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Accuser told school offician Jackson didn't molest him
Defense seizes on inconsistencies
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Michael Jackson's accuser admitted under defense cross-examination on Monday that he told a school administrator the entertainer had never molested him.
In response to a series of questions from lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau, the 15-year-old boy appeared evasive before recalling his discussion with the dean of his Los Angeles middle school.
"Do you remember what the purpose of this discussion was?" Mr. Mesereau asked.
"Probably about Michael," the boy answered.
"Dean (Jeffrey) Alpert said to look at him. And he said, 'Are the allegations that Mr. Jackson sexually molested you true?' Right?," Mr. Mesereau asked.
"Yes," the boy responded.
"And you told him 'No?"' Mr. Mesereau prodded.
"I told him 'No,"' the boy said, looking down.
The jurors looked at the witness straight-faced even as he described Mr. Jackson as his best friend and testified that he became upset when the entertainer ignored him when the boy underwent chemotherapy for cancer. Their reaction to the boy was different last week, when they smiled sympathetically at him or chuckled at his answers to Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon's questions.
How jurors perceive the boy's testimony is crucial to the prosecution's case. Mr. Mesereau tripped up the boy's brother and sister about some details of their testimony last week and has indicated he plans to attack their mother's credibility when she takes the stand.
During the six hours Mr. Mesereau cross-examined the accuser on Monday, the defense lawyer tried to point out inconsistencies about the key elements of the case, including the amounts of alcohol Mr. Jackson allegedly gave him and the dates the alleged molestations occurred.
Many jurors raised their eyebrows when the boy admitted he told detectives that his grandmother told him men masturbate "so they do not rape women."
He testified last week that Mr. Jackson used the same words when talking with him.
The boy said that his story had not changed and that he heard it from both his grandmother and from Mr. Jackson.
The boy is the third in his family to testify and the prosecution's sixth witness.
In contrast to Mr. Jackson's last appearance in court, on Thursday, when he arrived more than an hour late and in his pajamas -- after a stop at Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital with back pain -- the entertainer arrived early on Monday, wearing black pants, a red jacket, a paisley vest and black leather boots.
He watched quietly as his accuser testified. After court, he told reporters he was still in pain and commented that "Mesereau did a great job."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael Jackson's supporters and detractors gather outside the Santa Maria courthouse as the singer arrives on Monday.
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Mr. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to charges of child molestation, administering alcohol to a minor and conspiracy.
Mr. Mesereau questioned the boy about problems he had while in middle school. The defense lawyer referred to reports from 10 teachers who characterized the boy as "defiant" or "disruptive."
The boy admitted he had had a disciplinary problem, that his grades were poor and he frequently got into fights, even before kids started teasing him about appearing in a TV documentary in which he held hands with the entertainer.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Jackson and his associates kept the boy and his family against their will until they made a video to counteract the public relations damage done by the TV documentary.
The boy originally told Santa Barbara County authorities the alleged molestations began before the documentary was made, but during grand jury testimony in April testified it happened afterward.
In response to Mr. Mesereau's insistent questioning about the changing dates, the boy responded: "Even to this day, I don't remember when everything happened."
Mr. Mesereau also pointed out that when the boy spoke with authorities about alcohol allegedly given to him by Mr. Jackson, the boy's testimony about how much the entertainer gave him changed from "a little" to "a lot" to "almost every day."
The boy shot back: "Almost every day is 'a lot.' "
Jurors feverishly took notes when Mr. Mesereau brought up how the boy's grandmother had discussed masturbation with him.
"On Thursday, you testified about how you learned what masturbation is," Mr. Mesereau said. "You testified Mr. Jackson told you what masturbation is, right?"
"Yes," the boy responded.
"And you testified that Mr. Jackson told you that if men don't masturbate they can get to a level where they might rape a girl, correct?"
"Yes," the boy said.
Mr. Mesereau then asked if the boy remembered talking to sheriff's detectives about masturbation.
"Remember you said, 'My grandmother explained it to me and that she told me if men don't do it they can rape a woman?' Remember?"
"Yes," the boy responded.
"Why did your story change?" the lawyer asked.
"What do you mean?" the boy said.
When Mr. Mesereau repeated himself, the boy said his grandmother was talking to him about sexuality when he returned from Neverland Valley Ranch because he was "confused."
"You mean to tell me that after Mr. Jackson said this to you, your grandmother said almost the identical quote?" Mr. Mesereau asked.
"Not the identical," the boy said, insisting his grandmother said men "could" masturbate, but Mr. Jackson said men "should."
Jurors viewed the rebuttal video for the third time Monday. Last week, the boy's siblings testified they lied when they lavished praise on the entertainer in the video because they feared Mr. Jackson's associates. But Monday, the boy told jurors most of what his family said was the truth.
He acknowledged that he considered Mr. Jackson to be "a father figure" and "loving, kind, honest and trustworthy."
The boy's testimony resumes this morning.
-- Dawn Hobbs is also a news analyst for NBC and MSNBC. Her email is dhobbs@newspress.com.
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