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Timeline emerges in Jackson abuse case
Video described as damage control
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In their first detailed account since Michael Jackson's arrest
on suspicion of child molestation, an alleged co-conspirator in
the case and lawyers for two others told the News-Press their version
of what happened in the weeks following the airing of a BBC video
that changed the entertainer's life forever.
Ronald Konitzer, a former business associate of Mr. Jackson, said
the video unleashed a public relations firestorm that threatened
the pop star's livelihood. In the video, Mr. Jackson said he shared
his bed with children and is seen holding hands with the boy who
would become his accuser.
Mr. Konitzer detailed the steps he and others took to shield Mr.
Jackson's reputation. The production of a new video casting Mr.
Jackson in a positive light, Mr. Konitzer said, was nothing more
than damage control.
His story contrasts sharply with the narrative prosecutors presented
in a Santa Maria courtroom when they said that Mr. Jackson and his
"henchmen," "hirelings" and "thugs"
conspired to abduct, imprison and coerce the boy and his family
to produce a video that countered the BBC documentary.
Mr. Konitzer said there was nothing conspiratorial about the actions
of Mr. Jackson and his associates.
"It was a very natural development of events and a normal
professional move that has been taken out of context -- there was
no cover-up," Mr. Konitzer said in an interview Friday. "We
were working around the clock at the ranch for 10 days in a row
— with my family even there — and I can tell you the
one thing I remember is a bunch of kids running around and having
fun. There was nothing I saw that even resembled anything near imprisonment."
Prosecutors declined to comment Friday, citing a gag order in the
case.
In court earlier this week, the prosecution described a conspiracy
to keep the boy and his family at Mr. Jackson's Neverland Valley
Ranch against their will, hiding them out at hotels and arranging
for a trip out of the country, so that they would appear in a video
more favorable to the pop star.
So far, no charges have been filed against the five alleged co-conspirators:
Mr. Konitzer and Deiter Wiesner, former business associates; Vincent
Amen, who had worked for Mr. Jackson's production company; Frank
Tyson, Mr. Jackson's former personal assistant; and F. Marc Schaffel,
who assisted in the production of the rebuttal video.
Mr. Jackson pleaded not guilty in April to conspiracy and molestation
charges. Trial has been set for Jan. 31.
The allegations of a conspiracy are absurd, say Mr. Konitzer and
lawyers for Mr. Amen and Mr. Tyson.
Mr. Konitzer recalled that he was in a Miami hotel room with Mr.
Wiesner putting the finishing touches on a business strategy to
boost the entertainer's career when they received a transcript of
the BBC documentary by Martin Bashir, "Living with Michael
Jackson," that was to air in England.
"Within 48 hours, the Bashir scandal hit," Mr. Konitzer
said. "We knew it could be damaging for the business and that
it needed to be addressed. The first action was trying to stop it."
Lawyers were hired to block the airing, but that didn't work. It
was shown on Feb. 3. Then the video was sold to ABC for broadcast
in the United States. "We had to prepare for the U.S. airing...
It was like a hurricane was coming and we were going through the
protective checklist."
More than a dozen lawyers were hired to deal with business issues.
"Hiring a defense lawyer was basically to complete a 360-degree
advisory board," said Mr. Konitzer, who chose Mark Geragos
two days after the documentary aired here on Feb. 6, 2003.
Mr. Konitzer also hired public relations and crisis-management
professionals. He was on conference calls from Miami and then Los
Angeles during nonstop brainstorming about how to stave off potential
negative effects of the documentary.
"We were looking for the right ammunition to discredit Bashir,"
he said. "Then we realized there was this other footage that
hadn't been shown."
During the months Mr. Bashir spent with Mr. Jackson, the entertainer's
own videographer was also documenting his life. The team went to
Neverland to assemble "Take Two: The Interview They Wouldn't
Show You," which aired on Fox on Feb. 20. Mr. Jackson was at
the ranch, but like a CEO of a large company, he let the hired professionals
do the work, Mr. Konitzer said.
"Everybody worked around the clock to get it all together,"
he said. "It was teamwork — not a conspiracy."
The boy who would later accuse Mr. Jackson of molestation and his
mother were also at the ranch. Neither appears in the rebuttal video.
"From what Vincent Amen saw, these people were certainly in
no way under any type of duress," said Mr. Amen's attorney,
Michael Bachner. "This family was not under any type of force
or compulsion to remain anywhere. They freely went around to speak
to whoever they wanted. They went shopping. They made phone calls.
They did everything free people do."
Attorney Joseph Tacopina said his client, Mr. Tyson, also said
the family was not held against their will: "If she (the mother)
were being held hostage, then I guess during one of her shopping
sprees on Rodeo Drive she could have told a store manager while
she was buying a thousand-dollar dress."
For prosecutors to characterize Neverland as a "place designed
to entice children" is ridiculous, he said. "To say Neverland
was constructed to be a predator's mansion is, quite frankly, very
offensive. Thousands of children have been through there, and it's
been the greatest moments in their lives."
Both lawyers say they doubt charges will ever be filed against
their clients, but if they are, Mr. Tacopina said, "the last
thing Tom Sneddon wants is my client to testify at his trial....
They have no interest in charging these men — because if they
do, we'll answer to the charges, and then they'll really have problems."
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