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Mom from '93 case: Jackson begged to sleep with her son
PR man testifies on head-licking incident
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The mother of the boy at the center of the 1993 child molestation investigation of Michael Jackson testified Monday that her son shared a bed with the entertainer on nearly 60 nights.
The key prosecution witness told jurors how on a trip to Las Vegas in March 1993 she objected to the two sleeping together but relented after Mr. Jackson became upset.
"He was sobbing, crying, shaking, trembling," the woman said. "He said: 'You don't trust me? We're a family. Why are you doing this? Why are you not letting (your son) be with me?' I said, 'I am.'"
She testified that Mr. Jackson continued: "(Your son) is having fun. Why not let (him) sleep in my bed. There is nothing going on. Don't you trust me?"
That was the first night the two slept together. She said that, for the next several months, her son slept with Mr. Jackson in hotels around the world, at Neverland Valley Ranch and at the boy's home in Santa Monica.
Under questioning by Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon, the well-dressed, petite woman said that, the day after the confrontation, Mr. Jackson gave her a gold Cartier bracelet and took her and the boy and his sister to a David Copperfield magic show. For the next several months, she said, her son continued sleeping with Mr. Jackson, and the entertainer continued buying her presents.
Although the mother said she never witnessed any molestation with her son, prosecutors put her on the stand in an attempt to show parallels between the prior investigation and the current case. In both families, the fathers were absent during most of the boys' encounters with Mr. Jackson. And in both cases, the mothers were showered with gifts, while Mr. Jackson allegedly lured the boys into his bed and, prosecutors said, molested the youths.
But the defense insisted that the parallels in the cases are that both families were out for money, lied to get it and went to lawyers before contacting authorities.
Mr. Jackson, who has pleaded not guilty to child molestation charges, frequently shook his head during the testimony of the prior accuser's mother and whispered to his defense lawyers.
The mother frequently looked at jurors, who appeared to be taking notes on every detail she offered. No charges were filed against Mr. Jackson regarding the allegations of molestation her son made in 1993 because the boy and his family declined to testify after accepting a multimillion-dollar settlement from Mr. Jackson. Her son, now 25, has again declined to testify. The woman, who remained poised and composed through most of her testimony, held back tears when she said her son has not spoken to her in nearly 11 years.
On cross examination, lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau asked if the mother recalled asking the entertainer for a $4 million loan because the family was $5 million in debt. She responded, "Never."
Michael Jackson passes through security after he arrives at the Santa Maria courthouse on Monday.
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The family settled a civil suit with Mr. Jackson for $20 million in 1995.
"When you filed the lawsuit, your attorney was threatening to ruin Mr. Jackson's music deals, correct?" Mr. Mesereau asked. "I don't recall," she answered. At that time, Mr. Jackson had just negotiated the largest endorsement deal in history with PepsiCo.
"Your strategy was to negotiate a settlement before ever contacting authorities, correct?" the defense lawyer asserted.
"There was no strategy. Sorry," the woman insisted.
Under prosecution questioning, the woman detailed how she again became concerned about her son's relationship with the entertainer while in Monaco, where the two holed up in a hotel for two days, supposedly sick with the flu. In a sworn declaration, the boy stated that is where he and Mr. Jackson shared a bath and allegedly engaged in masturbation and oral copulation. That statement, however, will not be allowed into the current case unless he decides to take the stand.
On cross examination, the woman said she and her daughter spent the day shopping with Mr. Jackson's credit card during the time when the alleged molestation was going on.
Before her testimony on Monday, a longtime public relations person gave conflicting statements about an incident in which Mr. Jackson allegedly licked the 1993 boy's head while on a plane from Monaco. Prosecutors allege the entertainer licked the current accuser's head as well.
"I don't remember anything about head licking," Bob Jones said. Even when Senior Deputy District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss pulled out a portion of the elderly man's book manuscript, he said his co-writer Stacy Brown wrote that part.
On defense cross examination, Mr. Jones acknowledged he has known lots of people who sensationalize material to make a buck off Mr. Jackson and insisted he has changed "millions of things" in his current manuscript that were not written correctly.
But after the prosecutor showed him the two e-mails he sent Mr. Brown about how the incident was important, given the current allegations, and again asked whether he had witnessed the head licking, he said, "I guess so."
Prosecutors have used Mr. Jackson's past to show that he has an alleged pattern of behavior with adolescent boys that goes back to the early 1990s. But defense lawyers insist that every witness the prosecution has put on from the 1993 investigation has had a financial motive to lie.
The prosecution is expected to wrap up its treatment of the prior investigation today and return to the current accuser's case. His mother is scheduled to take the stand.
e-mail: dhobbs@newspress.com
CASE FILE
IN COURT: The mother of a boy who received a multimillion-dollar settlement from Michael Jackson told jurors that Mr. Jackson pleaded with her to allow her son to sleep with him during visits to his Neverland ranch and on trips to Las Vegas, Florida and Europe. The woman said that, during several months in 1993, Mr. Jackson treated her to trips and lavish gifts of jewelry after she agreed to let the boy sleep in Mr. Jackson's room.
WHAT'S NEXT: The prosecution is expected to wrap up testimony of the prior investigation today and return to the current accuser's case. His mother is scheduled to take the stand.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He said: 'You don't trust me? We're a family. Why are you doing this? Why are you not letting (your son) be with me?' " -- The mother, testifying that Mr. Jackson tearfully pleaded with her to let her son sleep in his room.
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