salacious details about his sleepovers. Outside the courtroom, throngs of fans chant Michael's name in enduring admiration. One of Jackson's representatives again called my office, pleading for me to treat him fairly in my column. Sure, I'll try. But Jackson doesn't make it easy. Last week, he showed up to court more than an hour late wearing pajamas. The judge had threatened to arrest him, before Jackson finally limped into the courtroom looking dazed and weakened. It's probably an act, a way to garner public sympathy by giving the appearance of being persecuted. At the same time, he is laying the foundation to plead incapacity. My bet is that his lawyers file a motion next week claiming that Jackson is severely ill, and taking so much medication that he is having difficulty understanding the proceedings or meaningfully communicating with his attorneys. That would buy him time and allow him either to influence the jury pool by playing the part of the victim, or avoid the trial altogether by feigning incapacity indefinitely. One wonders if it's even worth the effort though. It is hard to imagine a jury sentencing Jackson to jail. Never underestimate the gratification he brings them by putting them so close to center stage. Then there is the sympathy factor. Who wants to send a frail withered Michael Jackson to his final demise? We all know what criminals do to alleged child molesters in jail. Michael would probably hang himself before stepping into a cell. Meanwhile, the public cocks an eager ear toward the television as Jackson's accusersshare lurid stories about sharing wine, pornography and a bed with the pop star. We read stories about how Jackson's empire is teerterting on eocnomic collapse. We stare with bizarre fascination at Jackson's oddly distorted face—that portrait of self hatred writ in flesh. And then E! television packages it all up into daily reenactments, beamed out for the edification of the star craved. I guess it's the kind of story we feel we deserve. The public loves to put our heroes up on a hill, then gratify our egos by dragging them down. It's been this way all of Jackson's life. First his father crushed any childhood out of him; then the public refused to even let him walk down the street. He never really had a chance to be a part of society. Somewhere along the line he freed himself. He got away from his father. He regressed away from an overbearing public and into the childhood he never had, sealing himself off from society in an amusement park fantasy world plucked from a child's imagination. It's a tragedy that he should be rewarded for his talent with such smothering scrutiny. Then again, he regularly slept in the same bed with kids. So who knows, maybe he's just fooling us. Maybe the guy who sagged into court in his pajamas, is just setting us up for plea of incapacity. Maybe he is just performing. It seems fair to ask. My prediction: he walks. His accuser's testimony has been riddled with inconsistencies and the jury will be looking for any excuse to let him walk. Still, his life will never be the same. This, not his art, will be the enduring legacy in people's minds. __________________ Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT!** Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

03-16-2005, 05:50 PM	#8 (permalink)
Jolie Rouge C & P Queen Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Missin' Mesue ... Posts: 33,955 iTrader: (2) Thanks: 737 Thanked 1,401 Times in 761 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies By TIM MOLLOY SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - The lead investigator in the Michael Jackson child molestation case testified Wednesday that the accuser told him he was molested five to seven times but could describe only two of the incidents in detail. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon asked sheriff's Sgt. Steve Robel about the numbers in order to account for differences that have emerged during testimony in Jackson's trial. Robel testified Tuesday that the boy twice told investigators he was molested five times. The boy himself testified earlier to only two molestations but said he believed there may have been more. Robel said Wednesday that the boy told him ``it happened between five and seven times but he could not articulate exactly'' what happened every time. Since the first interviews of the boy in July 2003, Robel said, he has been able to provide detailed accounts of two incidents. In testimony Tuesday, Robel said he urged the accuser and his family to go forward with his claims against the singer by promising them, ``We're going to try our best to make this case work.'' Defense attorney Robert Sanger confronted Robel with those and other statements from recorded interviews, suggesting that they indicated investigators were biased against Jackson from the beginning. He quoted Robel as saying: ``One thing I want to emphasize is you guys are doing the right thing here. ... I don't care how much money they have. He's the one who's done wrong. ... We're going to try to bring him to justice.'' Sanger asked: ``That's not the statement of someone with an open mind who's trying to find the truth, is it?'' Robel said he was taught to make such a statement to alleged victims ``to reassure them.'' Robel's testimony came after the singer's accuser wrapped up his testimony by saying he told a school administrator that Jackson had not molested him because he wanted to avoid teasing from classmates. Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. revealed Monday in the cross-examination of the boy, now 15, that he had once denied being molested in a talk with Jeffrey Alpert, a dean at John Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles. The boy testified Tuesday that he got in fights with other students when he returned from Jackson's Neverland Ranch in March 2003 because they would mock him. ``All the kids would laugh at me and try to push me around and say, 'That's the kid that got raped by Michael Jackson,''' said the boy. He said fighting got him summoned to the office of a school dean, and that was when ``I told him that it didn't happen.'' The conversation was prompted by the Feb. 6, 2003, TV documentary that showed Jackson with the boy and in which Jackson acknowledged sharing his bed with children, although he characterized it as innocent and non-sexual. Mesereau concluded his questioning of the boy Tuesday by asking if he realized he could profit by filing a lawsuit against Jackson before he turns 18. The boy said he did not know that. Prosecutors claim Jackson conspired to hold the boy, his mother, sister and brother captive to get them to record a video rebutting the TV documentary. The family heaped praise on Jackson in the rebuttal video. Sneddon's redirect questioning was relatively brief. He had the boy talk again about his bout with cancer, how he had become close to God and what he thinks of Jackson now. ``I don't really like him anymore,'' the boy said. ``I don't really think he's deserving of the respect I was giving him as the coolest guy in the world.'' AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report. 03/16/05 12:53 http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...50316C ADD101 __________________ Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT!** Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

03-16-2005, 07:42 PM	#9 (permalink)
heartlvrs BigBigHelpingHeart Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: GREATEST COUNTRY - USA! Posts: 9,112 iTrader: (18) Thanks: 93 Thanked 59 Times in 28 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies truly interesting to me.."lies admitted" i think more like some pressure to say that! __________________ R.I.P. JACKIE Miss you already R.I.P. Dawn Golby Miss you

03-18-2005, 12:30 AM	#10 (permalink)
Jolie Rouge C & P Queen Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Missin' Mesue ... Posts: 33,955 iTrader: (2) Thanks: 737 Thanked 1,401 Times in 761 Posts	Re: Jackson Trial : Defense gets accuser's brother to admit lies Neverland housekeeper: Kids drank, slept with Jackson Woman called atmosphere 'Pinocchio's Pleasure Island' Thursday, March 17, 2005 SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's former housekeeper described Neverland Ranch on Thursday as a place where children "became wild" during long stays without their parents, drank alcohol in Jackson's presence and often slept with the pop star, instead of in their assigned guest rooms. But under cross-examination, the woman testified that she never saw Jackson serve alcohol to minors. Additionally, she said she believed the accuser and his brother were staying in guest rooms -- not Jackson's room -- during the time the boy says he was molested. Testifying in Jackson's child molestation trial, Kiki Fournier said Jackson would focus his attention on particular children -- all of whom were boys between 10 and 15. She said the string of boys included movie star Macaulay Culkin; the accuser in the current case and his younger brother; a boy whose family reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Jackson in 1993 after alleging molestation; and Frank Tyson, a Jackson associate now in his early 20s, who has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the current case. The indictment against Jackson alleges that he paid Tyson $1 million on March 31, 2003 -- about two weeks after the accuser and his family left Neverland for the final time. Fournier worked at the Jackson home for about 12 years before leaving in September 2003. Also Thursday, one of the investigators who searched Neverland, Sgt. Konn Able of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department, testified that he found books with nude and semi-nude photos of adolescents in the restroom of Jackson's office, and the office also contained surveillance equipment that could be used to monitor phone calls. However, under defense cross-examination, he said he could not say for sure whether it had ever been used and did not know if the equipment could be bought legally. He also conceded it could have been used as part of the security system at the ranch. The prosecution alleged in its indictment of Jackson that the singer monitored the phone calls of his accuser's mother as part of a conspiracy to intimidate and control the family. Court