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Perdón no se si dirá algo nuevo, pero como estaba en MJJSource pensé que podia ser útil
Si alguien puede traducir, muchisimas gracias...
Day 62: Prosecution & Defense Rests, Video: Prosecution Questions Accuser, Promises a Criminal Case
Created: Saturday, 28 May 2005
Friday, May 27, 3005
On day 62 Judge Rodney Melville told the panel, "Both sides have rested," after Mr. Jackson's lawyers opted not to recall any witnesses.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon announced that no more prosecution evidence would be presented after he showed jurors a video of a July 2003 police interview with the boy who accuses the entertainer of molesting him.
Mr. Jackson and his defense team quickly huddled.
Then, lead lawyer Thomas Mesereau announced, "The defense rests, your honor," appearing to surprise even the prosecutors.
Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville told jurors: "You have heard all of the evidence you are going to hear in this case."
The announcement ended 13 weeks of testimony in the high-profile case in which 140 witnesses took the stand. The case may go to the jurors next week after Judge Melville issues instructions on the law and both sides make closing arguments.
The final witness in Michael Jackson’s trial was the accuser himself, shown on a videotape telling detectives for the first time of his allegations that Mr. Jackson molested him.
When the lights came up afterward, the prosecution rested its rebuttal case and the defense attorney surprisingly did the same, marking a dramatic close of testimony. Closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday.
The video was taken when the authorities approached the boy following the airing of the Bashir documentary, to question him about possible allegations nearly two years ago. Prior to being questioned by the Santa Barbara authorities, the accuser had not previously accused Mr. Jackson of anything. Prosecutors played the tape for jurors Friday leaving this as one of the last images the jurors see before they deliberate.
The tape offered little additional information that the boy hadn't already testified to, although sometimes it blatantly conflicted with his testimony on the stand, for example, the number of times he alleges being molested changed drastically.
Mr. Jackson had no comment as he left.
The decision to not present a defense rebuttal means closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday. Judge Rodney S. Melville told jurors they could take the day off Tuesday when attorneys discuss jury instructions.
The defense sought to portray the young accuser and his mother as gold-digging schemers who made up the allegations.
Prosecutors played the taped interview with the accuser after Melville instructed jurors "only to observe the demeanor, manner and attitude of the witness" and said that the boy's "statements are not to be considered for the truth of the matter stated."
The interview was conducted in the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department's Sexual Abuse Assault Response Team cottage in Santa Barbara on July 6, 2003.
Investigators made small-talk as they tried to build rapport before pressing him to be forthcoming.
"You are not in danger by being here with us," Sgt. Steve Robel told him. "... We are going to try our best to make a case, a criminal case, but we need your cooperation."
The detectives questioned him about his ideas of right and wrong, and the boy said things that were wrong were staying up too late, fighting, breaking things and killing someone.
Throughout the interview, Sgt. Robel told the boy: "I know you're doing a good job. I know you want to tell us what's going on."
Often mumbling and averting eye contact, the boy told investigators that he was hospitalized with cancer when he first met Mr. Jackson. The boy said he later appeared in a documentary with the entertainer. In that documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson," the boy is seen holding hands with Mr. Jackson as he states he innocently shares his bed with children.
When asked if he knew why he was being interviewed, the boy said, "Because of that TV show and all of this stuff going on."
The boy, then 13, said he and his family were flown to Miami to meet the entertainer and to attend a news conference about the documentary. The news conference was never held.
From Miami, he and his family returned to Neverland Valley Ranch, where he alleges Mr. Jackson gave him wine and molested him.
Showing no emotion, the boy said: "On the last day I was staying at Neverland . . . we both drank a lot . . . and then he started telling me about how boys need to masturbate because if you don't, you go crazy. . .” (This is also the exact statement the accuser testified under oath that his grandmother had said to him previously.)
The boy said Mr. Jackson molested him "about five times or less." Under oath, the accuser changed this number to ‘two.’
Robel said at one point, "I don't care who Michael Jackson is. Michael Jackson has done wrong to you and your mother and his friends."
At the end, Robel assured the boy he was doing the right thing.
"I'm very proud of you," he said at the end. "What he has done to you. He's the bad person, not you. You and your mother and brother and sister are the good people."
The accuser also told the detective he didn't know what an erection or ejaculation was until Mr. Jackson told him.
On cross-examination, defense co-counsel Robert Sanger questioned why Sgt. Robel wasn't more skeptical in his interview of the boy.
Mr. Sanger asked: "You didn't challenge him, asking, 'What do you mean? You're 13 and you're telling me you don't know what an erection is?' "
"No, I did not," Sgt. Robel said.
