Michael Jackson’s lawyers called their final witnesses on Tuesday in his child molestation trial and will rest their case without having the pop star testify in his own defence.

Lead Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau told the court that comedian Chris Tucker, who starred alongside Jackie Chan in the “Rush Hour” comedies, would be the last of 50 defence witnesses, clearing the way for closing arguments in the sensational trial next week.

Source: Reuters

Defence lawyers have sought to portray the mother of Jackson’s accuser as a grifter who tried to wheedle money from celebrities and coached her son to lie about the molestation charges against Jackson.

But Leno said that he did not know if it was the boy’s mother or a nurse who was in the background during the call and was emphatic that the family never asked him for money or anything else.

“No one ever asked me for anything and I’m sure of that because if they had I would have said something,” he said.

Leno added that he had had suspicions because the boy called often and sometimes sounded “scripted,” but ultimately accepted a friend’s explanation that the young cancer patient was a big fan and aspiring comedian.

The packed courtroom burst into laughter several times during the 30-minute testimony when Leno offered witty asides. Asked to step down from the witness stand, the popular comedian paused for a moment, leaned into the microphone and told the court: “We have Renee Zellweger on the show tonight.”

Source: Reuters

Leno, the comedian who hosts the top-rated late night “Tonight Show” program, was summoned by defence lawyers to testify about a call he received from Jackson’s young accuser in 2000.

Mesereau told jurors that during the call Leno heard the boy’s mother whispering in the background and was so suspicious that he called police to report a shakedown attempt.

But the comic, who came to court dressed in a dark suit and wearing an American flag lapel pin, said that while he recalled voice mail messages from the boy, his memory of their one live phone call was fuzzy and it was the police who contacted him — not the other way around.

“The voicemails were, ‘Oh I’m a big fan, you’re the greatest.’ They were overly effusive for a 12-year-old,” Leno told the jury. “It seemed a little bit unusual. I’m a comedian in my mid-50s. I’m not Batman.”

Source: Reuters

MICHAEL Jackson’s lawyers want to call the nine-year-old granddaughter of acting legend Marlon Brando to testify for the pop star at his child-sex trial, court documents showed yesterday.
But prosecutors have objected to the plan to call Prudence Brando, the daughter of Brando’s son Miko Brando, a one-time Jackson employee, to testify to the alleged bad character of Jackson’s teenage accuser, Gavin Arvizo.

The young Brando heiress told investigators that the then 13-year-old Arvizo and his brother Star were “destructive and always crashing golf carts”, and that they tried to enter a llama’s cage at the star’s Neverland Ranch, which boasts a zoo and amusement park.

“She said they would then go on the rides like the Sea Dragon, and would throw candies at people from the rides,” legal documents filed yesterday by the prosecution showed.

Prudence Brando recalls spending time with the alleged victim and his brother on two occasions but does not remember the dates, court documents showed.

Her double Oscar-winning grandfather, the reclusive Marlon Brando, who died last July at the age of 80, also spent time at Neverland after befriending Jackson late in his life.

Source: News

Donny Osmond and Michael Jackson have charted remarkably similar paths to fame.

Both were the seventh child of famed music-business families. Both struggled with the fishbowl existence of a teen idol. Three decades later, however, Osmond is celebrating the release of his critically acclaimed 54th album, What I Meant to Say, while a frail-looking Jackson battles child molestation charges.

While preparing for an upcoming Canadian concert date, Osmond said he will support his old friend Jackson - whatever the outcome of the singer’s trial.

“Regardless of what happens, I’ll always be his friend, I’ll always be there for him,” Osmond said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press from his home in Utah.

“But, you know, penance has to be paid if (he’s) found guilty . . . I hurt for him as a friend.”

“It goes on and on and on,” he said. “Our mothers birthdays are on the same day. His mother played clarinet. My mom played sax.”

Osmond, 47, has also talked with Jackson about growing up famous.

“It takes a lot of work to maintain some normalcy in your life,” he said.

“It really does some strange things to your head. You start believing the hype and you start thinking that you are a little bit better - and different - than the rest of the world.”

Source: Canadian Press

Jay Leno may testify today in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial; Chris Tucker is expected shortly. This morning, the Jackson defense team may present teachers of his accuser and his brother who will probably not have the nicest things to say about these boys — an opinion shared by many.

