The 79-year-old juror who now says Michael Jackson was guilty rejected testimony of the accuser’s mother because the mom reminded her of a snippy Denny’s restaurant waitress who once failed to give her a “senior discount,” her book proposal says.

Ellie Cook said the restaurant incident “played a minor role” in causing her to disbelieve the mom and her son’s stories about Jackson, the proposal says.

“It was that little chick [the accuser's mom] that blew it for the boy,” according to juror Cook’s tell-all pitch, which has been shopped to most major publishing houses but has yet to snare a deal.

Cook voted to acquit Jackson but now claims the pop star should have been convicted of child molestation.

But in her book pitch, she also says she was “a sort of guardian to Michael for his mother” during the trial and also boasts of her mysterious “contact” with the pop star’s mom.

“I communicated often with Katherine Jackson,” Cook says in the proposal. “We became partners. It had gotten to the point where we knew what each other would wear to court and we’d wink and nod at each other. I felt sorry for her. I just wanted her to know all would be okay.”

Cook knew her “contact” with the singer’s mom “was grounds for dismissal,” the outline says, but she “felt a kinship.”

The jury’s oldest member had nothing but venom for the mom of Jackson’s 15-year-old accuser, who stared and snapped her fingers at jurors to get her points across.

“I listened to the testimony … all the signs were there, and I believed them.

“But you don’t sit near me, with your son’s posterior in my legal purview, and give me a fresh look - because I’ll make those tiny glutes famous, sunshine,” says Cook in her proposal, addressing the mom directly.

“How dare you snap your fingers at me, lady!” Cook says.

Source: NY Daily News

By Quintin Cushner/Senior Staff Writer, SANTA MARIA TIMES

Court TV anchor Diane Dimond this week dropped her restraining order against a Michael Jackson enthusiast from Tennessee who hurled insults at her throughout the pop star’s five-month trial in Santa Maria.

Judge Zel Cantor announced in Santa Maria Superior Court Wednesday that Dimond had dismissed the complaint against 18-year-old B.J. Hickman.

On June 9, Dimond slapped the order on Hickman, prohibiting him from coming within 20 yards of her. Hickman, who moved from Knoxville, Tenn. to attend Jackson’s trial, often disrupted Dimond’s live broadcasts by calling her a “liar,” and worse.

Hickman perceived the reporter as pro-prosecution. During jury deliberations in the Jackson case, Hickman hosted a press conference attended by hordes of television and newspaper reporters, denying that he harassed the journalist.

Hickman later demanded in court documents that Dimond pay $30,000 in attorney’s fees he claimed to have accumulated while fighting the order. Dimond filed a counter-complaint, requesting that Hickman pay $4,555 in legal bills she supposedly accrued.

A financial settlement was reached this week, but terms were not disclosed in court documents.

Santa Maria attorney Gerardo Camacho, who represented Hickman in the case, declined to comment on specifics from the settlement.

“My client is satisfied,” Camacho said, adding that Hickman has returned home to Tennessee. “He’s ready to put all this behind him.”

Calls to Dimond and her attorney, Seth Gold, were not returned Wednesday.

Dimond, who has covered Jackson’s legal woes for more than a decade, is writing a book about the pop star.

A jury in Santa Maria acquitted Jackson on June 13 of child molestation, alcohol and conspiracy charges.

Source: SANTA MARIA TIMES

Thank you for all of your support, BJ!

Team MJJsource

…Exclusive Michael Jackson would also like to wish BJ all the best, and wish him well in the future!

Hope to see you again soon mate!
Phil

Paul McCartney has slammed rumors he will take advantage of Michael Jackson’s financial troubles to make a low offer for The Beatles song rights - because he will get them anyway.

Reports of Jackson’s dwindling financial prospects prompted speculation McCartney would buy back rights to his classic songs like Yesterday, but the rocker revealed a legality means the songs will soon be his anyway.

And the superstar stresses his one time feud with Jackson is over because he is too happy to be angry with the fallen pop king.

He says, “I don’t think so. I’ve had people talk to me who are more concerned for me than I am about it. But the interesting thing is, there are actually things in the whole deal that actually revert to me anyway.

