Transcript from The Abrams Report
Aired Thursday, March 10, 2005
Subjects: Michael Jackson Case
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DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Hi, everyone. If you're just getting home and
you don't know what happened in the Michael Jackson case today, go get
yourself a cup of what Jackson calls "Jesus juice", sit back in the
Lazyboy. You're not going to believe it.
The Michael Jackson case
today is almost unbelievable. Like Peter Pan who Jackson says he emulates.
It was almost like a bad fairy tale.
Before we get to exactly
what happened, let me just give you a sense of what we're talking about
happening in court today, all right? Yes, that's Michael Jackson. Yes,
he's wearing pajamas. Yes, he's wearing slippers. And yes, he looks
completely out of it.
All right. How did we get
to this -- 8:30 in the morning court is supposed to -- there's Tom
Mesereau arriving on time at court as usual, taking the usual shot. You
know, then he heads into court and the question, of course, is people
sitting around, where's Michael Jackson?
He knows he's got to be there on time. He knows that he's been late
before. He knows that the judge was furious -- 8:35, comes out, the judge
says where's the defendant?
Well, Tom Mesereau says
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) well (UNINTELLIGIBLE) he has a bad back, Your Honor, and
he is at the hospital. I got a doctor on the phone. The judge interrupts
him and says you've got an hour to get him here. I'm issuing a warrant for
his arrest. Get him to court.
I don't care about talking to any doctors.
So Jackson's got, then,
30 -- he's got to go 35 miles in 50 minutes to make it back within an
hour. That is what we were doing for about an hour, watching Tom Mesereau
frantically talking on the telephone, trying to find out exactly where
Michael Jackson is. Where is my client? When is he getting here? Everyone
is waiting around.
We're wondering if these
guys are going to slap the cuffs on Jackson when he gets to court because
there's a warrant out for Michael Jackson's arrest because he hasn't shown
up at court. All right. Then after the waiting, an hour goes by. He
doesn't show up. Two minutes after the hour, he emerges. Well, we were
wondering whether he was going to show up on a gurney, or if he was going
to be carried out of there.
Jackson has enough to
wave back to the fans, and he's wearing pajama pants and slippers, looking
disheveled, walking slowly. There you see getting a little help from his
team. Still got the umbrella going. So if one thing we know for certain,
even if he's got a bad back, he won't get a sunburn. And then finally,
finally he makes it into the courthouse.
I mean, look at this.
That is Michael Jackson in pajamas and slippers going to court today. It
-- just in case you missed it, we wanted to make sure you could enjoy and
savor every moment of this as Jackson heads into court today. And there he
is, makes it through the metal detector and heads into court where of
course he was welcomed by a young boy who's talking about how he molested
him.
Oh, my. Joining me now
Court TV's chief investigative investor and NBC analyst, Diane Dimond,
criminal defense attorney, NBC legal analyst Roy Black, criminal defense
attorney, NBC analyst Ron Richards, who's been there -- he was talking to
Mesereau. We're going to talk to you about what he was saying in a minute
-- former Essex County Massachusetts' prosecutor Bill Fallon and MSNBC
analyst and Jackson family friend, Stacy Brown.
All right, Diane, you had
a real bird's eye view. You were one of two -- only two reporter who had a
chance to be right next to Jackson as he walked by. I'm going to ask them
to put that video up again. And if you can describe to us, what you said
to him, how it went, what he looked like. Give us -- set the scene for us.
DIANE DIMOND, COURT TV CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE EDITOR: Well, he
looked like a guy in great distress, I'll tell you. His pallor was gray. I
don't know that he had a lot of makeup today, although some of his makeup
is cosmetic or tattooed on. But he was shuffling like an old man. He was
being helped by his bodyguards and his parents were with him. I was
stunned as he came around the corner, and I was standing right outside the
door where you go through the metal detector -- I was stunned when as he
came into view I got a load of those pajama bottoms.
It was -- I was -- I couldn't believe my eyes.
I also couldn't believe
that he hadn't -- it appeared as though he hadn't combed his hair at all.
I shouted out to him, Dan, Mr. Jackson, how are you feeling? And he sort
of looked over in my direction, but even though we were in the same place
on the planet earth, he didn't look like he was really there. And then I
said are you feeling all right? And he just kept shuffling in.
He went into the
courtroom. Fifteen seconds later he comes out to go to the bathroom. And
then finally we got in the courtroom where we waited and waited for the
judge. The judge made him wait until 10:00 local time.
