Jackson Lawyer Fumes Over Secret Taping

[DudeAsInCool]

By Linda Deutsch

Nov. 25, 2003  |  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Michael Jackson's attorney angrily vowed Tuesday to "land like a ton of bricks" on anyone who besmirches his client's reputation and charged that molestation allegations against the entertainer were motivated by money.

"If anybody doesn't think based upon what's happened so far that the true motivation of these charges and these allegations is anything but money and the seeking of money, then they're living in their own Neverland," Mark Geragos said, referring to Jackson's storybook playland near Santa Barbara.

Geragos did not take any questions at the news conference, but promised a vigorous defense.

"Michael Jackson is not going to be slammed. He is not going to be a pinata for every person who has financial motives," he said.

 

The news conference came as doubts about the credibility of Jackson's accuser and his family began to emerge.

The family of the child has already been involved in two previous cases that involved abuse allegations: a lawsuit in which the family said they were battered by mall security guards, and a divorce fight in which the father pleaded no contest to spousal abuse and child cruelty.

In November 2001, J.C. Penney Co. paid the boy's family $137,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging security guards beat the boy, his mother and his brother in a parking lot after the boy left the store carrying clothes that hadn't been paid for, court records show.

The mother also contended that she was sexually assaulted by one of the guards during the 1998 confrontation.

A month before the settlement, the boy's mother had filed for divorce, beginning a bitter fight that would include criminal charges of abuse. The father's attorney, Russell Halpern, said the mother had lied about the abuse and had a "Svengali-like" ability to make her children repeat her lies.

Halpern said the father once showed him a script his wife had allegedly written for their children to use when they were questioned in a civil deposition.

"She wrote out all their testimony. I actually saw the script," Halpern said. "I remember my client showing me, bringing the paperwork to me."

The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse. The child's mother has an unlisted number and could not be located for comment. J.C. Penney lawyers did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The family's past legal cases could be critical in the current molestation case, if Geragos can show the mother or the accuser lacks credibility, said Leonard Levine, a defense attorney who specializes in sexual assault cases.

"It sounds like music to a defense attorney's ears -- that there have been other cases where they have sued and there is at least an argument that the allegations are similar to the ones here," Levine said, referring to the claims of physical abuse.

"Once you can get evidence in that there's previous evidence that either the child or the parents have fabricated evidence or testimony, you're 90 percent to an acquittal," Levine added.

Jackson was released on $3 million bail after his surrender Thursday and immediately returned to Las Vegas, where he had been filming a video. Santa Barbara County authorities said Tuesday they now expect to file formal charges sometime in mid-December rather than soon after Thanksgiving.

Jackson's spokesman, Stuart Backerman, declined comment about the past lawsuits involving the accuser's family.

Geragos called the news conference following revelations that he and Jackson were secretly videotaped while flying on a private jet to Santa Barbara last week for Jackson's surrender.

Geragos claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against Santa Monica-based XtraJet that the charter company covertly installed two cameras in the plane's cabin.

Jackson's attorneys won a temporary restraining order against XtraJet, barring any release of the tapes.

The cameras "were recording attorney-client conversations and then somebody had the unmitigated gall to shop those tapes around to media outlets in order to sell them to the highest bidder," he said.

Separately, FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin said agents went to the headquarters of XtraJet. "We're currently assessing if a federal violation has occurred," McLaughlin said.

The tapes' existence came to light when representatives of XtraJet showed it to several news organizations, saying they had found two videotapes aboard one of their jets and wanted to know whether it was legal to distribute or sell them.

Geragos said he contacted XtraJet and was referred to an attorney who told him Tuesday: "We had a lottery ticket and we thought we were going to do something with it."

"This is not the lottery," Geragos said. "This is this man's life. This is his family's life. These are scurrilous accusations."

The attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Fox Network viewed the tape on Monday and reported that Jackson looked "calm, often smiling or laughing" during the flight.

The lawsuit claims XtraJet asked Fox to pay a price "in the high six figures."

___

Associated Press writer Tim Molloy also contributed to this report.

[DudeAsInCool]

I thought when I read the above AP wire that Michael Jackson was being bilked for money. That still maybe true. But reading this, one wonders how innocent Michael Jackson is..

http://RIAAhumor.bravehost.com/mj.html

[Kooperman]

Michael Jackson has serious psychological problems and his sad public demise is in the not-so-distant future......BUT these people are fortune seekers. There are probably real, legitimate kids out there who could tell stories that would put Jacko away, but I can't see this group of scumbags doing it.

[DudeAsInCool]

I remember the kid from the doc and he seemed very happy to be in Neverland. My guess is that the mother is the greedy culprit here..

