Created: Tuesday, 15 March 2005
On Day 11 of the Michael Jackson trial Attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. had to work very hard to get a straight answer out of the prosecution’s star witness, the 15 year old accuser, himself. In a testimony which seemed to consist of numerous memory losses, restatements of events and many other incomplete sentences that seemed to be an avoidance of giving direct answers, the accuser presented his ‘side’ of the story under cross-examination.
Mr. Mesereau was compelled, on numerous occasions, to show the accuser transcripts of his previous statements to law enforcement and various cards and letters that were referenced in order to ‘refresh’ his often, what seemed to be, a very ‘sketchy’ memory. The accuser used the non-committal phrases “I think…” and “I don’t know” over 90 times each, over the course of the day. Additionally, there were 15 “I don’t think so’s” and 40 ‘Not Really’s”.
The accuser was undaunted by the persistent questioning of the defense attorney, often giving answers verging on sarcasm and confrontation, especially when discussing his repeated disciplinary problems at school and many encounters with various teachers that were forced to report his bad behavior.
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: Who is Mr. Finklestein?
ACCUSER: He was my math teacher.
MR. MESEREAU: You had problems in that class also, didn’t you?
ACCUSER: I think everyone in his class had a problem with him.
MR. MESEREAU: Let me just ask about you. Did you have problems in Mr. Finklestein’s class?
ACCUSER: I was “everyone.”
MR. MESEREAU: Pardon me?
ACCUSER: I was one of the “everyone.”
MR. MESEREAU: You’re saying everybody had a problem?
ACCUSER: If everyone had a problem, then I would be one of them, right?
MR. MESEREAU: I’m just asking about yourself. Okay? Did you have problems with your conduct —
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: — in Mr. Finklestein’s class?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Please tell the jury what those problems were.
ACCUSER: Same problems with every other teacher.
(End of excerpt from Court Transcript)
The teenage boy who has accused Michael Jackson of molesting him acknowledged under cross-examination Monday that he told Jeffrey Alpert, the dean at John Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles, where the boy had a history of acting up in many of his classes, that Mr. Jackson “didn’t do anything to me,” and that Mr. Jackson was like a father to him.
Mr. Mesereau, during his cross-examination, quoted Alpert as telling the accuser: “Look at me, look at me. … I can’t help you unless you tell me the truth — did any of this happen?”
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: Did Mr. Sneddon tell you he had been in an interview with a Mr. Alpert on Saturday?
ACCUSER: Yes. Well, I don’t know if — no, he said if I was — if Mr. — the dean, Alpert, interviewed me or talked to me.
MR. MESEREAU: And did he ask you questions about any discussions you ever had with Dean Alpert at John Burroughs School?
ACCUSER: Yeah, he asked some questions about it.
MR. MESEREAU: In fact, Mr. Arvizo, he asked you whether you had been interviewed by Dean Alpert and whether you had confessed to him that Mr. Jackson never did anything to you of a sexual nature, right?
ACCUSER: Yeah.
MR. MESEREAU: Why didn’t you say that at the beginning?
ACCUSER: I told Mr. Alpert that he didn’t do anything to me.
MR. MESEREAU: You told Dean Alpert that twice, correct?
ACCUSER: I don’t know how many times I told him.
(End of excerpt from Court Transcript)
Striking at the heart of the prosecution’s allegations of child molestation and conspiracy, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. confronted the now-15-year-old boy with a video tribute by the boy and his family in which they credited Mr. Jackson with changing their lives and helping to cure the boy of cancer.
The video had already been shown in the trial twice. This time, Mr. Mesereau stopped it repeatedly to ask if the boy and his family were lying. In most instances, the boy said they were speaking the truth.
“Michael was nice to me,” he testified. “I felt like he was a father to me.”
Prosecutors allege Mr. Jackson’s associates had the boy’s family make the video after the broadcast of an infamous documentary in which Mr. Jackson said he allowed the boy to sleep in his bed while he slept on the floor. The prosecution claims the rebuttal video was staged and scripted.
Mr. Mesereau asked if the family turned on Mr. Jackson and invented the molestation and conspiracy story because they were being evicted from his Neverland ranch.
“We realized he wasn’t as nice a guy as we thought he was,” the boy said.
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: Until you realized you were not going to be part of Michael Jackson’s family, you never made any allegation of child molestation, correct?
ACCUSER: I didn’t want to be part of his family. I just saw him as a father figure.
MR. MESEREAU: Until you realized Michael Jackson was not going to meet you in Brazil, you never made any allegation of child molestation, right?
ACCUSER: I didn’t even really want to go to Brazil.
MR. MESEREAU: Until you left Neverland for the last time, you never made any allegation of child molestation, correct?
ACCUSER: I didn’t tell anyone until I left for the last time, correct.
MR. MESEREAU: And never called the police until after you’d seen two lawyers, right?
MR. SNEDDON: Object as argumentative, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Overruled.