ABRAMS: All right. I'm going to ask in the meantime
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) to get our sound bites ready from the publicist for
Michael Jackson. Because they -- she had some sort of explanation as to
what happened. But Stacy Brown, you've been speaking to the family today,
are they worried that Michael Jackson might do some harm to himself?
STACY BROWN, JACKSON
FAMILY FRIEND: Well Dan, I got to tell you, the stress level was raised
tremendously today during this whole antics of coming late and the arrest
warrant. And there has been some concern.
I've got to tell you,
yes, a few months ago, and I won't say who, just to protect that
particular family member, but that person told me, I am worried that he
might harm himself.
ABRAMS: I mean he's a
mess.
BROWN: Yes. There's no
getting around that. He is a mess. You looked at him today, and you know,
I talked to Rebe, his oldest sister today, and she was frantic today.
ABRAMS: Yes.
BROWN: She was very, very
upset. She used the word devastated.
ABRAMS: Yes. You know, I
talked to a friend who said that he met with Michael Jackson about a year
and a half ago and he was saying that Jackson had a cold at the time and
was so frail and feeble and -- it was like oh I can't -- I don't know how
he's going to make it through -- and the timing, of course. You got to --
you know, let me go to Roy Black.
Roy, you know, the
timing, of course. You know he gets the flu right before the case is going
to start. And now he gets these sudden injuries to his back, et cetera
right as the boy is testifying. I mean it doesn't look good for Jackson.
|
ROY BLACK,
CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well you know it's easy to be
cynical about that, but as everybody has said there's a tremendous amount
of stress involved with being on trial whether you're the lawyer or God
forbid the client...
|
ABRAMS: How many clients have you had, Roy,
who have not shown up to court on more than one occasion because of
various ailments? We're not talking about getting hit by a car or
something like that. But, for example, getting the flu and back problems,
et cetera, having to go to the hospital and not reporting to court in the
morning? |
BLACK: Well, usually what happens you have
some warning so you can tell the... |
ABRAMS: Right. |
BLACK: ... judge the night before or early
in the morning and the judge understands. You know, people can get ill... |
ABRAMS: Yes. |
BLACK: ... and particularly if you have a
bad back. You know what it's like if you've... |
ABRAMS: I do. |
BLACK: ... ever had your back out. |
ABRAMS: I do. |
BLACK: That's very painful. I've been in a
case where a judge, where a co-defendant didn't show up and he sent the
marshals to the hospital and dragged him back to the courtroom, so judges
don't always take this well. |
ABRAMS: But he had enough -- look at that --
there he goes twisting around and waving to the fans. All right, Ron
Richards, what was defense attorney Tom Mesereau -- you were talking to
him for a good amount of the time as he's waiting during that hour, was he
saying, you know, was he saying to you, I cannot believe this. This is
insane.
RONALD RICHARDS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Dan, you know, I can't
get into the very specifics of that conversation, but what I can tell
you...
ABRAMS: Why not? You don't have an attorney-client privilege with him.
RICHARDS: Well, because I was there as a friend and just, you know, this
was a personal conversation and this was an unexpected event and all of a
sudden, the phone rings, I see his gesticulations and movements and I say
oh boy, we've got something live going on here. And Brian Oxman is in the
van and lo and behold, we have an unexpected injury while he's changing
this morning and he had to deal with it. The impact on the defense is it's
unexpected and it's a distraction to Mr.
Mesereau.
ABRAMS: Yes, I don't know. Let me play -- this is Raymone Bain, the
spokesperson for Michael Jackson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMONE BAIN, JACKSON'S PUBLICIST: He had no choice. He had no choice. I
mean he was suffering from a terrible back spasm. He went to the hospital.
They didn't release him in time for him to go home so he went from the
hospital to the court. And let me say this to you all, Michael Jackson was
looking forward to being in the court today. His defense lawyers have done
an excellent job in the last eight days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: Bill Fallon, you know, look in the end, it seems, if we get the
shot of Jackson leaving court, that would be great. In the end, it seems
Jackson left unscathed in a sense. Meaning, the judge had made all sorts
of threats. Jackson showed up and you know, he's now leaving.
The bail has not been revoked. Expect -- I'm not surprised; I think it
would have been a little bit overkill for the judge to revoke his bail,
don't you?
