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Accuser's mom tells of strange ordeal
Sobbing witness: Singer licked son, warned "killers" out to harm her family
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In a bizarre day of testimony, the mother of Michael Jackson's accuser repeatedly sobbed on the stand Wednesday, begging jurors not to think badly of her as she detailed how her children became entangled in a web of death threats.
During hours of disconnected and confusing testimony, the woman told jurors that Mr. Jackson and his associates whisked her family to a Miami hotel and hid them at Neverland Valley Ranch "to protect them from the killers."
But they never told her who the supposed killers were, she said.
Sobbing, with her arms extended, she looked at jurors and said, "Please don't judge me. Please don't judge me."
Prosecutors put the mother on the stand in an effort to prove that Mr. Jackson and his associates conspired to hold her and her children against their will until they agreed to appear in a video designed to combat the public relations disaster caused by a British documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson."
That documentary shows Mr. Jackson holding hands with her son as the entertainer states that he shares his bed with children.
Prosecutors allege that the fallout from the documentary threatened the entertainer's career and financial status, prompting him to conspire to abduct, falsely imprison and extort the family. The mother is expected to be the prosecution's key witness to support those charges.
Throughout the animated testimony, she spoke directly to jurors and addressed Mr. Jackson several times, telling him that she had trusted him.
As he listened, Mr. Jackson frequently shook his head and spoke with his lawyers.
She also told journalists in the courtroom that Jackson associates tried to convince her that the media was evil. "But you guys are good people -- I know that now," she said.
Between sobs, she described an incident on a private plane between Mr. Jackson and her son. "I saw him licking (my son's head). I thought it was me! I thought I was seeing things! . . He was licking it like this," she said, extending her tongue and moving her head up and down, "over and over."
In response to Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen's patient questioning, the woman recalled that Mr. Jackson told her that "he loves us. He cares about us. We're family. We were in the back of the line and now we're in the front of the line. That he's going to protect us from the killers and that he's a father figure to the children . . ."
During her testimony, lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau never objected, a marked departure from his usual approach.
In a hearing earlier Wednesday outside the presence of jurors, Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville denied a defense call for a mistrial in response to the mother's decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying about her own alleged welfare fraud and perjury.
The judge informed jurors of the woman's decision to take the Fifth and instructed them not to draw any conclusions from it about her believability.
The defense has repeatedly attacked the woman's credibility, alleging that she has made false allegations in the past for financial gain and targeted celebrities for their money. She never reported any of that income to welfare officials, the defense contends.
As the prosecution's 54th witness, the woman's often disjointed and emotional testimony came in the seventh week of trial -- a month after her 15-year-old son took the stand and graphically testified that his idol molested him in his Neverland bedroom.
The mother did not testify about the alleged molestation. She is expected to remain on the stand at least through Friday.
Mr. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to child molestation, administering alcohol to a minor to commit a felony, and conspiracy.
At Mr. Zonen's request, the woman told jurors about a conversation with Mr. Jackson in a Florida hotel room.
"He spoke to all three of my kids and me -- and spoke in a very normal, a very male voice -- and told me that all three of my kids were in danger. He said to trust him, that he's a father to my kids . . . that he knows what to do in a situation like this because he's read hundreds of books on psychology and what kind of frame of mind these people have. . . . He cried. I thought 'What a nice guy.' "
Mr. Zonen gently advised the woman to stay focused and answer his questions as he tried to get her to recount how she was taken to Florida for a news conference in response to the British documentary.
That news conference, she told jurors, was to "appease the killers" but never took place. She testified that she never asked why because she felt threatened by two of Mr. Jackson's business associates, whom she called "those two Germans."
She was referring to Ronald Konitzer and Dieter Weisner. The prosecution has linked the two men to the alleged conspiracy but has not charged them with any crime.
It was on the flight from Florida to Santa Barbara that Mr. Jackson licked her son's head, she said. Other witnesses who were on the flight have said they did not see the entertainer do so.
The woman testified that the family was taken to Neverland and coerced by Mr. Konitzer and Mr. Weisner into making the rebuttal video. She said they called her a "stupid woman" and said they could have her and her family "erased" if she did not cooperate.
She told jurors that in the middle of the night, she persuaded a Neverland employee to take her and the children back to Los Angeles, and once there, she received repeated phone calls from another Jackson associate, Frank Tyson.
Prosecutor allege that Mr. Tyson was involved in the conspiracy, but he has not been charged.
Mr. Zonen played an audiotape of the conversations between her and Mr. Tyson, recorded surreptitiously by Jackson's associates. Jurors heard Mr. Tyson say that Mr. Jackson was worried about her and the children, urging her to return to the ranch.
"Let us take care of you, let us protect you," Mr. Tyson said. "Now is not the time to be out there by yourself. . . . Never turn your back on Michael because he's been hurt so many times. He's done everything he can for you and your family. . . . We would love for you to go on tape and say beautiful things about Michael. . . . There is a lot of evil out there, and even staying one night alone is unsafe."
She told him that reporters were calling and were camped out in her parents' yard. He offered to send a security guard to stand outside the house or to bring her back to Neverland: "I don't want you to be hurt, and I don't want Michael to be hurt with the media and what's going on."
Mr. Tyson urged, "Take my lead on this because there's a lot of things you don't know, and I don't want them to do anything to you and your family. You don't know how vindictive people are."
When she complained about Mr. Konitzer and Mr. Weisner, she said, Mr. Tyson told her Mr. Jackson had fired them because he didn't like how they were treating her. She agreed to return to Neverland with her children. But when she arrived, Mr. Konitzer and Mr. Weisner were still there.
"I thought he was a good guy, and he ended up being the worst of them," she said of Mr. Tyson.
The mother looked down and held her head as the audiotape played. When it was over, she sobbed, "I wanted friends so bad."
e-mail: dhobbs@newspress.com
CASE FILE
IN COURT: Holding her arms out to the jury, the mother of Michael Jackson's teenage accuser sobbed and pleaded, "Please don't judge me!" as she recounted her family's involvement with the pop star. The woman's often tearful testimony came after Judge Rodney Melville allowed her to take the stand despite her invoking the Fifth Amendment to avoid discussing alleged welfare fraud.
WHAT'S NEXT: Continued testimony from the accuser's mother.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I thought, 'What a nice guy.' "
-- The accuser's mother, describing her early impression of Mr. Jackson
-- ASSOCIATED PRESS
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