As part of its rebuttal, the prosecution called Det. Victor Alvarez of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, who described how he had tried to contact Tucker three times until he connected with the actor’s lawyer, who said there would be no interview.

Sneddon had questioned Tucker earlier about who was responsible for the comedian not being interviewed by investigators.

Source: LA Times

The former house manager at Jackson’s Neverland Valley Ranch near Los Olivos testified as a rebuttal witness Wednesday. Jesus Salas denied ever hearing reports that Jackson’s accuser and his brother stole money from a kitchen drawer and drove a motor vehicle on the ranch.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. recounted testimony about the alleged conduct of the boys at Neverland, asking Salas if he ever heard that they drank alcohol, stole money and spit on employees during their stay.

“Not everybody reports every violation by a guest to you, do they?” Mesereau asked.

“I guess not,” Salas said.

Source: Santa Maria Times

Today, former Jackson employee Charli Michaels is expected to take the stand for the prosecution to describe an incident in the early 1990s when the mother of Wade Robson became upset that Mr. Jackson was separating her son from her. Mr. Robson, now in his 20s, has testified that he shared Mr. Jackson’s bed but that nothing inappropriate happened.

A former Neverland maid whose son alleged that he was molested by Mr. Jackson more than 15 years ago and a relative of the current accuser are also expected to testify today.

The prosecution also wants to call Mr. Jackson’s former attorney, Mark Geragos, back to the stand, and to show jurors a 2 1/2-hour police interview with the accuser to rebut defense claims he was coached by his mother.

Source: News Press

The “captors” of Janet Arvizo’s kids, whom Arvizo called “The Killers” on
the stand, not only bought them books but also paid to replace their lost
schoolbooks as well. And they did this during what turned out to be the
Arvizo family’s last week at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Valley Ranch in
March 2003.

I can tell you this because I have copies of the receipts. I can also tell
you that on her last full day of “captivity,” Arvizo sat down to lunch with
her “captor” Vincent Amen at the Outback Steak House in Los Angeles. This
was after she’d won a judgment in family court against her ex-husband and
knew that her adventure at Neverland was hours from being over. After six
long weeks, Jackson wanted her and her kids gone.

On March 11, 2003, Arvizo hunkered down to a meal of prime rib. Amen had
roast beef. The time stamp on the check was 12:53 p.m.

I have more receipts from Arvizo’s stay with Jackson, some of which I’ve
written about, others that have just been uncovered. They certainly add to
the testimony given by many witnesses: The conspiracy case against Jackson
is not credible. But will the jury hear about these receipts? Will they hear
about the schoolbooks?

This could be a big issue, since Arvizo’s captors wouldn’t have been buying
schoolbooks for kids they were getting ready to ship off to Brazil. Few
kidnappers plan on making sure their charges have accelerated high school
degrees.

To wit: Barnes & Noble receipt on March 4, $32.37, notation “Books for [the
accuser’s sister].” Barnes & Noble receipt, March 6, $29.79, notation “Books
for [Arvizo boys].” Also March 6, $123.50 to John Burroughs Middle School,
receipt for replaced textbooks.

The boys’ books? Two copies of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
and one “Vocabulary Workshop.” The girl’s? “Roadmap to the California High
School Exit Exam” and “How to Prepare for the California High School
Proficiency Exam.” Perhaps bolstered by her relationship with 22-year-old
Neverland chef Angel Vivanco, the girl was planning a future even her mother
didn’t know about.

The receipts, entered into evidence last week but not shown yet to the jury
or public, are a detailed accounting of money spent on the Arvizos, mostly
by Amen and reimbursed by Marc Schaffel. Countering Arvizo’s testimony that
the family was allowed “one meal a day,” the receipts are a black and white
roadmap of several meals and snacks every day.

The Arvizos had quite a taste for fast food, dining frequently at Hot Dog on
a Stick and similar franchises. It’s enough to give the makers of “Super
Size Me” indigestion.

Tomorrow: As the defense plans to rest its case, we still have a lot of
questions. And what about the witnesses who never showed up? Why did we
never see phone records from Neverland indicating who the family called
while they stayed there?

