08.04.2005 - rozprawa
: pt, 08 kwie 2005, 21:53
Former Neverland Ranch maid Adrian McManus leaves the courtroom in Santa Maria, Calif., Friday, April 8, 2005, after she completed her testimony as a prosecution witness in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. She testified that she and other employees used a 'media broker' to sell stories to tabloids, including one claiming inside knowledge of Jackson's sex life with ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley.(AP Photo/ Kevork Djansezian)
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By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson's attorney on Friday extended his attack on the credibility of a former maid who said she saw the singer kiss and fondle young boys, accusing her of once threatening to testify against the pop star if he didn't give her millions of dollars.
Adrian McManus, a maid at Jackson's Neverland ranch from 1990 to 1994, testified Thursday in Jackson's child molestation trial that she saw him kiss and fondle three boys, including one who would later receive a multimillion-dollar settlement from the singer.
When she returned to the stand, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. noted that she had in the past filed a claim against Jackson noting that she could be a "material witness" against him in a civil and criminal trial.
"You were essentially threatening Mr. Jackson that you would change your testimony unless you were paid," Mesereau said.
"I'm not familiar with a lot of attorney language so I really don't know how to answer that," McManus said.
McManus testified she was not seeking money, only justice.
"But your idea of justice was millions of dollars," Mesereau countered.
"A simple 'sorry for what we did to you' would have been enough for me," McManus said, but she acknowledged she never asked Jackson for an apology, saying she didn't know how to contact him.
It was not made clear specifically what McManus' claim was for, but she was among former Neverland employees who sued Jackson in the 1990s and lost.
McManus was one of two former Neverland employees who testified against him on Thursday.
Former security guard Ralph Chacon said he saw Jackson kiss, fondle and perform oral sex on a boy who later received a financial settlement from the pop star.
But Mesereau charged that Chacon was making the whole thing up "to get even" with the singer and portrayed McManus as a thief and a liar.
Mesereau accused Chacon of having tried to "extort" $16 million from Jackson in the lawsuit and lengthy trial that the ex-employees lost. They were ultimately ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in a judgment won by Jackson.
"After a six-month trial, this is a good way to get even with him, isn't it?" Mesereau asked Chacon, drawing a strong objection from the prosecution.
The former employees' testimony is part of a prosecution attempt to show that the current molestation allegations against Jackson are part of a pattern of inappropriate sexual contact with young boys dating back more than a decade.
In questioning by District Attorney Tom Sneddon, Chacon told of looking through a window one night at Jackson's pool house in late 1992 or early 1993 and seeing him perform oral sex on a 10-year-old boy.
Chacon said he saw Jackson get in a Jacuzzi and shower with a boy, then kiss the boy's head and shoulders before moving his hands "down to his private area." He also said there was another incident in which Jackson took the boy away in a golf cart and kissed him in front of a Peter Pan display.
The boy received a financial settlement, reportedly between $15 million and $20 million, from Jackson in 1994. The boy did not cooperate with a police investigation and no charges were filed against Jackson. The boy is not scheduled to testify in the trial.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to make a video rebutting a TV documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bed but that it was innocent.
McManus testified she saw the pop star kiss actor Macaulay Culkin on the cheek while his hand was on Culkin's bottom. The defense has asserted that Culkin has repeatedly said he was never molested, and a spokeswoman for the actor has said he has no plans to be part of the case.
McManus described a similar scene with another boy and a third incident involving the same boy that Chacon testified about.
In the latter incident, she said, Jackson and the boy were changing their shirts when Jackson kissed the boy on his cheek and mouth and put his hand on his groin area.
But McManus also testified that when subpoenaed in the lawsuit that resulted in the 1994 settlement she did not tell attorneys that she had seen Jackson touching the boy.
"I didn't tell the truth. I said I didn't see anything," she said, asserting that she lied "the whole time" under oath.
Mesereau also pointed out that McManus and her husband were found in a lawsuit to have defrauded three children of more than $30,500 from their estate and that in the Jackson lawsuit she was assessed $30,000 for stealing a sketch of Elvis Presley that Jackson had drawn and selling it to a tabloid.
