Created: Friday, 11 March 2005
Day 9 in Michael Jackson’s trial brought with it unexpected events to the already highly-anticipated day of proceedings. Mr. Jackson arrived swiftly at the courthouse in Santa Maria at 9:40 am, an hour and ten minutes after court was scheduled to begin. Mr. Jackson was delayed at the hospital where he had been treated early that morning for severe back pain at the direction of his advisors.
As a result of the unexpected amount of time he was kept at the hospital, Mr. Jackson was not afforded the time or opportunity to return home to change his clothes and was forced to wear his pajama bottoms, much to the apparent shock and horror of the eagerly waiting media troops.
Judge Melville informed the jury, “Mr. Jackson had a medical problem and it was necessary for me to order his appearance.” He added that he did not want the panel to draw any negative inferences from the developments.
Mr. Jackson has suffered many back injuries over the course of his legendary career, including a sudden and dramatic fall from a four-storey ‘bridge’ during a concert in Germany in 1999 during a performance of ‘Earth Song’.
(Exclusive to MJJsource Premium Members: MJJsource will soon be featuring exclusive video of this performance!)
At 8:35 am, Judge Melville issued a warrant for Mr. Jackson’s arrest and threatened to forfeit his bail if Mr. Jackson did not appear in one hour, which would have been 9:35 am. Mr. Jackson’s attorney, Tom Mesereau had, in fact, called the judge shortly after speaking to Mr. Jackson about the situation at 5:15am that morning.
According to Raymone Bain, Mr. Jackson’s Publicist, “Mr. Jackson fully expected, and had every intention, of being in court on time. Mr. Jackson did not expect to be held at the hospital as long as he was.
“Had Mr. Jackson had the time to change clothes, he certainly would have. But it was very important for him to get to the courthouse as soon as possible.
“Mr. Jackson was looking forward to facing his accuser and is not, in any way, intimidated by his accuser. Mr. Jackson feels his attorneys have been doing an excellent job.”
Mr. Jackson was clearly in pain and his attorneys confirmed that he was in terrible discomfort throughout the proceedings.
At the end of the day, Judge Melville, outside the presence and hearing of the jury, rescinded the arrest warrant for Mr. Jackson and restored the bail bond.
The other events of the days included the first full day of testimony from Mr. Jackson’s accuser. As the most critical day of his trial so far, Michael Jackson heard his accuser level graphic allegations of child molestation at him. It was a testimony filled with many “I don’t knows” and “I don’t remembers” and some interesting conclusions drawn from a chain of events and facts that would seem to logically suggest the opposite.
He voiced accusations of lewd acts by Jackson and then engaged in a combative exchange with Mr. Mesereau, Mr. Jackson’s lawyer.
“After you met with an attorney, you came up with a story that you were masturbated by Michael Jackson,” attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. said in an attack on the most damaging testimony given against Jackson.
The boy denied that attorneys influenced him and he became defensive under the cross-examination. He said he once considered Jackson his “best friend in the world” but indicated he felt rejected by the star at one point.
Under questioning by District Attorney Tom Sneddon, in testimony that was hushed and sometimes mumbled, the boy said he remembered two sexual encounters.
In opening statements, the defense noted that absolutely no DNA from the boy was found anywhere in Jackson’s bedroom.
Continuing the pattern of testimony discrepancies set by his brother and sister, the accuser’s testimony differed from his brother’s earlier testimony and it was unclear if they were talking about the same incidents. The brother said he saw Jackson and the boy in their underwear and that the boy was asleep. The brother also said the boy was on top of the bedcovers.
On cross-examination, Mr. Mesereau alleged the accuser was making up the story. Mr. Jackson’s attorneys have said the molestation claims are an attempt by the accuser’s family to get money.
“Only after you met with Larry Feldman you started talking about inappropriate touching,” said Mr. Mesereau, referring to a lawyer who handled another boy’s allegations against Jackson in 1993 that ended with a civil settlement.
“I never told Larry Feldman,” the boy said.
He acknowledged that he and his family went back to Neverland several times after meeting with attorneys.
Mr. Mesereau also attacked the boy’s testimony that he did not feel that Jackson had done much for him when he had cancer.
“I didn’t see him much,” the boy said. “He was my best friend in the world and my best friend was trying to avoid me when I had cancer.”
Mesereau, however, said Jackson called the boy three times a week for conversations of two to three hours, gave him gifts, invited him and his family to stay at Neverland for weeks at a time, had them stay at a Florida resort and had them chauffeured in limousines and a Rolls-Royce.
