Michael Jackson's trial

[Roberto]

Culkin Calls Jacko Allegations 'Ridiculous'

SANTA MARIA, Calif. — Former child star Macaulay Culkin (search) took the witness stand Wednesday to testify for the defense in Michael Jackson's (search) child molestation trial, blasting allegations that he was once molested by the pop star as "ridiculous."

Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. asked Culkin, now 24, what he thought of the charges against Jackson.

"I think they're absolutely ridiculous," Culkin said.

He said prosecutors never approached him about whether Jackson had ever molested him, and that he only learned of the allegations that he had been molested by watching news coverage of the trial.

"Somebody told me you should probably check out CNN because they're saying something about you," Culkin said. "I just couldn't believe it. ... It was amazing to me that nobody even approached me and asked if these allegations were true."

Prosecution witnesses testified earlier that Jackson inappropriatetly touched Culkin, who was a frequent childhood guest of Jackson's. That testimony was used to allege that Jackson has a pattern of inappropriate behavior with boys.

Those witnesses included a chef who testified he saw Jackson with his hand up Culkin's shorts as the singer held the boy up to a video game at Jackson's Neverland ranch.

A former maid also testified previously that Culkin stayed in Jackson's bedroom during visits to Neverland. That woman, whose son received a $2.4 million settlement from Jackson in 1994, was attacked by the defense because she was paid $20,000 to appear on a TV show.

Tuesday, the manager of Jackson's Neverland ranch acknowledged he lied to law enforcement officials in 2003 when he said he had no knowledge of Jackson sharing his bed with children.

The testimony by Joe Marcus (search) came during cross-examination by prosecutors, who sought to show he had lied to protect Jackson. At one point, prosecutor Gordon Auchincloss (search) said, "You keep looking at Mr. Jackson. Why is that?"

Marcus appeared startled and didn't answer, and a defense objection was sustained.

Auchincloss then asked Marcus if he was loyal to Jackson. He answered "Yes."

Marcus, who was expected to return to the stand Wednesday, acknowledged he lied when he told authorities during a November 2003 search of Neverland that he did not know about children sleeping in the singer's bedroom.

He later added the events of that day were chaotic and "I was overwhelmed."

The defense called Marcus to the stand Monday to testify that he never instructed anyone to hold Jackson's accuser and the boy's family against their will. He suggested Tuesday no such captivity happened.

The captivity claim is part of the conspiracy portion of the case against the pop star, who is alleged to have molested a 13-year-old boy in 2003.

Prosecutors claim the singer conspired to hold the family to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary in which the boy appeared with Jackson. They also claim Jackson associates planned to send the family on a one-way trip to Brazil.

Marcus, an 18-year employee, testified Tuesday that the family of Jackson's accuser never objected when there were discussions about them going to Brazil. He said the only thing the boy's family wanted to know was where to go to have passport pictures taken.

"Did you ever receive any instructions from anyone to hold the (family) against their will?" Jackson attorney Robert Sanger asked.

"No," Marcus said.

Also Tuesday, the prosecution tried to show Jackson has more "special friends" who are boys than girls or women.

Marcus said there were also females who were close to the star, but when asked to name them off the top of his head he could only come up with Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli, a granddaughter of Marlon Brando and Karlee Barnes, the sister of a boy who spent time at Neverland.

Auchincloss also asked whether Marcus knew Jackson had adult materials at the ranch. Marcus said no, but acknowledged that dolls in bondage attire were kept on Jackson's desk. He called them "artwork."

"Do you think it's appropriate for children to be exposed to these?" Auchincloss asked.

Marcus paused and quietly said no.

At the outset of his cross-examination of Culkin, prosecutor Ronald Zonen asked the actor about a trip he once took to Bermuda with Jackson and other friends. During that vacation, Culkin confirmed that the singer gave him an expensive Rolex watch, but discounted the gift's significance. "I didn't see it as crazy. I was not a person without means, said Culkin. "It was not that awe inspiring."

n a bid to counter Culkin's testimony that he has never been approached by law enforcement officials about the abuse claims, Zonen asked the actor whether he (or his representatives) had, over the years, rebuffed interview requests from investigators. Culkin said he was unaware of those requests.

When Zonen asked Culkin about the frequency with which he shared Jackson's bed, the actor did not specify a number of times he bunked with the King of Pop. In a follow-up, Zonen asked if Culkin had ever slept with any other 35-year-old men. "Not that I remember," the actor testified. "But I wasn't friends with any other 35-year-old men who understood me."

During Mesereau's redirect examination, Culkin was asked about his comment that Jackson "understood" him. The "Home Alone" star testified that the singer could relate with the actor's worldwide fame and the fact that some people sought to personally profit from their association with him. "He gets it," Culkin said of Jackson, whom the actor described as "childlike".

