Fair Comment

The Defence Counsel, Tom Mesereau, in the Michael Jackson trial has released a statement deploring the media leaks.

"We strongly object to the "leak" of the Grand Jury testimony in this case. This Grand Jury material had been ordered sealed by Judge Melville in open court.

The witnesses who testified before the Grand Jury were never subjected to cross-examination or impeachment by the defense. By law, no judge or defense lawyer was allowed to be present in the Grand Jury room. Furthermore, the defense had no opportunity to call its own witnesses to refute or criticize this one-sided proceeding.

This case will be won in the courtroom and not through "leaks" in the media. When he has his day in court, Michael Jackson will be acquitted and vindicated..."

He makes a fair comment, the case must be tried in court not in the media.

Bashir Summoned

Martin Bashir, the British television interviewer and producer, has been summoned to testify at the forthcoming trial of Michael Jackson.

Bashir worked for 8 months with Jackson, and his team, producing the documentary "Living With Michael Jackson".

This was shown in February 2003, and revealed that Jackson slept with young boys in his bed.

Bashir has been ordered to appear on March 1.

One 12 year old boy told Bashir that he slept in Jackson's bed. Jackson said he had slept on the floor that night, quote:

"I see God in the face of children...And man, I just love being around them all the time..."

Bashir is also known for his interview with Diana, Princess of Wales; where she claimed that Camilla Parker-Bowles was the third person in her marriage to Prince Charles, and said that she wished to be known as the Queen of Hearts.

Will He, Won't He?

Seemingly there is some confusion over reports that Macaulay Culkin will appear at the forthcoming Michael Jackson trial.

It seems now that he will refuse to testify.

It is reported that he will use his "financial resources" to block appearing.

I thought that he was a friend of Jackson, precisely why is he refusing to appear?

Stars To Attend

The prosecution in the forthcoming Michael Jackson trial are rumoured to be seeking testimony from the likes of Macaulay Culkin, Corey Feldman and pop choreographer Wade Robson.

In addition to seeking high profile celebrities for the witness stand the prosecution are also looking for Jordan Chandler, the 12 year old who was at the centre of 1993 allegations, to come forward; plus others, including the son of a former employee.

Culkin, Robson and Feldman have all "stayed over" in the past with Jackson; but all claim nothing inappropriate happened.

California law allows previous offences to be considered in sex-crimes cases, even if there was never a criminal charge.

Daft Rumour

There are many rumours circulating on the web, regarding the Michael Jackson affair.

However, one of the daftest in my view is this one; apparently, Martha Stewart has offered to consult to Jackson about how to behave if he goes to jail.

I really don't think a course in "practical housekeeping", when in jail, is something that will be of much use to Jackson.

Nor, given Martha's rather arrogant behaviour prior to going to jail, would I suggest that she is the best person to take advice from.

Secret Hearings

Michael Jackson's defence team are seeking to exclude the public from the pre trial hearing, scheduled for Wednesday this week.

The hearing will "hear" (sorry!) evidence and statements from both prosecution and defence teams, as to whether previous sexual abuse allegations relating to Jackson should be admitted in the trial.

The request for a closed hearing was made on Friday.

The defence argue that the admission of allegations of previous abuse would prejudice the forthcoming trial, and that public disclosure in the pretrial hearing would contaminate the jury pool.

That may well be so, but it is a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted; the allegations are already in the public domain, and the jury pool would have had to be living on Mars not to be aware of them.

The defence argue that the prosecution case for admitting previous allegations is weak; citing the fact that the prosecution are planning to bring in only one alleged victim, but will be using testimony from disgruntled ex employees and others.

Two allegations that are most definitely in the public domain are:

• The report on the news program "Dateline NBC", on September 3 2004, that Jackson paid $2M to the son of a maid at his Neverland Valley Ranch in 1990; to avoid a child molestation accusation.



• In 1993, Jackson paid the family of another boy $15M to settle a different set of child molestation accusations. Jackson admitted no wrongdoing.

Needless to say the media are less than happy about the proposed secret hearing, their lawyer (Ted Boutrous) has stated that it would breach the First Amendment.

I have said it before, and will say it again, in this particular case the US legal system by seeking to bury this trial in gag orders etc seems to be trying to emulate the British obsession with secrecy.