The former guard also acknowledged he was ordered to pay $25,000 for allegedly stealing Jackson's property, which he said was only a candy bar, and that at their lawyer's suggestion, the ex-employees sold a story to a tabloid for $17,000 to fund their lawsuit.
Ponadto wklejam artykuł z tego samego portalu:
By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson's attorney on Friday extended his attack on the credibility of a former maid who said she saw the singer kiss and fondle young boys, accusing her of once threatening to testify against the pop star if he didn't give her millions of dollars.
Adrian McManus, a maid at Jackson's Neverland ranch from 1990 to 1994, testified Thursday in Jackson's child molestation trial that she saw him kiss and fondle three boys, including one who would later receive a multimillion-dollar settlement from the singer.
When she returned to the stand, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. noted that she had in the past filed a claim against Jackson noting that she could be a "material witness" against him in a civil and criminal trial.
"You were essentially threatening Mr. Jackson that you would change your testimony unless you were paid," Mesereau said.
"I'm not familiar with a lot of attorney language so I really don't know how to answer that," McManus said.
McManus testified she was not seeking money, only justice.
"But your idea of justice was millions of dollars," Mesereau countered.
"A simple 'sorry for what we did to you' would have been enough for me," McManus said, but she acknowledged she never asked Jackson for an apology, saying she didn't know how to contact him.
It was not made clear specifically what McManus' claim was for, but she was among former Neverland employees who sued Jackson in the 1990s and lost.
McManus was one of two former Neverland employees who testified against him on Thursday.
Former security guard Ralph Chacon said he saw Jackson kiss, fondle and perform oral sex on a boy who later received a financial settlement from the pop star.
But Mesereau charged that Chacon was making the whole thing up "to get even" with the singer and portrayed McManus as a thief and a liar.
Mesereau accused Chacon of having tried to "extort" $16 million from Jackson in the lawsuit and lengthy trial that the ex-employees lost. They were ultimately ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in a judgment won by Jackson.
"After a six-month trial, this is a good way to get even with him, isn't it?" Mesereau asked Chacon, drawing a strong objection from the prosecution.
The former employees' testimony is part of a prosecution attempt to show that the current molestation allegations against Jackson are part of a pattern of inappropriate sexual contact with young boys dating back more than a decade.
In questioning by District Attorney Tom Sneddon, Chacon told of looking through a window one night at Jackson's pool house in late 1992 or early 1993 and seeing him perform oral sex on a 10-year-old boy.
Chacon said he saw Jackson get in a Jacuzzi and shower with a boy, then kiss the boy's head and shoulders before moving his hands "down to his private area." He also said there was another incident in which Jackson took the boy away in a golf cart and kissed him in front of a Peter Pan display.
The boy received a financial settlement, reportedly between $15 million and $20 million, from Jackson in 1994. The boy did not cooperate with a police investigation and no charges were filed against Jackson. The boy is not scheduled to testify in the trial.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to make a video rebutting a TV documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bed but that it was innocent.
McManus testified she saw the pop star kiss actor Macaulay Culkin on the cheek while his hand was on Culkin's bottom. The defense has asserted that Culkin has repeatedly said he was never molested, and a spokeswoman for the actor has said he has no plans to be part of the case.
McManus described a similar scene with another boy and a third incident involving the same boy that Chacon testified about.
In the latter incident, she said, Jackson and the boy were changing their shirts when Jackson kissed the boy on his cheek and mouth and put his hand on his groin area.
But McManus also testified that when subpoenaed in the lawsuit that resulted in the 1994 settlement she did not tell attorneys that she had seen Jackson touching the boy.
"I didn't tell the truth. I said I didn't see anything," she said, asserting that she lied "the whole time" under oath.
Mesereau also pointed out that McManus and her husband were found in a lawsuit to have defrauded three children of more than $30,500 from their estate and that in the Jackson lawsuit she was assessed $30,000 for stealing a sketch of Elvis Presley that Jackson had drawn and selling it to a tabloid.
The former guard also acknowledged he was ordered to pay $25,000 for allegedly stealing Jackson's property, which he said was only a candy bar, and that at their lawyer's suggestion, the ex-employees sold a story to a tabloid for $17,000 to fund their lawsuit.