“Did your family go back and forth and stay at Neverland for free?” Mesereau asked.
“Everybody stays at Neverland for free,” the boy answered defensively.
He was asked whether he knew that Jackson conducted a blood drive for him at Neverland.
“I heard something about a blood drive but I don’t remember,” he said.
“Can you look this jury in the eye and say that Michael did nothing for you when you had cancer?” Mr. Mesereau asked incredulously.
“I didn’t say he did nothing,” the boy said. He said he felt other celebrities he had gotten to know did more for him, although he acknowledged that none had invited his family to live with them.
*(See court transcript except below)
The session ended with Mr. Mesereau questioning the boy about a lawsuit that his mother brought against J.C. Penney stores, claiming that the family had been abused by security guards.
He noted that in a deposition in that suit the boy said he was told what to say by lawyers, but the boy denied that Thursday.
Mr. Mesereau’s cross-examination of the boy will resume Monday; the court planned to handle pending motions Friday.
As he left court, Mr. Jackson was asked if he was in pain and he gingerly winced and nodded.
(* Court Transcript Excerpt)
ACCUSER: Michael would call me during the — probably — during the beginning of my cancer, probably three times a week. And I would call him and we would talk for a long time. We would talk about video games. We would talk about people he knew, people I knew, stuff like that.
MR. MESEREAU: In the hospital, right?
ACCUSER: Sometimes he would call me in the hospital.
MR. MESEREAU: I’d like to explore your statement to the jury that he didn’t do much to you — much for you when you had cancer.
ACCUSER: Okay.
MR. MESEREAU: You’ve just talked about the calls, right?
ACCUSER: Yeah.
MR. MESEREAU: He invites your family to his home, correct?
ACCUSER: He invited us to Neverland in the beginning, yeah.
MR. MESEREAU: He lets your family stay at his home for weeks, correct?
ACCUSER: Yeah.
MR. MESEREAU: He gives you a car to use, true?
ACCUSER: Yes, same car he takes back in the middle of the time that I really needed a — that my family needed a car.
MR. MESEREAU: Gives your family an SUV so they can go back and forth to the hospital, right?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Gives you a computer, right?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Flies your family to Florida and lets them stay at a resort for two nights, right?
ACCUSER: No, he took me to Florida in result of the Martin Bashir documentary that was being aired.
MR. MESEREAU: Did your family stay at the resort hotel called Turnberry in Florida?
ACCUSER: Michael put us up in the resort, in the Turnberry.
MR. MESEREAU: Did you get a massage?
ACCUSER: Yes. Chris Tucker paid for that massage.
MR. MESEREAU: Okay. Did you get a massage?
ACCUSER: Yes. Chris Tucker paid for that massage.
MR. MESEREAU: Did you get a watch —
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: — from Mr. Jackson?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Did you get a jacket from Mr. Jackson?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Did your family go back and forth and stay at Neverland free?
ACCUSER: Everyone stays at Neverland for free.
MR. MESEREAU: Well, who do you think pays the bills?
MR. SNEDDON: Object as argumentative, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Well, on both parts. Let’s start another question. Don’t —
MR. MESEREAU: BY MR. MESEREAU: Mr. Arvizo —
THE COURT: Just a minute. I’m sorry. I’ll instruct both the witness and the attorney not to argue with each other.
MR. MESEREAU: BY MR. MESEREAU: Mr. Arvizo, your family would stay for weeks free of charge at Neverland, true?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Your meals would be paid by — for by Mr. Jackson, true?
ACCUSER: Probably. Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Do you know someone else that paid for it?
ACCUSER: No. But I was pretty sure it was Michael.
MR. MESEREAU: You would travel by limousine back and forth, true?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: You also traveled by Rolls Royce on occasion, true?
ACCUSER: No, I only traveled in a Rolls Royce when I was escaping from Neverland with Jesus.
MR. MESEREAU: When you were escaping?
ACCUSER: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: And you went back — how long after you escaped did you go back there again?
ACCUSER: I think a few days later, when Vinnie and Frank came down.
MR. MESEREAU: Okay. Okay. When you escaped, where did Jesus take you?
ACCUSER: He took me to my grandmother’s house.
MR. MESEREAU: And then two days later you went back with Vinnie?
ACCUSER: I don’t know about two days, but maybe a few days.
MR. MESEREAU: So you went back, and then you escaped a second time, right?