[Kooperman]

That's right, I saw the documentary as well, and the kid was happy as a puppy there. But MJ's case of arrested development was so painful to watch that it was truly sad.

[HolyMoly]

There are probably real, legitimate kids out there who could tell stories that would put Jacko away, but I can't see this group of scumbags doing it.

Yes, there are legitimate kids out there with stories to tell (though some of them aren't "kids" anymore). In 1996 (3 years after Jackson's last incident), California law changed - allowing victims who'd not previously pressed charges to testify against their molester to show a "pattern of behavior." And currently, the D.A. has over 100 people on that list. Trial day will likely be a Frosty Friday for Mr. Jackson ... especially if the statute of limitations hasn't expired on any or all of these previous (but unreported) offenses.

BTW, kids smile for cameras all the time ... even if they have reasons not to smile. And any good psychologist will tell you that an abused child sometimes takes the side of their abuser (a childhood version of the "Stockholm Syndrome").

P.S. Question for anyone here (a straw poll). If you were the victim of child abuse, would criminal punishment of your abuser be enough for you ... or would you, like other victims, seek monetary redress in civil court? I know I would ... and I wouldn't call myself a money-grubber for doing it.

P.P.S. But back to the topic at hand -- the secret videotape done by XtraJet personnel. I know I'll get slammed for bringing this up (grin) but I wonder how long it will take before a digital copy of this video makes it to P2P networks?

[DudeAsInCool]

Holy Moly: P.S. Question for anyone here (a straw poll). If you were the victim of child abuse, would criminal punishment of your abuser be enough for you ... or would you, like other victims, seek monetary redress in civil court?

LOL. I'd take the money.

I think Michael is really a child--so in that sense, his relationships with those kids are different mentally than most middle aged men. Do you see himself as a manipulative abuser? I dont quite think his relationships with the kids is quite that--

[HolyMoly]

Do you see himself as a manipulative abuser?

I honestly can't figure Michael Jackson out. It seems everybody and their brother sees him as a clueless ignoramous who doesn't have a solid grip on adulthood. But, I see a different Michael Jackson. I see a Michael Jackson who behaves like a child in front of the media ... up until his interests are threatened. Then, he becomes an articulate speech-maker with a poker-face who can "talk adult" just like the rest of us.

However, if the trial becomes as ugly as I think it might (with all those other witnesses ... possibly including the boy, now 20, who withdrew charges against Jackson in 1993), I suspect we might see a change of tactics on the part of the defense - perhaps even a plea of "dimished capacity" on Jackson's part (the "he's only a child inside" defense).

I'm still very suspicious of that 1993 incident. If I was a near-billionaire as Jackson was back then (and probably still is now) and someone accused me of something as foul and despicable as child molestation, I'd not only refuse to settle with the SOB, I'd counter-sue ... BIG TIME ... for defamation of character. Now, all of a sudden, his attorney is getting righteous ... threatening to "come down like a ton of bricks" on anyone besmirching Jackson. Where was that righteousness in 1993? Food for thought, eh?

[Shawn]

I honestly can't figure Michael Jackson out. It seems everybody and their brother sees him as a clueless ignoramous who doesn't have a solid grip on adulthood. But, I see a different Michael Jackson. I see a Michael Jackson who behaves like a child in front of the media ... up until his interests are threatened. Then, he becomes an articulate speech-maker with a poker-face who can "talk adult" just like the rest of us.

I've kind of been thinking that myself.

The press release on his new site sure weren't written by a "child".

[DudeAsInCool]

As I understood it, the kids father in 1993 was just like the mother in this years case.One of the reasons they settle is that whether he's guilty or not, the media would drag the case out and it would harm him more professionally. And if he is guilty, hed want to get it over anyway and quick. I see alot of parallels here and the Kobe case--part of its our puritanical society, and part of it is the media going for sensation (the natl enquirer as become the ny times--and is one of their clients by the way)--and then these malajusted people whose lives were affected by fame at an early age.

ps yeah, i think he slept with the kid in 93, and mccauley culkin, probably--but my guess is that the kids were old enough to know better...

[HolyMoly]

One of the reasons they settle is that whether he's guilty or not, the media would drag the case out and it would harm him more professionally.

What would harm one more professionally than an unresolved issue involving child molestation? Since 1993, Jackson's popularity has been on a downward spiral ... and part of the reason for that (just my opinion) is the quick payoff to that family back then. California law in 1993 could not force a child to testify against a molester. Jackson knew it, his lawyers knew it, and I suspect the public knew it.

I've kind of been thinking that myself.

The press release on his new site sure weren't written by a "child".

And hopefully, neither were the lyrics of Jackson's songs ... all with very adult themes and some with deep meanings. They could not have been written by a "child."