With Jackson’s trial winding down, every indication is that he will be acquitted or that the jury will be hung (at least on the issue of child molestation). One thing looks pretty certain: he won’t be convicted. There’s too much reasonable doubt.

Sources of mine say that Jackson, who seems disconnected from the world, understands one thing: there will be people who won’t be so happy to see him moonwalk out of the Santa Maria courthouse a free man. What will he do?

Those who are in the know tell me that Jackson is already planning an almost instant move to Europe or Africa. Whether it’s temporary or permanent is up in the air, but the pop star knows he has to take a breather from the United States if he wants to rehabilitate his career.

This isn’t just some wild speculation. Jackson is serious and so is everyone around him.

An acquitted Jackson would also raise the question of the future of his recording career. Many people say he has no reasonable expectation of selling records here. For the moment, they are probably right. But Americans love a comeback, and in five years Jackson’s child molestation scandal will be a distant blip.

In the meantime, Jackson will have to be educated about the realities of the record business circa 2005. He currently has no recording contract. His insiders agree with my thesis that he still thinks someone, somewhere will offer him “the biggest contract in history.” Those days are over, I’m afraid. If Jackson wises up, he’ll start his own record label and get independent distribution.

But where will he go in Europe? There’s talk of Paris, and some have said Africa is being mentioned a lot. Brother Jermaine Jackson spends a lot of time in Saudi Arabia, but Michael doesn’t like the hot sun and cool.gif doesn’t much care for Jermaine. My money is on Paris or London, where he has legions of fans.

Source: Fox / Friedman

They are the men behind the Man in the Mirror. For nearly 20 years, L.A.-based costume designers Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins have quietly designed most of Michael Jackson’s personal and concert tour wardrobes, tens of thousands of pieces.

They created the war-torn black shirt and pants he wore in the “Man in the Mirror” video and the rhinestone-encrusted American flag jacket he wore during a Washington, D.C., concert to support the victims of Sept. 11. And, since February, they have been outfitting Jackson for what could be his most important performance yet — in a Santa Maria courtroom.

Each day, Bush wakes at 3 a.m. to drive the day’s outfit — typically a colorful print vest and a suit with military details — from his home studio in Los Feliz up the 101 Freeway to Neverland Ranch. There, between 6 and 7 a.m., he dresses Jackson, who always says “Thank you” and gives him a hug, Bush says. The designer returns by midafternoon, in time to help Tompkins put the finishing touches on the next day’s look. Tompkins makes most of Jackson’s costumes with a single fitting. The pair create his courtroom wardrobe using the “Michael mannequin,” built to the singer’s exact dimensions.

Perhaps what they are most proud of is that Jackson has never worn the same thing twice.

“We have two or three tailors around town making jackets because we can’t make them fast enough,” Bush says, sitting in his workroom next to a pair of Jackson’s crystal-covered ankle boots.

They try to get to sleep by 9 p.m., but sometimes they’re up till 11. “And we photograph everything. That, we learned out of fear because we would make something for Michael and he would call us later to ask for a double. Maybe an outfit goes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland or Madame Tussaud’s in London, and he wants one to keep for himself.”

Jackson, who is facing charges of child molestation, has been criticized in this paper and elsewhere for his flamboyant courtroom attire — reactions the designers say are unfair. “If anybody else wore it, there wouldn’t be any comment,” says the silver-haired Tompkins.

“The other day on TV, Bruce Willis had on a bright orange suit. Robin Williams wears suits with threads hanging off them and red ties. But nobody comments because of who they are. If Michael Jackson showed up at court in a funeral suit, an Armani, people would wonder what he is hiding.”

And the pajamas? “He was in the hospital that day. And what does everyone wear in the hospital? Pajamas,” says Bush. “I understand the judicial pinstripe mentality,” he goes on. “But that is a part of life Michael has never experienced. So we had to figure out how he could still be Michael Jackson and fit into that mold.”

They began this latest wardrobe project as they had the others — with research. “We buy every magazine in the world — men’s, women’s, children’s, interior design, anything with visual images,” Bush says. “Then we all sit spread-eagle on the floor looking for ideas. Dennis gets out his sketchpad and pencil and starts sketching. It’s collaborative. [Jackson] is very open to suggestions.”

The pop star’s directive is always a demanding one: “This is what the world’s wearing; top it.”