WILLIAM FALLON, FORMER ESSEX COUNTY MA PROSECUTOR: Yes and I think it
would have been. But this is the last time Jammer (ph) Jackson gets away
with this. This is so ridiculous and if anybody has any question about
Michael Jackson being able to commit this crime even after the Bashir
film, this proves he doesn't listen to anybody. It's that same person...
(CROSSTALK)
FALLON: ... Bashir film. He's a nut.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: This proves he did it?
FALLON: I think -- I absolutely think it shows that he's not playing with
a full deck. He doesn't live by the rules.
ABRAMS: Yes, that we've known.
FALLON: Any attorney -- anybody would have said, call your attorney, get
to court, say I'm sick, but guess what? He thinks he's above it and that's
-- I'm not just looking at Jammer (ph) Jackson being mentally ill because
quite frankly I think he is mentally ill and it's a sad statement about
people who have much worse problems. But he lives by his own rules.
(CROSSTALK)
FALLON: Dan, having been castigated by the judge before, what kind of
person says I'm going and I'm not released. He's not in prison arrest in
the hospital. And all I'm saying is when you say Michael Jackson, a normal
person wouldn't do this, this and this, I think this is evidence that...
ABRAMS: All right...
FALLON: ... he just doesn't know what a normal person...
ABRAMS: All right. And again, here's another -- more explanation from his
publicist, Raymone Bain, a couple of hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAIN: At about 5:15 a.m. this morning, Michael reached out to me, his
attorney, his brothers, his family to let us know that he could not move
at all. It was advised by his attorneys and others that he go very quickly
to the hospital that's not far from his residence. It's the Santa Ynez
Cottage Hospital, which is about maybe 10, 15 minutes away from his ranch.
We were hoping that they would give him a muscle relaxant so that he would
be able to move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: Diane, am I wrong? It seemed Tom Mesereau didn't know exactly what
the situation was when he arrived in court this morning.
DIMOND: You know I don't believe that he did. And I'm just speculating,
because he was going about putting out his files and what not and didn't
seem to notice that 8:30 was coming and going and his client wasn't there.
ABRAMS: Yes.
DIMOND: I think the shot of the day after Michael Jackson's dramatic
entrance and his exit today was Tom Mesereau standing right out here on
the curve with his cell phone in his hand...
ABRAMS: Yes.
DIMOND: ... looking like a bride waiting for the groom at the altar.
ABRAMS: Yes.
DIMOND: You know, I felt badly for him when he had to stand up and tell
the judge, well Your Honor, you're right...
ABRAMS: Yes.
DIMOND: ... he's not here.
ABRAMS: Yes and then to continue the analogy, he arrives like Cinderella
after midnight fearing what he's going to turn into.
Very quickly, Ron Richards, Mesereau, did he say anything to you about
whether he knew Jackson was going to the hospital?
RICHARDS: I don't believe he knew because Brian Oxman was in the car with
him and Mesereau is here to win the case and to cross-examine...
ABRAMS: Oh that's it?
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: So he shouldn't be privy to the fact that his client's not going
to be in court this morning?
RICHARDS: Well, he -- it was unexpected and this is at 8:15, Dan...
ABRAMS: All right.
RICHARDS: ... so you can't expect him to know this. Brian Oxman is in the
van. That's what his job is...
ABRAMS: Oh come on...
RICHARDS: ... is to get him to court...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Yes, oh...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... so Brian Oxman...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Come on.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Come on. His job -- you're telling me that Mesereau's job doesn't
involve knowing where his client is? Come on, Ron. I got to take a
break...
RICHARDS: I've never...
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARDS: I've never made sure clients get to court. That's their
responsibility. He's here to try...
FALLON: He's had this problem before and that Jackson doesn't tell his
attorney it's bizarre.
ABRAMS: I got to -- I'm getting killed. I've got to take a break here.
Coming back...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... we're going to talk about this. And coming up later, we're
going to talk -- big testimony today from that boy, the accuser.
What he had to say today, testimony getting under way. This is it.
This is the crucial testimony in the case. The boy is saying that man,
Michael Jackson, sitting only yards away from him, molested him.