recessed Thursday afternoon, with testimony to resume Monday. However, prosecutors and defense lawyers will be in court Friday arguing over several motions, including an effort by prosecutors to subpoena Jackson's financial records. b]Kids 'became wild'[/b] Fournier said she coined the phrase "Pinocchio's Pleasure Island" to refer to the atmosphere at Neverland, where she said children stayed for weeks at a time without their parents and were given "free rein." "With the absence of authority figures, these children became wild," Fournier said. Jackson's child guests were allowed to watch movies, eat as much candy as they liked and stay up as late as they wanted. However, Fournier said she did sometimes see Jackson discipline the children when they got "too rowdy." Fournier also said that on three or four occasions, she saw children she believed were intoxicated in Jackson's presence. She described one of those incidents, shortly before she left the ranch in September 2003, in which Jackson and four or five kids were at the dinner table. At least three of the kids appeared to be intoxicated, she said. However, she said she never saw Jackson give alcohol to a minor. She also said she doesn't remember seeing Jackson's teenage accuser or his siblings intoxicated at the ranch. Fournier also said that overnight guests at Neverland were given assigned guest rooms, but "a lot of the time, they'd stay with Mr. Jackson." Defense raises possible contradiction However, during cross-examination by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr., Fournier appeared to contradict testimony by Jackson's accuser that he slept with Jackson in his bedroom every night the pop star was at Neverland in February and March 2003, when he says the molestation occurred. Fournier said that during that period, the guest room that the accuser and his younger brother were sharing was "just torn apart," with garbage and food strewn about, drinks spilled and glasses broken. She also said that the accuser's younger brother -- who testified earlier in the trial that he witnessed Jackson molesting his brother -- became "ornery" and demanding while staying at the ranch. She said he once pulled a knife on her when they were both in the kitchen and the boy was trying to cook. Mesereau also asked Fournier whether, given that Neverland was designed to be a fantasy land for children, it would be surprising that "they would go a little wild." "No, that would not be unusual," she said. Jackson 'detail-oriented,' maid testifies Fournier indicated that she was a very reluctant witness against her former employer. "I don't want to have anything to do with this," Fournier said. Fournier also described Jackson as a "very detail-oriented" person who usually communicated with her through the ranch's manager. She said Tyson was Jackson's employee and the two of them were also "close friends." She said Tyson would sometimes stay at the ranch for a month at a time, though there would also be absences of six months between stays. Under cross-examination by Mesereau, Fournier admitted that what she knew about Tyson's business relationship with Jackson came from Tyson. When Mesereau suggested that Tyson might have been exaggerating the extent of his relationship with Jackson to promote himself, she agreed he was egotistical. In their indictment against Tyson, prosecutors allege he was part of a conspiracy by Jackson to intimidate the accuser's family into silence. In trial testimony, the accuser and his brother said Tyson showed them sexually explicit images over the Internet, at Jackson's suggestion. Weatherman's testimony Also taking the stand Thursday was Fritz Coleman, a weatherman at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles who moonlights as a comedian. He testified that he met the accuser and his family when the boy, his brother and his sister came to a comedy camp for disadvantaged children in 1999 at the Laugh Factory, a Los Angeles comedy club. That Christmas, he said, he and another comedian, Louise Palanker, delivered presents to the family at their "very small" apartment in a low-income area of eastern Los Angeles. In 2000, after Jackson's accuser became ill with cancer, Coleman said, he visited him in the hospital. On the last visit, the boy was "beaming" because he had gotten a "huge box" of gifts from Jackson, Coleman said. Coleman said he had met the boy's mother only three times, and she never tried to solicit money from him. He said there had been conversations around the Laugh Factory about the boy's father soliciting money from celebrities, but the father had never asked him directly for money. Jackson, 46, was indicted in April by a state grand jury on 10 felony counts in connection with incidents alleged to have occurred in February and March 2003. The charges 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. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges. CNN's Dree De Clamecy contributed to this report. http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/17/ja...ial/index.html __________________ Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT!** Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?