[source: The smoking Gun and Foxnews]

[Maiii]

too long to read :P But I'm not specially interested in this anyway.

[Roberto]

Originally Posted by Maiii

too long to read :P But I'm not specially interested in this anyway.

In few words: MICHAEL JACKSON IS INNOCENT 100%, ok?

[artsaves1228]

Originally Posted by Maiii

too long to read :P But I'm not specially interested in this anyway.

yeah me too...im getting tired of seeing this all over tv, i dont care if he's innocent or guilty anymore...

[van helsing]

Originally Posted by artsaves1228

yeah me too...im getting tired of seeing this all over tv, i dont care if he's innocent or guilty anymore...

me too

[Maiii]

innocent or not, he's still scary

[Roberto]

Originally Posted by Maiii

innocent or not, he's still scary

scary or not, he's innocent
I favourite the heart of a person and not his aspect.

[Ardnoosh]

Originally Posted by Roberto

scary or not, he's innocent
I favourite the heart of a person and not his aspect.

looks like you like him very much Roberto

[Roberto]

Originally Posted by Ardnoosh

looks like you like him very much Roberto

I don't understand.....your sentence is strange

[drawingyourattention]

Yeah Roberto.. youre just trying to say that we should like a little less shortsighted at people who may seem 'weird' at the outside.

Like this quote:

innocent or not, he's still scary

this is based on stupidity, ignorance, looking at his outside. scary? because of his plastic surgery...?!

anyway, about the case. It getting clearer and clearer since the defense has started this week. Macauley Culkin was a great witness, but Mark Geragos (his former lawyer who was supposed to defend MJ in this case) had even more intresting information.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/05/13/ja...ial/index.html

Geragos: Surveillance ordered on accuser's family
Attorney says he was concerned pop star might be victimized
Friday, May 13, 2005 Posted: 5:36 PM EDT (2136 GMT)

Mark Geragos, left, arrives Friday with defense team investigator Scott Ross at the Jackson trial.

SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Celebrity criminal attorney Mark Geragos said Friday that he ordered surveillance on the family of Michael Jackson's teenage accuser because he was "gravely concerned" that they might be scheming to extract money from the pop star.

"I was trying to prevent a crime against my client," Geragos told jurors in Jackson's child molestation trial. "I thought they were going to shake him down."

Geragos said he asked private investigator Brad Miller to keep tabs on the family to find out "where they were, what they were doing and who they were meeting with." He also asked Miller to record a statement with the family so that they would be "locked into" their version of events and could not later change their story.

He described the results of Miller's investigation of the family as "negative," and he said he concluded, "Michael should have nothing to do with them."

"It was a pending train wreck," he said.

However, Geragos denied involvement in any conspiracy to hold the family against their will, as the prosecution alleges.

Testifying for the defense, Geragos said he was hired to represent Jackson in February 2003, during what he described as a "whirlwind" after the entertainer appeared in "Living With Michael Jackson," an unflattering television documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir.

Jackson replaced Geragos in April 2004 with his current attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr.

At the time, Geragos was in the middle of representing Scott Peterson -- later sentenced to death for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci -- and Jackson said he made the decision because "it is imperative that I have the full attention of those who are representing me."

Geragos 'pulled the plug' on TV interview
In Bashir's documentary, Jackson was shown holding hands with a then-13-year-old boy now accusing him of molestation. The singer defended his practice of letting children sleep with him in his bed. The program set off an international media firestorm.

"People were making all kinds of allegations ... specifically about one young man, and I was to look into that," Geragos said. His "first concern" was whether the state Division of Children and Family Services might try to take away Jackson's three children.

Shortly after being hired, Geragos went to Jackson's Neverland Ranch for his planned interview with "60 Minutes" journalist Ed Bradley. While there, he said, a Jackson associate told him things about the boy and his family "that were giving me great pause" -- particularly the fact that the boy was calling Jackson "daddy."

Geragos said he had a conversation with Jackson objecting to how the boy was referring to him. He said he eventually "pulled the plug" on the interview.

"It was not going to happen," he said.

Geragos also testified that he had associates in his office perform a database search, which turned up a lawsuit the boy's family filed against J.C. Penney, alleging that they had been mistreated in an altercation with the retailer's security guards. The family received a $155,000 settlement in that case in 2000, according to earlier trial testimony.

Geragos said the J.C. Penney case raised alarm bells because "my client is frequently the target of litigation."

However, under prosecution questioning, Geragos said he never advised Jackson that he should stop sleeping with children.

"I wasn't there to give him advice about that," he said.

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so, Mark Geragos was hired just after the Bashir documentary, cause there was a lot damage done. Geragos thought there was something about this family and was checking things. He became very suspicious.