Created: Wednesday, 06 April 2005
Tuesday, April 5, 2005 Day 26 brought Michael Jackson’s former maid to the stand. Only after the financial settlement was made with the first accuser in 1993, did this former maid’s son bring an accusation of groping against Mr. Jackson. They received a $2.4 million settlement from Mr. Jackson in 1994. And before the woman took the stand, defense attorney Thomas Mr. Mesereau Jr. raised the issue of whether she also had a financial stake in his story by showing she had been paid $20,000 to appear on the TV show ”Hard Copy.”
The woman, who was Mr. Jackson’s maid for about five years, told of seeing Mr. Jackson in the shower with a boy about 8 years old who frequently stayed at Neverland and slept in the singer’s bed.
The woman testified that whenever the 8-year-old boy stayed at Neverland he appeared to sleep in Mr. Jackson’s bed and that once she found him and the performer watching television in bed together, naked from the waist up.
She also said that on several occasions she felt uncomfortable about the way Mr. Jackson was interacting with her son, but conceded on cross-examination by defense attorney Tom Mesereau that she never saw the entertainer molest him or anyone else.
Her son, now an auto parts salesman and a youth counselor, appeared muddled as he struggled to recall previous statements he gave to authorities, frequently responding “I don’t remember” to Mr. Mesereau’s questions
The former maid also told of seeing actor Macaulay Culkin at Neverland and said he also stayed in Mr. Jackson’s bedroom. She called him ”the little kid from the movies” and said he often came with his father, mother, brother, and sister, but sometimes was brought alone by Mr. Jackson.
Although the prosecution was allowed to present testimony about Culkin, the defense has asserted that the ”Home Alone” star has denied being molested, and Culkin’s spokeswoman has said he will not be involved in the court case.
Earlier, the former maid’s 24-year-old son clashed with Mr. Mesereau as the attorney cross-examined him about inconsistencies between the story he told Monday and accounts he gave to authorities as recently as December.
”I don’t mean to sound like I’m wasting your time,” he told the lawyer at one point. ”It’s hard being up here.”
The jury was told he received a financial settlement but was not told the sum. The young man’s attorney acknowledged that the terms of the settlement involved no admission of wrongdoing by Mr. Jackson.
He said he told no one until 1993, when detectives investigating another boy’s allegations came to him. That interview was followed by others in 1994 and again in 2004.
Under cross-examination yesterday, he acknowledged that in his 1993 interview he initially said Mr. Jackson did not molest him. Mr. Mesereau asked whether investigators became aggressive, calling Mr. Jackson a ”molester” and cursing.
The witness said he did not remember details of the interview.
”It was only after you were pushed real hard by the sheriffs that you began to say anything like that,” Mr. Mesereau said.
The witness also contradicted himself on a couple of points. Under questioning by Mr. Mesereau, he said Mr. Jackson would give him money whenever he read a book or got an ‘A’. Under questioning by one of the prosecutors, he said that did not happen.
Mr. Mesereau confronted the witness with statements he made during one of his interviews in which he said: ”They made me come up with a lot more stuff. They kept pushing. I wanted to hit them in the head.”
The witness said he did not remember the statements. Mr. Mesereau showed him a transcript and asked if that refreshed his recollection. The witness said no. He repeatedly answered Mr. Mesereau’s questions by saying he did not remember, noteably similar to how the accuser and his siblings in this case have answered the questions posed to them by the defense during their cross-examinations.
The 24 year-old witness again claimed ignorance when asked about whether his accusations resulted in a criminal case. I don’t know much. I don’t watch the news he replied.
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