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Fingerprints, DNA and the latest searches
............Court TV
Dec. 9, 2004 — The Court TV Investigative Unit can now report that something defense attorney Brian Oxman blurted out to the New York Post (see below) last weekend is true. Forensic tests on evidence taken from Neverland in November 2003 have detected the presence of three separate samples of male DNA.
While Oxman says none of the DNA matched the young accuser's, our sources contradict that. The now 15-year-old’s genetic fingerprint was, indeed, among those gathered from the pop star’s bedroom. So, who belongs to the other two samples? Our very reliable, confidential sources say one is Michael Jackson; the third could be from yet another youngster. Watch this space.
Speaking of fingerprints, the National Enquirer cites sources saying “Michael Jackson’s fingerprint and his accuser’s fingerprint (were) on the SAME PAGE of a pornographic magazine” taken as evidence from the pop star’s bedroom.
“One of the magazines police confiscated was Barely Legal…it features adult women dressed in sexy young outfits to make them look like teenagers.”
Court TV's I-Unit can confirm the report of the fingerprints on the magazine, but our sources say the prints were not found on the same page, only within the same magazine. Still, this would lend credence to the young accuser’s claim that Jackson had a secret stash of pornography in his bedroom suite and he used it to arouse him.
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On Friday, Dec. 3, 2004, we got word in the Court TV newsroom that there was another "raid" being conducted at Neverland Ranch. The two sources who phoned up to spread the word said they had gotten their information from Jackson defense team attorney Brian Oxman, who was upset that his client was again "being harassed" by the prosecution team.
Well, the rest is history. Who hasn't heard that on that day, about eight or 10 members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department entered the Neverland Valley Ranch with two search warrants signed by Judge Rodney Melville? One was for a DNA sample from Michael Jackson (which gave him 24 hours to comply) and the other allowed the officers to enter Mr. Jackson's bedroom suite for the express purpose of mapping and measuring the location, making note of line-of-sight areas and making a forensic display for the jury to see during the trial. It's believed these drawings are being prepared to buttress the expected testimony of the young accuser's brother who will allege that he entered the suite undetected, and actually saw Michael Jackson engaged in a sexual way with his brother. He may have seen inappropriate behavior in the bedroom suite more than once.
There was an immediate hue and cry as to why the state would wait until Friday before the Monday deadline for all the discovery and witness lists to be exchanged. Why hadn't District Attorney Tom Sneddon moved to get this DNA sample from Jackson before this late date? Why were they really back in Jackson's bedroom — hadn't they gotten the measurements during the November 18, 2003 raid?
Here now are some answers to those questions and more.
Court TV's Investigative Unit has now confirmed, through multiple sources, that the struggle to get both the DNA sample and the master bedroom suite drawings has been going on for months! A DNA sample was first requested at the time Michael Jackson surrendered himself at the Santa Barbara jail on Nov. 20, 2003. The lead defense attorney at the time, Mark Geragos, refused to allow it, although it is a standard procedure in any child sex case. After Geragos' departure from the case at the end of April 2004, the request was made again to the new lead lawyer, Tom Mesereau. Since then, Michael Jackson's defense team had been promising the prosecution they would "soon" be allowed to enter the property again to finish up their discovery work. But "soon" turned into "next week" and then "next month" and ... well, you get the idea.
It therefore came down to the Friday before the Monday deadline and still no crucial DNA and no opportunity to make those forensic drawings for the jury to see, both thought to be critical items for the prosecution to include in their discovery book. In layman's terms, the state simply couldn't get in to Neverland, and time was running out.
Enter then Judge Rodney Melville. He was apprised of the situation, presented with search warrants to sign and given the ticking time clock he himself had imposed on the parties he affixed his signature to the search warrants to get the job done.
Could it have been handled another way? Yes. Could the reported trauma to Mr. Jackson's children (whom the defense camp said were still in their pajamas when the officers came on the property and were upset by the police presence) have been avoided? Yes. Couldn't Mesereau and his team convince Jackson this was something that had to be done — and how much real face time do his lawyers have with him anyway? Apparently they could not convince their client because, in the end, the evidence had to be gathered by official search warrant, signed by a judge who had said in open court that he really didn't want to see any more search warrants.