Prior Sex Offences

The prosecution team, in the forthcoming Michael Jackson, trial are attempting to have evidence of previous sexual offences admitted to the trial.

It is reported that they have evidence relating to seven previous offences, allegedly committed by Jackson.

The defence, not surprisingly, wants the evidence barred; as, in their view, the evidence is flimsy.

Judge Rodney Melville will decide next week as to whether the evidence will be admitted. His prime concern will be as to whether admission of previous offences will prejudice the trial.

Gag Order Blown?

It seems that the gag order, imposed on the forthcoming Michael Jackson trial, has been blown apart by The Smoking Gun.

The website alleges that the prosecution have amassed a vast quantity of damning evidence against Jackson. This includes; porn, booze and eyewitness accounts of Jackson licking his accuser.

The site goes on to allege that the porn magazines were used to arouse Jackson's alleged victim.

Among the allegations on the website are:

• Jackson masturbated a drunken minor



• Jackson took the boy to Miami, and gave him red wine ("Jesus Juice") in a Diet Coke can



• Jackson, and his team, allegedly tried to cover up giving a minor alcohol; by trying to lose the urine sample



• A leather bag next to Jackson's bathroom sink, and a Samsonite briefcase near his bed, contained porn



• Pornographic DVD's were also allegedly discovered at Neverland



• The search of Jackson's bathroom allegedly uncovered a letter addressed to "Dear Apple Head"



• Jackson allegedly gave children names such as "Doo Doo Head" and "Blowhole". He instructed them to say that they had been looking at the Simpsons, in the event that they were caught surfing the net for porn



• He allegedly threatened the children that they should not to tell anyone about their encounters, even if a gun was held to their heads



• The site also alleges that on a February 6 2003, on a plane trip back to California, the accuser's brother and mother both witnessed Jackson licking him



• Jackson kept boys' underwear in a hamper



• The site also alleges that former Jackson aide, Frank Tyson, told kids to keep quiet about leaving Neverland or "I could have your mother killed."

The truth or otherwise of these allegations will have to be decided by the jury in the trial, which will start on 31 January 2005. However, it is fair to assume that the judge, defence and prosecution will be pretty furious about the leak.

Culkin Comes on Board

It is reported that "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin has indicated that he will cooperate with Michael Jackson's defence lawyers, in Jackson's forthcoming child molestation trial.

It had been speculated that he would not get involved.

Ring For Sale

Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, has reportedly put her wedding ring up for sale on eBAY.

The timing of the sale has been designed for maximum effect, namely when Jackson stands trial for alleged child molestation.

It seems that Rowe wishes to exert maximum pressure on Jackson, in order to help her win custody of their children Prince and Paris.

The diamond is a 2.13-carat diamond round cut made in Sydney, Australia; it was given to Rowe the day before their marriage began, on 12 November 1996.

The Veil of Secrecy

With less than 30 days to go until the start of Michael Jackson's trial, the gag order remains robustly in place.

The court released rulings and documents yesterday, all with significant levels of Nixonesque deletions and "black censor marks".

The only written order, by Judge Rodney Melville, released in detail was the decision to deny the defence motion to suppress evidence seized from the office of Jackson's personal assistant.

One of the censored documents, released by the judge, was the prosecution report on a search of Jackson's Neverland ranch that took place on November 18 2003.

The document included a statement, that investigators had received information from a confidential informant. The informant apparently told them that Jackson had told the informant something, how very helpful!

However, whatever that was had been blacked out in the released documents.

All clear?

The next pretrial hearing is scheduled for January 12.

Blood Protest

It was reported that a man recently sprayed his own blood at a sculpture of Michael Jackson, that was part of a Berlin exhibit of artworks belonging to the heir of a Nazi-era arms supplier.

The man, Hungarian-born performance artist Istvan Kantor, managed to miss the statue; and instead splattered the wall behind it, at the show of Friedrich Christian Flick's modern-art collection in the Hamburger Bahnhof museum.

His target was the ugly (in my view) gold coloured statue of Jackson, and his pet monkey Bubbles, by American sculptor Paul McCarthy.

Kantor was apparently protesting about the loss of independence in art.