[DudeAsInCool]

Perhaps its a split personality, maybe brought on my his domineering dad--im not trying to make excuses for him--but look at neverland... other than walt disney, who would build such a thing?

[HolyMoly]

Perhaps its a split personality, maybe brought on my his domineering dad--im not trying to make excuses for him--but look at neverland... other than walt disney, who would build such a thing?

That's why I suspect his lawyer will revert to a "diminished capacity" plea if things get ugly. And, I'd have no problem with such a plea. If Jackson's behavior was brought on by mitigating factors he could not control (a bizarre or brutal upbringing), then he shouldn't go to jail. He should go to a mental institution ... one where a cure can't be "bought" (if you know what I mean).

[DudeAsInCool]

You think like me. Unfortunately, society seems to be more brutal. I think there are too, too, many people in jail right now...

[DudeAsInCool]

I recently volunteered to tutor a kid whose in jail for life--the prosecutors created a whole bunch of bunk to put him there.

[HolyMoly]

You think like me.  Unfortunately, society seems to be more brutal.  I think there are too, too, many people in jail right now...

Well, I don't think there are too many people in jail. I think there's a disproportionate amount of the stupid and the poor in jail ... with the smart and the rich getting away with things.

BTW, here's a conspiracy theory for you (grin). When O.J. Simpson was acquitted, I thought it was a miscarriage of justice. But 48 hours later, I thought there might be a chance that he was innocent. Here's why.

Two days after the trial ended, O.J.'s forensic expert, Dr. Lee, returned home. He was greeted at the airport by reporters. One of them asked, "Dr. Lee, what in your opinion was the prosecution's biggest forensic mistake?" Without batting an eyelash, Lee replied, quote, "They went after the wrong Simpson." The next day, when another reporter asked him to expand on that remark, he denied even making it. He could have merely said, "Well, I just meant that O.J. is one tough person." Instead, he denied the statement. Why?

Now ... ask these questions:

(Q) Who openly stated that he hated Nicole, blaming her for the breakup between his mom and O.J.?

(A) Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son by his first marriage.

(Q) The blood evidence was tainted ... and the best the prosecution could say was that the type closely matched O.J.'s. Who else would have been a close biological match?

(A) Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son by his first marriage.

(Q) The bloody glove didn't fit O.J. Who was never asked to try it on?

(A) Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son by his first marriage.

(Q) Who worked in the same industry (upscale restaurant biz) as Ronald Goldman ... may have socialized with him and possibly was someone Goldman could identify?

(A) Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son by his first marriage.

(Q) When O.J. was released following his acquittal, he went straight home to his estate. Who was the one and only person to meet him at the gate and embrace him?

(A) Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son by his first marriage.

(Q) With O.J.'s prosecutors humiliated in defeat, who wouldn't they dare touch with a ten-meter cattle-prod?

(A) Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son by his first marriage.

Think about it. O.J. was an astute businessman. Why would someone with a calculating mind do so much following Nicole's death to point the finger of guilt at himself - unless he was doing it on purpose to protect someone he loved, confident that he could get himself off the hook?

Like I said, though (grin), it's only a conspiracy theory.

[DudeAsInCool]

I would have thought it was looney, except i didnt know he worked with ron goldman at the restaurant (i used to go there by the way sometimes--a friend lived across the street), and i didnt know that the son had a vendetta against the wife. and the glove fits. how did u put it together?

also - i agree with your chinatown description of todays society; if you're rich enough, you can get with murder and fuck your daughter (society)

[HolyMoly]

I would have thought it was looney, except i didnt know he worked with ron goldman at the restaurant (i used to go there by the way sometimes--a friend lived across the street), and i didnt know that the son had a vendetta against the wife. and the glove fits.  how did u put it together?

The day after Lee made that statement (then denied making it), I was watching CBS News talking with Alan Dershowitz ... the New York "pointman" for Robert Shapiro (who later fell out of favor with Shapiro). CBS asked him about Lee's statement and denial. His response? Dershowitz was smiling like a Cheshire cat and replied, "Well, you're asking the wrong person. Talk to Dr. Lee." I was hoping he'd answer it directly. But, his smile and his evasiveness said plenty to me.

BTW, Goldman and Simpson didn't work in the same restaurant. They worked in the same "biz" ... Goldman was a waiter at one upscale restaurant, Simpson was a chef at another. But, they may have moved in the same circles, socially. Who can say?