I'm told by sources close to the entertainer and sources close to the Jackson family that Michael Jackson's petulance was at play here. He had dug in his heels and refused to give permission to allow the officers back on his property, perhaps hoping that by stalling it would all go away. When the officers presented the DNA search warrant on Friday Jackson never appeared to offer the sample. He waited until Saturday, on the last hour of the allotted 24 hours, to open his mouth and say, "Ahhhh." Also, according to sources close to the pop star, Jackson has been reluctant, maybe even absent, during critical conversations with his defense attorneys.
In other words, Jackson has been his typical reclusive self during what is a crucial time for the team preparing his defense. There are rumblings within the family that their most famous member should go shopping for another attorney. There has been one published report that other top criminal defense attorneys have been contacted, including the near-legendary Roy Black of the Florida-based law firm of Black, Srebnick, Kornspan and Stumpf. Mr. Black did not return our phone calls by publication time.
Court TV's I-Unit can also confirm that, besides the activity in the pop star's master bedroom, officers also surveyed the Neverland security system and its extensive telephone setup, including whether there were any eavesdropping devices anywhere. A reasonable person would have to assume, however, that any possible incriminating evidence would have been removed since last year's raid. The information gathered on the security and phones will likely be presented at trial to answer the often-asked question, "If this family was being held against their will, why didn't the mother simply pick up the phone and call for help?"
During the 1993 investigation, sources on the ranch told me that Mr. Jackson had an extensive eavesdropping/surveillance system in place and that he "knew what everyone was saying on every phone call and even tapped into some of the rooms" with voice-activated "audio bugs" that plugged into wall outlets. Modern-day sources associated with the ranch tell me that if someone inside Neverland picks up the phone and calls 911 for help, it is not answered by the local police — the call is directed to the ranch security office. Perhaps the mother did call for help and got none.
* * *
Over my years of covering the Jackson story, I have developed an extensive pool of very reliable sources. They span the spectrum, and include but are not limited to: law enforcement, lawyers, secretaries, personal assistants, process servers, ranch hands, people who work in the travel industry, friends of the Jackson family and associates of Michael Jackson's. Everyone in the know I've spoken with recently reports to me that Michael Jackson has not been fully informed about the seriousness of his current legal situation, and that he really doesn't want anyone to give him any "bad news." After the weekend swabbing for DNA, these multiple sources say, Michael Jackson became outraged that he had had to submit to yet another invasive episode with the prosecution (remember the body search warrant photos the DA took of Jackson in December 1993?), as if he doesn't fully understand the critical nature of his legal problem. His family is said to be worried sick about Michael's future, his health and the makeup of his defense team. Some believe he may flee the country; others fear he may do something even more drastic.
* * *
Despite a stringent gag order, defense teammate Brian Oxman was quoted in the New York Post the morning after the Dec. 3 raid as saying investigators had found traces of DNA from three males other than Jackson in the star's Neverland bedroom, but none from his accuser. Asked to explain the DNA that was found, Oxman said: "Kids crash where they crash. They play in his room, and that's where they crash." Huh?
Post reporter David K. Li told me he couldn't believe his ears. When he asked Oxman to explain, the lawyer reportedly said, "It's all been said in open court." So Li, who was overworked because he was covering both Jackson and the Robert Blake murder trial, figured he had missed something, that Oxman was right.
Oxman was wrong. It's never been said in open court that the authorities found "three different traces of male DNA." Mr. Oxman might soon get another tongue-lashing (or sanction) from Judge Melville. He could be found in contempt of court. When the Court TV I-Unit called Oxman on Saturday afternoon, he told us he'd been misquoted.
* * *
Witness lists have now been exchanged between the prosecution and the defense teams. Normally, these lists are fattened up with lots of names each side knows they might never call, because it's hard to add a name later. But sources tell me the Mesereau/Sneddon witness lists are positively gigantic! They have hundreds of names, which have both sides scrambling to figure out who could say what.
Alas! I don't have the lists, but I do hear from reliable sources that Mr. Mesereau has included on his list the name of FOX News Anchor Rita Cosby. A member of the media taking the stand to defend the King of Pop? Rita told me she thought this might be coming, as she was actually a visitor to Neverland Ranch in late February 2003 (the time during which the family claims they were being held against their will) and eyeballed the accuser and his mother. At that time, Rita said, both seemed happy — and unguarded.
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