And later in the program, we're going to talk about the latest in the
investigation -- a big development, it seems to be, at least into the
murder of that judge's husband and brother, a man killed himself, left a
suicide note claiming responsibility for it. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ABRAMS: Coming up, more about the bizarre day in the Michael Jackson case
and there was very important testimony as well. The boy accusing Michael
Jackson on the witness stand and being cross-examined, got more
coverage...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWS BREAK)
ABRAMS: This was the scene this morning. Michael Jackson, gingerly walking
into court in his pajama pants and slippers after having gone to the
hospital. Let me read you exactly what Jackson's attorney said to the
judge when Jackson didn't show up for the beginning of court today.
Mr. Jackson is at Cottage Hospital in Santa Ynez with a serious back
problem. My understanding -- that's a live shot, by the way, of Michael
Jackson arriving back at Neverland after a full day of court.
He won't have to be in court tomorrow as they continue with hearings.
All right, let me go back to the video. Michael Jackson is at the
-- oh, look at the people running. All right. So this is him going into
court and this is what his lawyer said. He's at the hospital, serious back
problem. I understand he's on his way in. The doctor does want to talk to
you on the phone. That's the latest information I have.
The judge's response -- I'm going to issue a warrant for his arrest. I'm
forfeiting his bail. I'm going to hold that order for one hour. In one
hour, I'm going to execute that order. Jackson showed up an hour and two
minutes later. The judge decided not to revoke his bail.
Before the break, Ron Richards, you were saying that you don't think it's
Tom Mesereau, his lead defense attorney's responsibility to make sure that
his client is in court on time even though the judge has admonished the
defense team to make sure he is.
RICHARDS: I firmly believe that, Dan. Tom Mesereau is not a baby sitter.
Michael Jackson is a grown man. He has a whole entourage. He needs to get
to court on time and Tom Mesereau needs to focus on winning the case.
ABRAMS: I don't know...
RICHARDS: And I think it's too much a burden to make him be his
babysitter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well... |
BLACK: Dan, can I... |
ABRAMS: Yes, Roy, I was go to -- yes, go
ahead Roy. |
BLACK: Listen, I've been in cases like this
where you have a team of lawyers. Tom Mesereau has one job -- to focus on
this witness, concentrate on everything that's said and cross-examine with
everything you have for the next week. I guarantee you -- he's not
thinking about Michael Jackson or any other kind of problem going on.
There are other people to handle that. His only job is to cross-examine
and milk every detail, every inconsistency he can find. |
(CROSSTALK)
FALLON: Roy, but they would let you know...
(CROSSTALK)
FALLON: ... Roy, a man of your caliber,
an attorney of your caliber, you would know before you got to court if Mr.
Famous Jammer (ph) Jackson was not showing up. And that's the part that I
can't get over that they could do all of this machination behind
Mesereau's back.
You're right. Mesereau can't take care of
this guy, but Mesereau is the lead player here who knows his client has to
be there or be held, and I just can't understand how the whole Jackson
team, except they have an alternative reality, hasn't told Mesereau by
8:35 when he's saying to the court...
(CROSSTALK)
DIMOND: Dan...
FALLON: ... I don't know what's... |
BLACK: That's true. They do have... |
ABRAMS: Wait. Let me let Roy...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Let me let Roy respond and then
Diane. Go ahead Roy. |
BLACK: No. No. Listen, I agree that it is
certainly a little insulting not to tell him and there is an alternative
reality there. Listen, the man doesn't live in reality... |
ABRAMS: It's the last place you want to be,
Roy, is that guy... (CROSSTALK) |
BLACK: But Mesereau is not the guy
handling... |
ABRAMS: All right...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Diane Dimond...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Diane Dimond, go ahead.
DIMOND: Yoo-hoo. Yoo-hoo. Can I remind everybody about the elephant in the
room here? There was a young boy testifying today that he was molested by
Michael Jackson. I mean we're still talking about whether or not he was
wearing jammies when he got here.
ABRAMS: All right. But the bottom line is...
DIMOND: You know and I think that that was part of the strategy, Dan, is
what I'm getting at, if there was a strategy here. Michael Jackson didn't
comb his hair all day. He sat there looking disheveled, to make -- perhaps
the cynical would say and a lot of people here on media row are saying it,
all the eyes were on Michael Jackson all day.
They weren't on that little boy on the stand.
ABRAMS: And Ron, what about that...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: What about looking...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: ... at it from the most cynical way, Ron?
RICHARDS: That's absolutely preposterous. It would be unethical and
illegal.
ABRAMS: Yes. OK...
RICHARDS: ... Diane is just speculating.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Let's all accept that it would be unethical...