Plus: Why well-executed graphics displays will be needed to show the jury a
timeline not only for the Arvizos pre-Jackson activities, but a day-to-day
schedule for February and March 2003.

Source: FOX News

A contract for $20,000 between two British tabloid reporters and the mother and stepfather of Michael Jackson’s accuser has surfaced.

The reporters, Alec Byrne and David Gardner, had recently thought they would be called as defense witnesses in the Jackson child molestation case and were all set to bring in this vital document.

When the accuser’s mother, Janet Arvizo, testified for the prosecution, she told the jury she “wasn’t the kind of person” to sell her story — but apparently she was indeed.

In fact, Byrne and Gardner only got photographs of the Arvizo family, which were published abroad, because while looking for Janet Arvizo, they first went to her mother’s house in El Monte, Calif., back on Feb. 4, 2003.

That was the day after the Martin Bashir documentary “Living With Michael Jackson” aired in Britain.

Arvizo’s mother, Maria Ventura, who speaks only Spanish, put the reporters on the phone with her daughter.

When Arvizo learned the men wanted to buy her story, she exclaimed, “You are my angels” and instructed her mother to give the men pictures she had of her grandchildren.

Arvizo then gave the reporters a few quotes, which were used in the story that was published that weekend in the U.K. and in Australia.

So why has this story not surfaced in the Jackson trial? After all, it would undermine the testimony of both Arvizo and her husband, Jay Jackson.

That the sale of the story did not take place is a missing link which comedian Chris Tucker may explain today in court.

Evidently, Arvizo called Tucker when she had the reporters up to $20,000.

In his testimony, Jay Jackson said the offer was only $15,000, and that he turned it down.

However, Tucker is likely to say that at that point in the negotiations, Arvizo wanted to find Michael Jackson.

If her story was worth that much to the Brits, she might have figured her silence would be worth as much, or more, to Michael Jackson.

The reporters say that when they came to meet Arvizo at the appointed time a couple of days later, she had vanished.

Tucker should testify to his end of the story. The defense, which has not been strong on outlining the timeline in the case, may or may not be able to put this together for the weary jury.

Why Byrne and Gardner were not called remains a mystery of this trial. They could have easily impeached the testimony of both Jay Jackson and Arvizo. The article published abroad would have been a damning bit of evidence.

Source: Fox News

Where is the “secret” videotape that was shot of the packing and moving of the Arvizo family in the Michael Jackson case?

It was not played by the prosecution when it unveiled surveillance videos of the family made by Mark Geragos’ private investigator, Brad Miller, several weeks ago.

Where is this tape? Why hasn’t it been shown? Does the defense even know about it?

Suddenly this much-talked-about move is about to come back into the Jackson trial as an issue.

On Thursday, I’ve learned, District Attorney Tom Sneddon, desperate to rehabilitate the much debased conspiracy charge against Jackson, will bring in the mover who put the Arvizos’ things into storage.

All of Dino’s Moving and Storage records have been subpoenaed as well. This could all backfire for the prosecution, because among the papers is said to be a June 2003 letter from Miller to Arvizo attorney William Dickerman releasing the storage vaults back to the Arvizos. Geragos is carbon-copied on it.

If the letter appears and makes it into evidence, Sneddon may have a lot of explaining to do. He raided Miller’s office months later because he said he thought Miller worked for Michael Jackson. The letter, sources say, would prove Sneddon knew otherwise.

Then there’s the family’s famous stay at the Country Inn and Suites in Calabasas, Calif. Why haven’t the receipts from that little adventure come into play for the defense?

This column was the first to reveal Janet Arvizo’s numerous phone calls to family and friends during her “kidnapping.”

And here’s something else we haven’t seen presented: Arvizo demanded that Miller buy her a set of red Kipling luggage for the trip to Calabasas. She was very specific about the brand and color.

“She didn’t want people to see her things in plastic bags,” a source said.

The defense has the receipts, I am told.

Sneddon has asked to analyze more of Geragos’ phone records in a last-ditch effort to pump up the conspiracy. But did no one ever ask to see the Neverland phone records between Feb. 20 and March 12, 2003? They would show innumerable calls to numbers well known to the prosecution: Janet Arvizo’s friends and family.