When Mr. Sanger asked whether he assumed the boy was a victim, the sergeant answered, "Yes."
As of late Thursday, it was expected that the defense would cross-examine the accuser and his mother. They were at the Santa Maria courthouse, waiting to testify.
But Judge Melville ruled Friday morning that the defense would be allowed to question the witnesses only about the demeanor of the boy during the police interview and could not use it as impeachment.
The defense team apparently decided that the limited cross-examination wouldn't have been worthwhile.
The defense lawyers have insisted that the boy's mother concocted the allegations after a failed attempt to get money from Mr. Jackson and that she coached her son to follow along.
The defense wrapped up its case on Wednesday after calling 50 witnesses in three weeks, concluding with the testimony of actor Chris Tucker. He testified that he was so alarmed by the erratic and greedy behavior of the family that he warned Mr. Jackson about them in February 2003.
Four months later, the boy claimed Mr. Jackson molested him at Neverland in early March 2003.
It was the testimony earlier this week of a paralegal that prompted the prosecution to play the video of the police interview.
Mary Holzer, who worked for the attorney who represented the family in a civil lawsuit, said the mother told her she made up the allegations in that suit. The mother claimed security guards from J.C. Penney Corp. had beaten her and then months later added an allegation that she was sexually molested. The J.C. Penney case was settled in the family's favor for $152,000.
In their rebuttal case, which lasted three days, prosecutors put 13 witnesses on the stand to combat defense claims that the mother and her children are grifters. Their main case consisted of 85 witnesses over 10 weeks, including the boy and his family.
Prosecutors also made last-minute decisions Friday morning to not call two former Neverland employees and instead end their rebuttal case with the police video.
Earlier in the four-month trial, the boy admitted he had initially denied ever being molested, and his mother acknowledged she had lied under oath on various occasions.
The boy and his now 14-year-old younger brother are the only two direct witnesses to the alleged abuse.
Closing arguments from each side in the trial of the world's most famous defendant are expected to begin as early as Wednesday and jurors would begin deliberating on Mr. Jackson's fate soon after they wind up.
The prosecution will kick off the final statements, the defense will follow, and prosecutors will then get one final word before jurors get the case.
He has pleaded innocent to the 10 charges that he molested the boy, plied him with alcohol, and conspired to kidnap him and his family to silence them.
Source: MJJsource / AP / AFP / SB News-Press
Si alguien puede traducir, muchisimas gracias...
Day 62: Prosecution & Defense Rests, Video: Prosecution Questions Accuser, Promises a Criminal Case
Created: Saturday, 28 May 2005
Friday, May 27, 3005
On day 62 Judge Rodney Melville told the panel, "Both sides have rested," after Mr. Jackson's lawyers opted not to recall any witnesses.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon announced that no more prosecution evidence would be presented after he showed jurors a video of a July 2003 police interview with the boy who accuses the entertainer of molesting him.
Mr. Jackson and his defense team quickly huddled.
Then, lead lawyer Thomas Mesereau announced, "The defense rests, your honor," appearing to surprise even the prosecutors.
Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville told jurors: "You have heard all of the evidence you are going to hear in this case."
The announcement ended 13 weeks of testimony in the high-profile case in which 140 witnesses took the stand. The case may go to the jurors next week after Judge Melville issues instructions on the law and both sides make closing arguments.
The final witness in Michael Jackson’s trial was the accuser himself, shown on a videotape telling detectives for the first time of his allegations that Mr. Jackson molested him.
When the lights came up afterward, the prosecution rested its rebuttal case and the defense attorney surprisingly did the same, marking a dramatic close of testimony. Closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday.
The video was taken when the authorities approached the boy following the airing of the Bashir documentary, to question him about possible allegations nearly two years ago. Prior to being questioned by the Santa Barbara authorities, the accuser had not previously accused Mr. Jackson of anything. Prosecutors played the tape for jurors Friday leaving this as one of the last images the jurors see before they deliberate.
The tape offered little additional information that the boy hadn't already testified to, although sometimes it blatantly conflicted with his testimony on the stand, for example, the number of times he alleges being molested changed drastically.
Mr. Jackson had no comment as he left.
The decision to not present a defense rebuttal means closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday. Judge Rodney S. Melville told jurors they could take the day off Tuesday when attorneys discuss jury instructions.
The defense sought to portray the young accuser and his mother as gold-digging schemers who made up the allegations.
Prosecutors played the taped interview with the accuser after Melville instructed jurors "only to observe the demeanor, manner and attitude of the witness" and said that the boy's "statements are not to be considered for the truth of the matter stated."