FALLON: Ron, but Jackson could do what he wants and quite frankly, I'm
concerned does anybody but me know he's molesting -- alleged to have
molested this kid in pajamas and he's wearing pajamas.
(CROSSTALK)
FALLON: If I were the prosecutor I would have said, look around the
courtroom. What did Jackson have on and if this kid had any kind of
brain...
(CROSSTALK)
FALLON: ... he would have said those were the pajamas he had.
ABRAMS: All right.
RICHARDS: Bill, let me get a word in here. He -- Jackson, I was behind him
in the afternoon. When the cross started, he perked up and started writing
notes and I -- he was much more lively...
ABRAMS: Yes...
RICHARDS: ... once he felt that he was being vindicated.
ABRAMS: Well, I guess the painkillers probably wore off too, but all
right, let me...
(LAUGHTER)
ABRAMS: ... let me take a quick break here. When we get back -- when we
come back, we've got all the quotes. I've got them right here from what
happened today in court -- the accuser's testimony today. How did he do?
Everyone is sticking around.
And that's the other story we're coming by. The judge, family killed,
husband, mother. Looks like they may have found the guy dead.
The latest on that case coming up as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ABRAMS: The accuser in the Michael Jackson case on the witness stand
today, completed his direct examination, talked about Jackson serving him
liquor, talked about pornography and talked about Jackson molesting him.
I quote. "He told me if I had ever heard of Jesus juice. He told me like
you know how Jesus drank wine. We call it Jesus juice. I drank a little
bit of it and I told him it tasted ugly. I told him it was bad for me to
drink alcohol and he said it was OK and nothing was going to happen." He's
talking about the fact that he had cancer and that he had lost a kidney.
He went on. More testimony from the accuser -- I was afraid the alcohol
would show in my urine, so I told Michael and I asked him what I should
do. He said doo-doo -- that was nickname for him. Doo-doo, you just don't
take the test.
Did you drink that night?
We were already in the wine cellar and I had my glass poured.
Did you drink?
Yes.
Did Mr. Jackson?
Yes.
And then finally he talked about Jackson molesting him twice and let me
warn you, this is graphic, OK. This is specific. It's graphic.
It's a little bit disgusting, so if you don't want to hear it, leave the
room.
All right, here it is. The prosecutor: Tell the jury how it came about
that you and Mr. Jackson were in the bed together.
We just came back from drinking in the arcade. We were in the room for a
while. Michael said if men don't masturbate, they can get to a level where
they can rape a girl. He told me a story. That he saw a boy who didn't
masturbate and he had sex with a dog. Yuck.
All right. You know, Ron Richards, I think that certainly the direct
examination seems to have gone well for the prosecution.
RICHARDS: Well there was one slip-up when he tried to coach the witness
who couldn't remember his grand jury testimony about Michael Jackson being
naked and they went through a very bad machination between the two of them
that the jury really was shaking their heads about.
ABRAMS: Yes, but...
RICHARDS: Other than that, it was OK.
ABRAMS: ... that to me falls into one of the categories of, you know, one
of those details. It's not going to make or break anything.
You know, whether Michael Jackson walked in naked, was he aroused? I mean
the details -- the distinction between what his brother says and he says
on that issue to me is not particularly significant.
RICHARDS: Well I'll tell you an important detail was the timeline.
He pointed out that right after he saw Larry Feldman who referred him to
Stan Katz, that's when this allegation of molestation...
ABRAMS: You've got to tell us who's who...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: You've got to not throw out names. All right, the -- you're saying
that the timeline...
RICHARDS: Larry Feldman...
ABRAMS: Right.
RICHARDS: ... the timeline that was critical that was pointed out, Larry
Feldman is the plaintiff's attorney that sued Michael Jackson in 1993. It
wasn't until after the alleged victim went and saw this plaintiff's
attorney who referred him to a psychiatrist named Stan Katz...
ABRAMS: Right.
RICHARDS: ... that's when all of a sudden there was some allegations of
molestation. That was critical, and he kept -- he was very evasive about
getting to that point.
ABRAMS: Diane, the defense has a long way to go, though, with this
witness.
DIMOND: Well, they do. And we thought that they had a way to go, too, with
his sister and the younger brother who were here earlier this week. But
Tom Mesereau is good. I mean he digs right in there.