As for Dickerman: If all the issues involving him return during the rebuttal, it would be interesting to see him come back and answer some of the questions I posed in yesterday’s column.

To wit: He testified that his first meeting with Janet Arvizo was on Feb. 25, 2003. But Arvizo herself said she met him in his office on the 21st in his Century City office, and then again on the 25th at the Laugh Factory.

At neither time did she mention she had been kidnapped or was being held hostage. Dickerman, an officer of the court, never picked up the phone and called the police or the FBI.

You would think a Hollywood lawyer who has to meet his client in a comedy club on the sly might have asked one or two questions more than Dickerman said he did on the stand. My guess is he did.

Source: Fox News

Yesterday’s testimonial double punch of the paralegal and attorney who were hired by Janet Arvizo to represent her in her lawsuit against J.C. Penney, in which she got a settlement of $152,000, was powerful stuff.

Mary Holzer testified that Arvizo told her that the pictures in which she appeared battered and bruised from head to toe, and which she and her husband submitted as evidence in the J.C Penney case, were faked.

Arvizo told her she got the bruises not from the J.C. Penney security guards, but from her own husband.

Holzer said also Arvizo mentioned that her brother-in-law was in the Mexican mafia and could have Holzer and her kids killed if she spilled the beans.

The lawyer who worked on the case testified that he was shocked when the case finally got to court and Arvizo said she had been sexually molested by the J.C. Penney guards.

In 25 conversations about the incident, Arvizo had never mentioned it to him. He also concluded that he had been fooled by her.

Holzer’s story made the most sense. You may recall that when the prosecution showed the pictures of a battered Arvizo a few weeks ago, we wrote that they were not from the J.C. Penney incident. Knowledgeable sources told us about that right away.

Luckily, the Drudge Report published Janet Arvizo’s mug shot from the Penney’s arrest, which showed no signs of bruises. That’s because the bruises came later.

Source: Fox News

The defense in the Michael Jackson trial called Mary Holzer, a paralegal at a law firm that handled a lawsuit by the accuser’s family that led to a $152,000 settlement from J.C. Penney. The suit claimed the family was abused by guards after the accuser left a store with clothes that hadn’t been purchased.

Holzer said the mother at one point told her the injuries she claimed to have received from the guards were inflicted by her then-husband on the night of the store incident. She said she told the mother she couldn’t lie and that the mother responded with a threat.

“She told me that (her husband’s) brother … is in the Mexican mafia … and that she knows where I live and they would come and kill me and my 9-year-old daughter,” Holzer said.

Holzer said that once when she was taking the mother to a doctor’s appointment related to the suit the mother “threw herself down on the ground, started kicking and screaming that the doctor was the devil, the nurse was the devil and they were out to get her.”

When the mother testified, she said Holzer was dishonest and was a huge Michael Jackson fan.

Holzer testified that the mother called her three or four months ago.

“She said she wanted to be friends,” Holzer said. “I said I was very busy. She told me she’d like to get together and have a girls’ weekend.

“Did she say anything about this case?” asked Mesereau.

“She proceeded to tell me that Michael Jackson was no longer her savior. He was now the devil,” she said.

Source: Associated Press

The day’s flurry of witnesses included one whose testimony backfired on the defense.

Forensic psychologist Phillip Esplin was called to testify about problems with child witnesses. But under questioning by prosecutor Ron Zonen, Esplin agreed that some of the behavior attributed to Jackson could be construed as setting the stage for molestation.

Those behaviors included becoming friends with a child and the child’s family, giving the child lavish gifts and taking the child to fun places.

Source: Associated Press

Chris Tucker, sidekick to Jackie Chan in the “Rush Hour” movies, testified that he met the accuser at a benefit after the boy’s father introduced himself at the Laugh Factory club in Hollywood and asked him to take part.

Tucker said that a few days after the benefit the boy told him it hadn’t made any money, so he wired “probably $1,500 or more” to a foundation for the family.

He was expected to finish testifying about his dealings with the family on Wednesday, allowing the prosecution to begin a rebuttal case project to last into Thursday.

Source: Associated Press