The interview was conducted in the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department's Sexual Abuse Assault Response Team cottage in Santa Barbara on July 6, 2003.
Investigators made small-talk as they tried to build rapport before pressing him to be forthcoming.
"You are not in danger by being here with us," Sgt. Steve Robel told him. "... We are going to try our best to make a case, a criminal case, but we need your cooperation."
The detectives questioned him about his ideas of right and wrong, and the boy said things that were wrong were staying up too late, fighting, breaking things and killing someone.
Throughout the interview, Sgt. Robel told the boy: "I know you're doing a good job. I know you want to tell us what's going on."
Often mumbling and averting eye contact, the boy told investigators that he was hospitalized with cancer when he first met Mr. Jackson. The boy said he later appeared in a documentary with the entertainer. In that documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson," the boy is seen holding hands with Mr. Jackson as he states he innocently shares his bed with children.
When asked if he knew why he was being interviewed, the boy said, "Because of that TV show and all of this stuff going on."
The boy, then 13, said he and his family were flown to Miami to meet the entertainer and to attend a news conference about the documentary. The news conference was never held.
From Miami, he and his family returned to Neverland Valley Ranch, where he alleges Mr. Jackson gave him wine and molested him.
Showing no emotion, the boy said: "On the last day I was staying at Neverland . . . we both drank a lot . . . and then he started telling me about how boys need to masturbate because if you don't, you go crazy. . .” (This is also the exact statement the accuser testified under oath that his grandmother had said to him previously.)
The boy said Mr. Jackson molested him "about five times or less." Under oath, the accuser changed this number to ‘two.’
Robel said at one point, "I don't care who Michael Jackson is. Michael Jackson has done wrong to you and your mother and his friends."
At the end, Robel assured the boy he was doing the right thing.
"I'm very proud of you," he said at the end. "What he has done to you. He's the bad person, not you. You and your mother and brother and sister are the good people."
The accuser also told the detective he didn't know what an erection or ejaculation was until Mr. Jackson told him.
On cross-examination, defense co-counsel Robert Sanger questioned why Sgt. Robel wasn't more skeptical in his interview of the boy.
Mr. Sanger asked: "You didn't challenge him, asking, 'What do you mean? You're 13 and you're telling me you don't know what an erection is?' "
"No, I did not," Sgt. Robel said.
When Mr. Sanger asked whether he assumed the boy was a victim, the sergeant answered, "Yes."
As of late Thursday, it was expected that the defense would cross-examine the accuser and his mother. They were at the Santa Maria courthouse, waiting to testify.
But Judge Melville ruled Friday morning that the defense would be allowed to question the witnesses only about the demeanor of the boy during the police interview and could not use it as impeachment.
The defense team apparently decided that the limited cross-examination wouldn't have been worthwhile.
The defense lawyers have insisted that the boy's mother concocted the allegations after a failed attempt to get money from Mr. Jackson and that she coached her son to follow along.
The defense wrapped up its case on Wednesday after calling 50 witnesses in three weeks, concluding with the testimony of actor Chris Tucker. He testified that he was so alarmed by the erratic and greedy behavior of the family that he warned Mr. Jackson about them in February 2003.
Four months later, the boy claimed Mr. Jackson molested him at Neverland in early March 2003.
It was the testimony earlier this week of a paralegal that prompted the prosecution to play the video of the police interview.
Mary Holzer, who worked for the attorney who represented the family in a civil lawsuit, said the mother told her she made up the allegations in that suit. The mother claimed security guards from J.C. Penney Corp. had beaten her and then months later added an allegation that she was sexually molested. The J.C. Penney case was settled in the family's favor for $152,000.
In their rebuttal case, which lasted three days, prosecutors put 13 witnesses on the stand to combat defense claims that the mother and her children are grifters. Their main case consisted of 85 witnesses over 10 weeks, including the boy and his family.
Prosecutors also made last-minute decisions Friday morning to not call two former Neverland employees and instead end their rebuttal case with the police video.
Earlier in the four-month trial, the boy admitted he had initially denied ever being molested, and his mother acknowledged she had lied under oath on various occasions.
The boy and his now 14-year-old younger brother are the only two direct witnesses to the alleged abuse.
Closing arguments from each side in the trial of the world's most famous defendant are expected to begin as early as Wednesday and jurors would begin deliberating on Mr. Jackson's fate soon after they wind up.
The prosecution will kick off the final statements, the defense will follow, and prosecutors will then get one final word before jurors get the case.
He has pleaded innocent to the 10 charges that he molested the boy, plied him with alcohol, and conspired to kidnap him and his family to silence them.
Source: MJJsource / AP / AFP / SB News-Press
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