However, Dan, I think even Ron Richards would have to admit that he got
off to a somewhat acrimonious start. He had a very loud voice with this
boy. He was very aggressive. He was hammering the questions so fast that
the judge had to ask him to slow down. And it got the boy's ire up. Maybe
that's what Tom Mesereau was trying to do.
ABRAMS: Very quickly...
DIMOND: And he started to call him Mr. Mesereau.
ABRAMS: Very quickly, Roy Black, how hard -- I mean he's going at this kid
hard, but you kind of have to, right? |
BLACK: Well, there's a difference. You have
to go after him, but you don't necessarily have to make it look so rough
in front of the jury. |
ABRAMS: Right. |
BLACK: You can ask tough questions, but you
don't have to raise your voice. It's the questions and the details that
make the difference. You don't have to yell at a witness. |
ABRAMS: All right. We're going to take a
break. More about the accuser's testimony coming up and the
cross-examination -- they started it, trying to poke some holes in the
account. How did it go? We'll tell you.
And what looks like a bizarre ending to the investigation of who murdered
a judge's husband and mother. Forget the white supremacist connection. A
man with a grudge may have just been the one who killed the judge himself,
leaving a suicide note saying he's responsible for the murders.
Your e-mails abramsreport@msnbc.com. Please include your name and where
you're writing from. I respond at the end of the show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ABRAMS: The accuser in the Michael Jackson case on the witness stand.
We'll tell you exactly how he held up for the beginning of the
cross-examination, but first the headlines.
(NEWS BREAK)
ABRAMS: We're talking about a bizarre day in the Michael Jackson case. The
accuser on the witness stand. Before that, Michael Jackson almost had --
almost arrested. There was a warrant out for his arrest. Finally he showed
up in his P.J.'s and slippers and listened as the accuser testified about
Jackson molesting him on two separate occasions and about serving him wine
and showing him pornography, et cetera.
All right, let me read from one of the lines of cross-examination.
It was about 20 minutes or so of cross-examination, just the beginning of
it.
Question from Jackson's attorney Tom Mesereau. After you meet with an
attorney, you suddenly come up with the story that Michael somehow
inappropriately touched you?
Answer: No, because I didn't tell the attorney anything about what Michael
did or about the alcohol.
You know, Ron, the problem that the defense has here is that really, you
know, each and every one of the children have testified, the girl, the
sister, the little brother and the boy, all have to be making up these
stories, right, out of whole cloth and all have to be sort of sticking to
their guns about what happened. Fair?
RICHARDS: That's fair.
ABRAMS: And that's...
RICHARDS: But...
ABRAMS: Go ahead.
RICHARDS: Oh go ahead, Dan.
ABRAMS: No, go ahead.
RICHARDS: Well, I would tell you that that would be fair, but you're
forgetting one minor thing, not you personally, but the pundits out there
that the defense has an entire case that's going to show this family acts
as a team and they coordinate their stories. They've as a team sought
money from individuals. And as a team they've been indignant and have a
high level of expectation interest from Michael Jackson. And it was shown
on the witness stand today that this boy had a high degree of expectation
of things Michael should have been doing for him while he was sick when
Michael owed him nothing.
ABRAMS: And...
FALLON: You know what? This is going to be the case the grifter versus the
groper. That's what we call this case and quite frankly, it's important,
because this is where Mesereau, fine attorney that he is, should be going
a little lighter on this boy because the ultimate grifter is Mrs. Grifter,
mom grifter, and I think you run the risk of a 13-year-old cancer boy,
even what Ron just said, that the cancer victim somehow thought that
Michael Jackson owed him something. Well guess what? Michael Jackson he
thought was his best friend. The other people who are in his life, be
careful how you bash a then 13-year-old. Go after the mother if you're the
defense.
ABRAMS: And I got to tell you, I think -- and I'm going to read from the
grand jury testimony because this is going to come up in the
cross-examination of this boy.
The prosecutor asked him all right, you told us about two occasions now. A
night and then the next night that Mr. Jackson masturbated you, correct?
Yes.
Did he do it again?
A second, I think so.
Prosecutor: How many times do you think that happened like that?
Probably about five times.
Then the three times?
Well it feels like if I'm trying to remember back to kindergarten, it
feels kind of dream-like.
That to me seems to be the biggest problem for this boy in terms of his
testimony. Diane, you don't see that as a real potential problem for the
prosecutors?
DIMOND: No, I do. I do see it as a problem. He's saying I think I remember
three other instances, but I can't really grab them out of my brain.
