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Michael Jackson's Accuser Takes Stand
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson (news)'s young accuser came face-to-face with the singer for the first time since leaving the Neverland Ranch two years ago and described watching sexually explicit images with the singer in his bedroom.
The 15-year-old was not asked about the molestation allegations before court ended Wednesday, but testified about seeing adult Internet sites with Jackson and others after the singer suggested he and his brother sleep in his room on their first visit to Neverland in 2000.
With an expression that appeared to verge on a sneer, the young cancer survivor said yes when District Attorney Tom Sneddon asked him if he recognized the defendant.
The accuser was following his 14-year-old brother to the stand. The brother testified he saw Jackson fondle his older sibling in late February or early March 2003. Testimony was to resume Thursday.
The accuser gave the same account his brother had of looking at sexually explicit Web sites on their second night at Neverland after their parents gave them permission to sleep in Jackson's room.
The boy said one of Jackson's employees, Frank Tyson, began looking at sites on the Internet as the others watched.
The witness said they looked at women or teenage girls on seven or so sites for 15 to 30 minutes, and he repeated an account his brother had given about a remark Jackson allegedly made.
"There was this girl with her shirt up and it was all quiet and stuff and Michael's like, 'Got milk?'" he said.
At another point, Jackson whispered in the ear of his sleeping son, Prince Michael, saying his son was missing out and using a slang for female genitalia.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting the boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bedroom. Jackson's defense contends the family has a history of filing false claims to get money.
The accuser, who was a cancer patient when he met Jackson, talked about attending a Los Angeles comedy camp hosted by club owner Jamie Masada, whom he would later ask to put him in touch with Jackson.
The boy said Jackson invited him to Neverland the first time they talked. He said Jackson called his hospital room as he was being treated for cancer, and they later talked on the phone about 20 times.
The boy said Jackson invited him to appear in a documentary being produced by British journalist Martin Bashir and coached him on what to say. It aired on Feb. 6, 2003.
The boy said when he arrived at Jackson's ranch to participate in the video, Jackson "introduced me to Martin Bashir and he took me in the library and said, 'Hey, you want to be an actor, don't you?' And I said yes. He said, 'Hey, I'm going to put you in movies and this is your audition.' ... And he said, 'Tell them you call me Daddy and Daddy Michael.'"
Under questioning by Sneddon, the boy continued: "He told me to say he helped me and that he pretty much cured me of cancer. "
When asked if that was true, the boy said, "Not really. He was hardly there during my cancer," and that other celebrities such as comedian George Lopez visited him more often while he was sick.
"Did you admire Mr. Jackson?" Sneddon asked.
"I thought he was the coolest guy in the world. He was my best friend ever," the boy said.
Earlier Wednesday, the younger brother, under cross-examination by defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr., admitted discrepancies between his testimony and his other accounts of allegedly seeing Jackson molest his brother.
During questioning by the prosecution, the boy told of twice looking through the doorway of Jackson's bedroom as the pop star molested his sleeping brother while masturbating.
Mesereau confronted the witness with a previous statement to sheriff's investigators in which he said that during the second incident he was in the room curled up on a small couch pretending to sleep.
When Mesereau asked if his account of the second molestation had changed, the boy interjected that there were actually three incidents, although that has never been alleged.
"I was nervous while I was doing the interview," he told Mesereau.
"Because you were nervous you didn't get the facts right?" the attorney asked.
"Yes," said the witness.
During his cross-examination of the accuser's brother, Mesereau showed jurors a September 2000 video of Jackson and his accuser in the early days of their friendship. The boy appears frail and ghostlike, and has little hair because he was undergoing chemotherapy.
The video begins with Jackson holding an umbrella as he walks alongside the boy, whose brother pushes him in a wheelchair. In a later scene, he walks with the boy to a tree where they sit and lie down as they look out over a lake.
At one point Jackson places an arm around the boy, and briefly holds his hand at times, including when he helps him onto a train. Jackson's songs play in the background, including the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There."
