Will Jackson Defense Rally the Troops?
Thursday, February 03, 2005
By Roger Friedman
Are Michael Jackson's defense lawyers finally rallying the troops? After our column on Tuesday, it seems that they may indeed be waking up with the house on fire.
I told you then that certain witnesses had never been contacted by the defense and that many witnesses from both sides have managed to evade subpoenas simply by staying out of the state of California.
But the Jackson team must have panicked a little yesterday. I'm told they sent messages out to several errant possible witnesses that they'd like to talk and right away.
Jackson, my sources say, has actually been spending some quality time with his defense team for once. It only took a year, but what the heck? Now is as good a time as any — since the trial will begin in about three weeks.
High profile witnesses are ready, I am told, to help Jackson. As I reported before, "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner and star Chris Tucker are all set to take the stand for the defense. They each had a massive amount of contact with the accuser and his family and have little good to say about them.
Tucker especially should have some fascinating recollections, I am assured, of the family's determination to make powerful, wealthy friends and keep them. It was while Tucker was taking care of the accuser and his family that the mother conned Los Angeles Police Department Metro cops into helping her with Christmas bills. They gave her a tree and gifts, unaware that the family was already being helped by celebrities.
Today, by the way, marks the second anniversary of the airing of the documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" in Britain. Three nights later the show aired in the U.S. and all hell broke loose.
The defense, however, will almost certainly trot out a statement made by the mother to the British press: "At no time has [my son] ever been treated with anything other than love, respect and the deepest kindness by Michael. Michael has been so important in [my son] being able to recover from cancer. His constant support, both practical and emotional, helped give my beautiful little boy the strength to fight his cancer."
Not only will the defense hammer home that statement, but they will likely turn the jury's attention to the mother's new husband, then her boyfriend. I told you one year ago today that Major Jay Jackson (no relation to Michael), met the mother and her kids through a youth program in Los Angeles run by the U.S. Navy called Sea Cadets.
At first, apparently, the pair were not involved romantically. The mother was actually cleaning Jackson's apartment in exchange for him letting her use his address to put her kids in a good public school. Gradually, the relationship became more serious. The mother urged her children to call Jay Jackson "Daddy," just as she had had them call Michael Jackson. The three children had a father who was not absent from the scene.
Jay Jackson may also be called to testify about what the mother's ex-husband refers to in his own court affidavit as the mother's "erratic behavior."
I told you last year that the boy's mother spent time in a Los Angeles mental hospital in 1998. The ex-husband will undoubtedly testify about that as well.
Jay Jackson becomes a more and more interesting character in this case as time goes by. He decamped from the tiny mid-Wilshire apartment the entire family was sharing immediately after the police raided Neverland on Nov. 17, 2003. His apartment was rented to new tenants one month later, according to records I saw. He left no forwarding address.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146237,00.html
Thursday, February 03, 2005
By Roger Friedman
Are Michael Jackson's defense lawyers finally rallying the troops? After our column on Tuesday, it seems that they may indeed be waking up with the house on fire.
I told you then that certain witnesses had never been contacted by the defense and that many witnesses from both sides have managed to evade subpoenas simply by staying out of the state of California.
But the Jackson team must have panicked a little yesterday. I'm told they sent messages out to several errant possible witnesses that they'd like to talk and right away.
Jackson, my sources say, has actually been spending some quality time with his defense team for once. It only took a year, but what the heck? Now is as good a time as any — since the trial will begin in about three weeks.
High profile witnesses are ready, I am told, to help Jackson. As I reported before, "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner and star Chris Tucker are all set to take the stand for the defense. They each had a massive amount of contact with the accuser and his family and have little good to say about them.
Tucker especially should have some fascinating recollections, I am assured, of the family's determination to make powerful, wealthy friends and keep them. It was while Tucker was taking care of the accuser and his family that the mother conned Los Angeles Police Department Metro cops into helping her with Christmas bills. They gave her a tree and gifts, unaware that the family was already being helped by celebrities.
Today, by the way, marks the second anniversary of the airing of the documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" in Britain. Three nights later the show aired in the U.S. and all hell broke loose.
The defense, however, will almost certainly trot out a statement made by the mother to the British press: "At no time has [my son] ever been treated with anything other than love, respect and the deepest kindness by Michael. Michael has been so important in [my son] being able to recover from cancer. His constant support, both practical and emotional, helped give my beautiful little boy the strength to fight his cancer."
Not only will the defense hammer home that statement, but they will likely turn the jury's attention to the mother's new husband, then her boyfriend. I told you one year ago today that Major Jay Jackson (no relation to Michael), met the mother and her kids through a youth program in Los Angeles run by the U.S. Navy called Sea Cadets.
At first, apparently, the pair were not involved romantically. The mother was actually cleaning Jackson's apartment in exchange for him letting her use his address to put her kids in a good public school. Gradually, the relationship became more serious. The mother urged her children to call Jay Jackson "Daddy," just as she had had them call Michael Jackson. The three children had a father who was not absent from the scene.
Jay Jackson may also be called to testify about what the mother's ex-husband refers to in his own court affidavit as the mother's "erratic behavior."
I told you last year that the boy's mother spent time in a Los Angeles mental hospital in 1998. The ex-husband will undoubtedly testify about that as well.
Jay Jackson becomes a more and more interesting character in this case as time goes by. He decamped from the tiny mid-Wilshire apartment the entire family was sharing immediately after the police raided Neverland on Nov. 17, 2003. His apartment was rented to new tenants one month later, according to records I saw. He left no forwarding address.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146237,00.html