Although you know what the prosecution says, Dan. They say that the reason
he can't grab them out of his brain is because he had too much alcohol.
Today we elicited testimony -- we heard testimony that talked about that
every single night they were at the ranch.
And there was testimony today from this boy -- we'll see if the jury
believes it -- that put Michael Jackson in the middle of this conspiracy.
He was in a room with Ronald Konitzer and Dieter Wiesner talking to this
boy about a plan they had to spin the media back toward Michael Jackson.
They talked -- he talked about false imprisonment charges. He talked about
the attempt of lewd and lascivious behavior to get him to touch Jackson.
There was a tremendous amount of negative testimony in there today for
Jackson but that doesn't mean that Tom Mesereau can't turn it around.
ABRAMS: Yes and Roy Black, this is one of
those cases where the lawyering really matters. I mean there's a lot of
cases we talk about where the evidence sort of rains supreme. It seems to
me in a case like this, the lawyering ends up becoming crucial. |
BLACK: Well there's no doubt about it. You
know, the tail of this case will be told in the next several days during
cross-examination.
But Dan, to answer your earlier question
about him saying he's unsure whether it's two times or five times and it's
somewhat dreamy, what the prosecution could well argue is that if he was
making this up and he was coached to do it, he wouldn't be saying he
wasn't sure. He'd be much more positive. So you know there's a flip side
to each one of these things... |
ABRAMS: Yes.
FALLON: And Dan also I think it's important...
(CROSSTALK)
FALLON: ... the sister says -- the brother comes in and says I don't know
if he's sleeping or not. I think that just as Roy said, you get that. You
don't lock the kid in. If you're going to lock him into a story -- I'm not
saying he did or didn't do it, but that can be used for both sides.
ABRAMS: I want to know -- let me play again. This is the Martin Bashir's
documentary that the prosecutors say started all of this and here's what
Jackson said on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you ever sleep in the bed with them?
MICHAEL JACKSON, ACCUSED OF MOLESTATION: No. But I have slept in the bed
with many children. I sleep in the bed with all of them. When Macaulay
Culkin was little, Kieran Culkin would sleep on this side, Macaulay Culkin
on this side, his sister is in there -- we were all just jamming the bed.
Then we wake up like dawn and go out in the hot air balloon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABRAMS: Unbelievable...
FALLON: There's something wrong here...
ABRAMS: I mean -- yes -- all right -- I mean I'm just shaking my head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will tell you...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Yes, I'm shaking my head. Let me just ask...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Let me just ask Stacy Brown a question.
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Stacy, you've followed Michael Jackson's career. You know his
family. I mean don't they think that there's a screw loose?
BROWN: Well they subscribe to the theory that he's living out his
childhood fantasies. That there's nothing sinister, you know, that he's
-- there's nothing wrong with...
ABRAMS: Right. I'm not...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: No, look, I'm not saying that that doesn't mean this family is,
you know, possibly making up a story about Michael Jackson, but, you know,
this is a big problem. Let me ask this as a legal matter. Bill, you wanted
to get in a minute ago, but as a legal matter, this is one of the big
problems, is I think a lot of this case is going to be a sense. Do these
jurors sense that they believe this kid? Do these jurors sense that
Michael Jackson is a child molester?
FALLON: And Dan, you know what? There are two lines here. The case is not
really all about the lawyering. It's about the '93 case, and I think that
that -- the lawyering (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the '93 case is first, but I think
you're correct about one thing. And if I'm the prosecutor, and I don't
know if Sneddon can do this, I would say you know what, 95 percent of what
this guy does is great, loving and wonderful. It's just he thinks he's a
kid. He's doing sexual experimentation and that's the way -- only way to
win this case...
ABRAMS: All right.
FALLON: ... by saying it's not the worst molestation...
ABRAMS: All right.
FALLON: ... but it's horrible...
ABRAMS: I've got to wrap it up. Bottom line is that the cross-examination
is going to resume on Monday. This cross-examination could make or break
this case. We'll certainly be on top of it...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Diane Dimond, good to see you. Thanks a lot. Roy Black, Ron
Richards, Bill Fallon, Stacy Brown... |
BLACK: Good to see you Dan. |
ABRAMS: Thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.
Coming up, a possible break in the murder
investigation involving a judge's family murdered execution style. A man
today commits suicide, reportedly confesses to the crime. We've got
exclusive details up next. |
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