“There are years approaching, there are dates approaching, that we never thought would approach, where things revert to me. So really, it’s a waiting game rather than a big proactive buying game.

“Which suits my personality: just hang on, be patient, it’s cool. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”

Source: World News Network

Court TV anchor Diane Dimond this week dropped her restraining order against a Michael Jackson enthusiast from Tennessee who hurled insults at her throughout the pop star’s five-month trial in Santa Maria.

Judge Zel Cantor announced in Santa Maria Superior Court Wednesday that Dimond had dismissed the complaint against 18-year-old B.J. Hickman.

On June 9, Dimond slapped the order on Hickman, prohibiting him from coming within 20 yards of her. Hickman, who moved from Knoxville, Tenn. to attend Jackson’s trial, often disrupted Dimond’s live broadcasts by calling her a “liar,” and worse.

Hickman perceived the reporter as pro-prosecution. During jury deliberations in the Jackson case, Hickman hosted a press conference attended by hordes of television and newspaper reporters, denying that he harassed the journalist.

Hickman later demanded in court documents that Dimond pay $30,000 in attorney’s fees he claimed to have accumulated while fighting the order. Dimond filed a counter-complaint, requesting that Hickman pay $4,555 in legal bills she supposedly accrued.

A financial settlement was reached this week, but terms were not disclosed in court documents.

Santa Maria attorney Gerardo Camacho, who represented Hickman in the case, declined to comment on specifics from the settlement.

“My client is satisfied,” Camacho said, adding that Hickman has returned home to Tennessee. “He’s ready to put all this behind him.”

Calls to Dimond and her attorney, Seth Gold, were not returned Wednesday.

Dimond, who has covered Jackson’s legal woes for more than a decade, is writing a book about the pop star.

A jury in Santa Maria acquitted Jackson on June 13 of child molestation, alcohol and conspiracy charges.

Source: Santa Maria Times

Michael Jackson is “relaxing” and “doing well” in Bahrain, Jackson’s recently resurfaced spokeswoman Raymone K. Bain told the Associated Press.

Soure: AP

No one’s home at Neverland.

Michael Jackson’s 2,700-acre ranch and amusement park is empty of visitors, sources tell me. The once populated theme park has come to a standstill. Gone are the celebrities, the fans and the children’s groups that used to come through on a steady basis.

Jackson, of course, is in Bahrain, with no plans to return anytime soon.

Up at the ranch, though, it’s just the remaining employees who come and go on a daily basis. Their estimated number is down to around 50, down from a high of 120 in Jackson’s heyday. Several employees quit during the last few weeks of the trial this spring.

No family members are at Neverland, either. As I reported earlier this week, Jackson’s protégé, Omer Bhatti, 20, has joined him in Bahrain as his assistant.

Among the remaining Neverland employees is a new head of security. His name, ironically, is Bashir, same as the man whose documentary had a role in Jackson’s trial.

This Bashir, whose last name is Muhammad, is said to be a member of the Nation of Islam. He is not too popular among the staff, from what I’m told.

Said one longtime staffer: “He thinks he knows everything and likes to stick his nose in where it’s not wanted. At first he thought he was going to come in and clean house, but he’s calmed down since then.”

Neverland regulars do not have any idea when their master may return from Bahrain. In the meantime, some repairs are going forward.

But Neverland, according to my sources, is in bad shape, and really not spiffy enough to entertain anyone. One of the trains still doesn’t work, for example.

“We’re all just waiting to see what happens,” says one of the dwindled staff.

Source: Roger Friedman / Fox News

When Michael Jackson issued a brief statement Tuesday regretting the passing of one of his mentors, John H. Johnson, the subtext that caught the eye of many was where the statement came from: the office of Raymone K. Bain, the spokeswoman who had not been heard from since just before Jackson’s trial ended.

Bain, who is based in Washington, D.C., confirmed by phone that she continues to work for Jackson. She said she remains in touch with the singer, who was last reported to be in Bahrain with his children.

“He is relaxing on vacation and doing well,” she said, but declined to say anything further.