“We started with the white suit, and everyone went crazy,” Bush says, referring to the outfit Jackson wore on the first day of his trial. “So we went to dark suits, the navy blues, the blacks, the gray pinstripes, then we put the red double-breasted blazer on him — well, the world stopped. The red coat got half a page in all the papers.”

The vests that have become conversation pieces during the trial are made from silk from India, jacquards from Europe and faux reptile fabric from … downtown L.A. Some have rhinestones down the front, others brass buttons.

Jackson loves military details, Bush says. “Uniforms demand attention. They have clean lines, and they fit almost like dance clothes. They are like a second skin.”

Jackson is a frequent customer of British Collectibles Ltd., a shop in Santa Monica. “With all the fine enamel work, British medals are almost like jewelry,” says Tompkins. So over the years, the designers too have amassed a large collection of uniforms, helmets and books on military regalia — all in the name of research.

Rather than a political statement, the armbands made from gold wire ribbon and sewn onto the right sleeves of Jackson’s jackets are meant to act as a visual pull, Bush says.

“Showtime” is a word that the designing duo uses often. “When we get together with Michael, it’s showtime,” Bush says, with a glint in his eyes. Apparently some of their ideas are too over the top, even for Jackson. “He’s pulling back and saying ‘No, no, no,’ and we’re going, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ And then I get to Carpinteria in the morning and wonder if it’s too much. We are used to making dance clothes,” Bush says with a grin.

Tompkins points to a baby blue brocade vest that’s in the running for a courtroom outfit. “Sometimes I look at things we do and I think that I would wear them,” he says. “But we can’t afford our clothes.” Rather than keeping the designers on retainer, Jackson pays for items individually. And Bush and Tompkins do have other clients.

Source: LA Times

As Michael Jackson’s defense team nears the end of its case, it now appears likely that the jury will not hear from five of Mr. Jackson’s closest associates, people who may be most knowledgeable about events at his Neverland ranch in early 2003.

The prosecution did not call any of the five men, who were named in court papers as having taken part in the alleged conspiracy to threaten and falsely imprison Mr. Jackson’s teenage accuser and his family in February and March 2003.

And Mr. Jackson’s lawyers are unlikely to call them, because the prosecution has refused to grant them immunity for their testimony, and defense lawyers cannot be certain they will help Mr. Jackson’s case.

“They will not testify with the sword of Damocles over their heads to be indicted,” said Tom Byrne, a lawyer for one of the five, Marc Schaffel, Mr. Jackson’s former financial adviser. “Even if they sit there and say they didn’t do anything, if they’re under suspicion, their lawyers will tell them all to say nothing.”

As a consequence, the people who know the most will not be testifying, said Laurie L. Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who has been observing the trial. “These guys are wild cards,” she said. “The prosecutors are afraid they will rally around Michael Jackson. Jackson is afraid that they will save their own skins and point the finger at him.”

The five also include two business partners, Ronald Konitzer and Dieter Wiesner, who the defense has tried to show were busy keeping the accuser’s mother away from Mr. Jackson. The others were two Jackson employees, Vincent Amen and Frank Tyson, also known as Frank Cascio, who escorted - or imprisoned, depending on the version being argued - the accuser and his family between Los Angeles and Mr. Jackson’s ranch outside Santa Barbara.

Source: NY Times

Jay Leno dedicated much of his monologue on the “Tonight Show” Monday night to Michael Jackson. Leno is expected to take the stand in the California child molestation trial today.

At one point in the monologue, Leno told his audience: “Welcome to the Michael Jackson witness holding area.”

Noting he has often poked fun at Jackson’s expense, Leno quipped: “I was called by the defense. Apparently they’ve never seen this program.” And referring to Southern California’s recent heat wave, Leno said he’s been “sweating like a Cub Scout” at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.

Leno is expected to testify that he once received a phone call from someone he believed to be the accuser. Defense attorneys said Leno was one of several celebrities the family tried to bilk out of money.

Source: Associated Press

Accounting testimony in the Michael Jackson Trial showed Quicken bookkeeping entries for Jackson’s Neverland Valley Entertainment Co., which picked up the bills for expenses during a period when the family was staying at a hotel in the San Fernando Valley.

Purchases were made at a luggage store and for clothing from a Camarillo, Calif., shopping center. Charges included clothes from Banana Republic, Pacific Sunwear, Levi’s and Anchor Blue. For one two-day period the shopping total was $4,800, according to the records.

Source: Associated Press