THE WITNESS: Yes, it wasn’t until I saw two lawyers until I told the police what really happened.
(End of excerpt from Court Transcript)
Mr. Mesereau also discussed the alleged conspiracy to hold the family against their will, in spite of the fact that they were constantly in public places, being treated to many gifts, courtesy of Michael Jackson. Mr. Mesereau highlighted the fact, by asking the accuser directly, that no one ever, not once, asked for help or told anyone that they were being held involuntarily.
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: When you were at the Calabasas Inn, was there a phone in your room?
ACCUSER: I’m pretty sure there was.
MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever see anybody call the police?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: When you were shopping near the Calabasas Inn, to your knowledge, did anyone ever scream “help”?
ACCUSER: No, I don’t think so.
MR. MESEREAU: Ever see your mother do it?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Ever see Star do it?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Ever see your sister do it?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: You didn’t do it either, correct?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: After you escaped from Neverland the first time, where did you go?
ACCUSER: I think we went to my grandmother’s house.
MR. MESEREAU: To your knowledge, did anybody call the police and say, “We’ve been” —
ACCUSER: No, because the thing was, like I —
MR. MESEREAU: Let me just finish my question.
ACCUSER: Okay.
MR. MESEREAU: After you say you escaped from Neverland the first time, you went to your grandparents’, correct?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: And how did you get there?
ACCUSER: Jesus Salas drove us there.
MR. MESEREAU: Do you recall anyone ever calling the police and saying, “We’ve just been held against our will”?
ACCUSER: No. Because like I — my mom was —
MR. MESEREAU: Let me just ask you the questions. Okay? Nobody did, right?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: A few days later, you went back to Neverland, right?
ACCUSER: I believe — yes.
(End of excerpt from Court Transcript)
Also during cross-examination, the boy denied instances of being caught drinking wine at Neverland, reading “girlie magazines” and masturbating in a guest house while Mr. Jackson wasn’t around.
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: Mr. Arvizo, you were caught masturbating at Neverland when Michael Jackson wasn’t even around, weren’t you?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: You were caught masturbating in a guest quarters, weren’t you?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: No one ever saw you do that?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: No one ever talked to you about that?
(End of excerpt from Court Transcript)
The accuser also denied he ever spoke to Jay Leno, but said he once placed a call to the comedian from a hospital and left a message on an answering machine.
The defense, which claims the family sought to get money from celebrities, has said that Jay Leno, himself, alerted police after a call from the boy because he thought the family was looking for a “mark.”
Mr. Mesereau also cross-examined the accuser about similarities between a statement he testified Mr. Jackson made about masturbation and an earlier statement the boy attributed to his grandmother.
On Thursday, the boy testified Mr. Jackson had told him if men do not masturbate, they might rape women. Mr. Mesereau noted the boy told sheriff’s investigators in an interview his grandmother had told him almost the exact same thing.
“Why did your story change between that interview and your testimony last Thursday?” Mr. Mesereau asked.
The boy denied changing his story. He said both his grandmother and Mr. 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.
Additionally, the accuser’s story has also morphed considerably regarding the alleged consumption of alcohol at the ranch. Mr. Mesereau noted that is has gotten more elaborate with each interview.
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: Mr. Arvizo, do you recall discussing with the Santa Barbara Sheriffs your claim that you were drinking in the arcade with Michael Jackson?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Do you recall telling them the following: “We didn’t drink a lot”?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Would it refresh your recollection if I show you a transcript from that interview?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: May I approach, Your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes.
MR. SNEDDON: I’m sorry, Counsel, what page was that?
MR. MESEREAU: 26.
MR. MESEREAU: Mr. Arvizo, have you had a chance to look at that page?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Does it refresh your recollection about what you told the Santa Barbara Sheriffs?
ACCUSER: Not really.
MR. MESEREAU: You told them, “We didn’t drink a lot,” right?
ACCUSER: I don’t know. It says it on there.
MR. MESEREAU: Do you recall saying that?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Pardon me?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Do you deny saying that?
ACCUSER: I don’t know if I ever said that.
MR. MESEREAU: Would you agree that every time you were interviewed, your stories of drinking got worse and worse, correct?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: You initially told them you didn’t drink a lot?
ACCUSER: That’s true.
MR. MESEREAU: Then you started telling them you drank a lot, and then you started telling them, “We drank every night,” correct?
ACCUSER: Well, “a lot” would be every night, so it would really —
MR. MESEREAU: Pardon me?
ACCUSER: “A lot” would be every night.
MR. MESEREAU: And you’re saying after Miami that you basically were drinking every single evening at Neverland, correct?
ACCUSER: No, I told him that every single evening that Michael was there. In those transcripts, probably when — I still — I don’t know.
MR. MESEREAU: Isn’t it true that every time you were interviewed, your stories of drinking got bigger and bigger and bigger?
ACCUSER: No.
(End of excerpt from Court Transcript)
At he left court Monday, Mr. Jackson told reporters: “Mr. Mesereau did a great job.”
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