ACCUSER: I think so. Whatever.
MR. MESEREAU: And then you went back and you escaped a third time, right?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Well, there were like three escapes, weren’t there?
ACCUSER: I don’t know.
MR. MESEREAU: Okay. Have you ever talked to Mr. Sneddon about how many times you people went back voluntarily and then escaped from Neverland?
ACCUSER: Mr. Sneddon?
MR. MESEREAU: Yes.
ACCUSER: I think we did. I’m pretty sure we did.
MR. MESEREAU: When you were at Neverland, you would use the amusement park when you wanted, correct?
ACCUSER: Yes. But — well, I couldn’t always do it because I would feel sick all the time —
MR. MESEREAU: Well —
ACCUSER: — with cancer.
MR. MESEREAU: — who do you think paid the utilities to run all the amusement rides at Neverland?
ACCUSER: Probably Michael.
MR. MESEREAU: And you would use the zoo when you wanted, correct?
ACCUSER: No, because I wouldn’t go to the zoo. Michael would take us over there when he wanted to take us over there, and we’d see the tigers.
MR. MESEREAU: Who do you think was paying for all of that?
ACCUSER: Michael, because Michael wanted all that in his house.
MR. MESEREAU: Oh. And do you think he was really being good to you by letting you stay there and go to the zoo, the amusement rides?
ACCUSER: He probably was. But, I mean, this is talking about the first few months. And I don’t really — see, Mr. Mesereau, it takes more —
MR. MESEREAU: Objection, Your Honor. Could he just answer the question?
THE COURT: Sustained. Just answer the question.
MR. MESEREAU: Did you use ATV’s at Neverland?
ACCUSER: Yes. Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: Who paid for the ATV’s?
ACCUSER: I’m pretty sure Michael paid for the ATV’s.
MR. MESEREAU: What else did you do at Neverland when you used to hang out there with your brother, your sister, your father, your mother?
ACCUSER: Probably be in my unit, because I was sick.
MR. MESEREAU: Was there a blood drive for you at Neverland?
ACCUSER: Yeah.
MR. MESEREAU: And Mr. Jackson put that together, didn’t he?
ACCUSER: Probably.
MR. MESEREAU: You don’t know?
ACCUSER: No, I heard something about a blood drive, but I can’t really remember too much about it.
MR. MESEREAU: You don’t remember a blood drive at Neverland that Mr. Jackson put together for you when you had cancer?
ACCUSER: I remember — I remember something about my friend — my friend had come down to the hospital and told me about it, but I don’t — I remember something about a blood drive, but I’m not too sure about it. He — I’m pretty sure he did.
MR. MESEREAU: Now, I believe you told the jury yesterday you thought George Lopez did more for you when you had cancer than Michael Jackson, correct?
ACCUSER: Yeah. For my 11 year-old mind, he came and visited me and would always talk to me and buy me shirts and stuff.
MR. MESEREAU: Did Mr. Lopez let your family move into his home?
MR. SNEDDON: Object as argumentative, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MR. MESEREAU: BY MR. MESEREAU: Mr. Arvizo, did Mr. Lopez give you a Rolls Royce for your family to ride around town in?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Did he provide limousines for your family to ride around town in?
ACCUSER: No.
MR. MESEREAU: Did he pay a lot of your bills so your family could stay at hotels?
ACCUSER: I don’t know. That’s up to my —
MR. MESEREAU: Did he pay for flights so your family could go cross country?
ACCUSER: I’m pretty sure he did, to pay for us to go to Miami.
MR. MESEREAU: How many times do you think your family visited Neverland and stayed there?
ACCUSER: Every time Michael wanted us to.
MR. MESEREAU: But you went there many times when Michael wasn’t even there, right, Mr. Arvizo?
ACCUSER: Only with Michael’s permission.
MR. MESEREAU: Did you and your family go to Neverland and stay many times when Michael Jackson wasn’t even around?
ACCUSER: I would. Not my whole family. Me and my father would. Because in the first two months of my cancer, when I was — when I thought I was pretty close to Michael, I would go up there and stay with him between my rounds of chemotherapy.
MR. MESEREAU: Can you look this jury in eye and tell them Michael Jackson did nothing for you when you had cancer?
ACCUSER: I never said Michael did nothing for me.
MR. MESEREAU: Did you say he did very little?
ACCUSER: Yeah. He didn’t do as much as I felt, as my 11-year-old mind felt.
(END Excerpt)
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