Just before Jackson was acquitted of molestation charges June 13, a notice was posted on a Jackson Web site saying that Bain had been terminated. She never confirmed it.

Bain had been an extremely visible spokeswoman for Jackson during the trial, appearing on TV talk shows and holding press conferences on his behalf outside the courthouse.

The statement she issued on Jackson’s behalf Tuesday said: “I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of my mentor and friend, John Johnson. I send my heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Eunice, and his daughter, Linda.”

Johnson, who died Monday at the age of 87, was the founder of Ebony and Jet magazines.

Source: Yahoo News

According to several reports pop star Michael Jackson wants to sell his story about the molestation trial to the American version of Britain’s OK! Magazine. Jackson had agreed to talk about this experience in an interview that will cost the OK! magazine $2 million.

But apparently, Jackson wants his money before the interview, and the magazine wants the story before giving the money.

A source told the website: “He won’t
sign until he gets the money and OK! won’t give him the money until he signs. We thought it was a done deal, but at the last minute there were problems.”

Michael Jackson is not the only one who wants to sell his story. Two jurors from the trial announced yesterday they still believe the pop star is “guilty as sin” and plan to write a book about their deliberations.

Source: Various

Pop star Michael Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe has shot down reports that the couple is ending their dispute and is reaching an amicable deal over the custody of their two kids.

Representatives for Rowe told the US TV show ‘Entertainment Tonight’ that a settlement is absolutely not in sight at this point.

On Wednesday, a lawyer for Jackson had claimed that the rift between Rowe and the pop singer was on the verge of coming to a peaceful end.

Source: ANI

In its discussion of the meaning of “perjury,” the Oxford English dictionary notes that “in legal usage, perjury was first the offence of jurors in giving a willfully false verdict, they being sworn to give a true verdict according to their knowledge …” The spectacle of two jurors in the Michael Jackson child molestation case who now boldly and openly declare that they voted against their conscience for acquittal raises the possibility that we are entirely losing sight of this original and critical sense of the term.

If so, this represents a grave threat to the republican form of government our Constitution requires, since trial by jury is the keystone of the people’s participation in the administration of justice.

The jurors claim they acted under pressure from the jury foreman, who purportedly threatened to have them removed from the jury if they did not vote with the majority. Whatever the factual basis for this claim, it has no basis in law, since it is precisely against the law to use threats in order to pressure a juror to perjure himself. If the foreman acted in this way it amounts to jury tampering, and seriously taints the outcome of the trial. We must also ask whether the judge failed to make clear to the jurors their strict responsibility to render a true verdict.

Beyond the legal questions, however, there is a question of character. The jurors admit they lacked the courage of their convictions, to such an extent in fact that they did not bother to report their situation to the trial judge. If they feared removal from the jury, it’s fair to ask what damage they would have suffered from it. Perhaps they feared the loss of the attention and opportunities for remuneration they thought would be associated with being jurors in such a famous proceeding. This means that they perjured themselves for gain, and only confirms their disgraceful lack of integrity. It also points to the likelihood that their present recantation is similarly motivated.

One of the key elements of American liberty is the assumption that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. Now, despite a formal verdict that leaves his innocence intact, Michael Jackson must endure another trial in the media, under accusation from individuals who acted during the trial as sworn officers of the court. This may not satisfy the formal legal definition of double jeopardy, but it raises serious questions about the actual corruption of a legal system that allows sworn officers of the court to continue in the court of public opinion the accusation that they themselves refused to sustain by due process of law.

Given the grave implications of their actions, the jurors who now admit their perjury ought to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The system of trial by jury is critically important to the practice of liberty. If, in a case notorious throughout the land, jurors can openly admit and profit from the failure to do their sworn duty, this casts a corrosive shadow over the whole concept of a fair jury trial.

We need clearly to send a message of intolerance toward this lack of personal integrity so that jurors throughout the country realize the oath they swear is not to be taken lightly. The officials who prosecuted Michael Jackson when they conscientiously believed the evidence warranted an indictment ought now to prosecute jurors who, by their own free admission, are guilty of a crime not against Jackson but against all of us who have the right to hope we can rely on America’s promise of liberty and justice for all.

Source: World News