[HolyMoly]

Almost forgot (getting back to the topic of the XtraJet videotape). Now, I'm not faulting the attorney for getting upset with the videotape. But I distinctly remember "rumors" in the news that Michael was crying on the jet, hysterical, and even requesting that the pilot fly him to South America. However, when FoxNews viewed the tape (they didn't air it), they reported that Jackson was calm, talkative and even laughing with his entourage during the flight. Now, the truth itself doesn't indict Jackson of anything. But who would have wanted to plant such a "rumor" in the news media that Michael was crying, hysterical, etc., etc.????? Obviously, it was someone who wanted to portray Michael Jackson as behaving in a "childlike" manner ... throwing a tantrum, as it were, on the flight to Santa Barbara.

So, another conspiracy theory. Could it be that Jackson's legal team released the rumor ... fueling the popular belief that Jackson was in a state of childlike confusion, reflecting the persona of someone innocent? And could it be that when the videotape proved otherwise, Jackson's attorney was not only angry that his attorney/client privelege was violated, but also angry because the "leaked cover story" was blown out of the water by the facts?

[DudeAsInCool]

BTW, Goldman and Simpson didn't work in the same restaurant. They worked in the same "biz" ... Goldman was a waiter at one upscale restaurant, Simpson was a chef at another. But, they may have moved in the same circles, socially.

Really--I thought the Simpson kid was much younger than that. If your theory is true, then OJ is actually a good guy in a sense, protecting his son. Nicole Simpson's astrologer is a very good friend of mine--he warned her of violence beforehand... (he also predicted to me election eve that the Bush-Gore election would go all the way to the Supreme Court, and I have witnesses.)

[HolyMoly]

also - i agree with your chinatown description of todays society;  if you're rich enough, you can get (away) with murder...

Well, I didn't say just the rich. Smart but otherwise poor people get away with all kinds of things all the time. Fortunately for cops, they're in the minority. A good example of such a man is D. B. (Dan) Cooper -- the guy who was paid a $200,000 ransom back in 1971 and then parachuted out of the back of a 727. The crime was never "officially" solved. DNA collection procedures in 1971 weren't all that sophisticated and a lot of evidence was just thrown away. Unofficially, though, the case was possibly solved 3 years ago based on the deathbed confession of a man calling himself Duane Weber. The FBI agent assigned to the case believes personally that Weber is the culprit. But (grin) it could be safely said that the deathbed confessions of a criminal mean that he got away with it.

Back in August of 2000, Weber's widow, Jo, was interviewed on NPR. The quality is not all that great but, for voice interviews, understandable. Click HERE for the RealAudio interview and slide the RealPlayer time-bar to the 21 minute mark (that's where it begins). It's just shy of 12 minutes long.

[DudeAsInCool]

Peter Guber wanted to make the DBCooper story into a film. In a way, Spielberg has sort of covered that ground in Catch a Thief... But back on topic--I thought the Simpson kid was a teen--too young to be a chef--but i suppose old enuff to take someones life. Any other info come to light?

PS Did you see your welcome thread?

[HolyMoly]

Really--I thought the Simpson kid was much younger than that.  If your theory is true, then OJ is actually a good guy in a sense, protecting his son.  Nicole Simpson's astrologer is a very good friend of mine--he warned her of violence beforehand... (he also predicted to me election eve that the Bush-Gore election would  go all the way to the Supreme Court, and I have witnesses.)

Jason was born in 1970 (24 years old when the murder occurred). Visit THIS WEBSITE and pay particular attention to the timeline notes on these dates:

June 1977 (OJ meets Nicole)

October 1978 (OJ separates from Marguerite)

(HINT - When you're only 7 to 8 years old and daddy divorces mommy for another woman, the resentment must have been acutely felt ... and between then and age 24 was a lot of time to build on that resentment.)

March 1993 (Jason gets criminal record for assaulting a guy)

And then, of course, on June 12, 1994, Nicole is murdered by "someone." It's important to remember that O.J.'s last violent act against Nicole was in 1989 -- and that Jason's last violent act was only a year before Nicole was murdered. As Dr. Lee said, I suspect "They went after the wrong Simpson."

[DudeAsInCool]

Jason was born in 1970 (24 years old when the murder occurred). Visit THIS WEBSITE and pay particular attention to the timeline notes on these dates:

i stand corrected. i wonder why no one picked up on this aspect...all that coverage and there wasnt a real investigator amongst them

[HolyMoly]

i wonder why no one picked up on this aspect...all that coverage and there wasnt a real investigator amongst them

The prosecution believed they "had their man." The jury said no. But, I think that O.J. may have possibly done the best acting performance of his life ... both before and during the trial.

BTW, here's another tidbit about Jason. During the 1996 civil suit brought against OJ by Ron Goldman's parents, Jason Simpson swore under oath that he'd been taking the drug Depakote since 1991 for epilepsy. Depakote can do some bizarre things to your head since it's also used to treat people suffering from manic episodes. And no medical evidence was asked for or provided to substantiate the diagnosis Jason claimed.