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson (news)'s young accuser came face-to-face with the singer for the first time since leaving the Neverland Ranch two years ago and described watching sexually explicit images with the singer in his bedroom.
The 15-year-old was not asked about the molestation allegations before court ended Wednesday, but testified about seeing adult Internet sites with Jackson and others after the singer suggested he and his brother sleep in his room on their first visit to Neverland in 2000.
With an expression that appeared to verge on a sneer, the young cancer survivor said yes when District Attorney Tom Sneddon asked him if he recognized the defendant.
The accuser was following his 14-year-old brother to the stand. The brother testified he saw Jackson fondle his older sibling in late February or early March 2003. Testimony was to resume Thursday.
The accuser gave the same account his brother had of looking at sexually explicit Web sites on their second night at Neverland after their parents gave them permission to sleep in Jackson's room.
The boy said one of Jackson's employees, Frank Tyson, began looking at sites on the Internet as the others watched.
The witness said they looked at women or teenage girls on seven or so sites for 15 to 30 minutes, and he repeated an account his brother had given about a remark Jackson allegedly made.
"There was this girl with her shirt up and it was all quiet and stuff and Michael's like, 'Got milk?'" he said.
At another point, Jackson whispered in the ear of his sleeping son, Prince Michael, saying his son was missing out and using a slang for female genitalia.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting the boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bedroom. Jackson's defense contends the family has a history of filing false claims to get money.
The accuser, who was a cancer patient when he met Jackson, talked about attending a Los Angeles comedy camp hosted by club owner Jamie Masada, whom he would later ask to put him in touch with Jackson.
The boy said Jackson invited him to Neverland the first time they talked. He said Jackson called his hospital room as he was being treated for cancer, and they later talked on the phone about 20 times.
The boy said Jackson invited him to appear in a documentary being produced by British journalist Martin Bashir and coached him on what to say. It aired on Feb. 6, 2003.
The boy said when he arrived at Jackson's ranch to participate in the video, Jackson "introduced me to Martin Bashir and he took me in the library and said, 'Hey, you want to be an actor, don't you?' And I said yes. He said, 'Hey, I'm going to put you in movies and this is your audition.' ... And he said, 'Tell them you call me Daddy and Daddy Michael.'"
Under questioning by Sneddon, the boy continued: "He told me to say he helped me and that he pretty much cured me of cancer. "
When asked if that was true, the boy said, "Not really. He was hardly there during my cancer," and that other celebrities such as comedian George Lopez visited him more often while he was sick.
"Did you admire Mr. Jackson?" Sneddon asked.
"I thought he was the coolest guy in the world. He was my best friend ever," the boy said.
Earlier Wednesday, the younger brother, under cross-examination by defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr., admitted discrepancies between his testimony and his other accounts of allegedly seeing Jackson molest his brother.
During questioning by the prosecution, the boy told of twice looking through the doorway of Jackson's bedroom as the pop star molested his sleeping brother while masturbating.
Mesereau confronted the witness with a previous statement to sheriff's investigators in which he said that during the second incident he was in the room curled up on a small couch pretending to sleep.
When Mesereau asked if his account of the second molestation had changed, the boy interjected that there were actually three incidents, although that has never been alleged.
"I was nervous while I was doing the interview," he told Mesereau.
"Because you were nervous you didn't get the facts right?" the attorney asked.
"Yes," said the witness.
During his cross-examination of the accuser's brother, Mesereau showed jurors a September 2000 video of Jackson and his accuser in the early days of their friendship. The boy appears frail and ghostlike, and has little hair because he was undergoing chemotherapy.
The video begins with Jackson holding an umbrella as he walks alongside the boy, whose brother pushes him in a wheelchair. In a later scene, he walks with the boy to a tree where they sit and lie down as they look out over a lake.
At one point Jackson places an arm around the boy, and briefly holds his hand at times, including when he helps him onto a train. Jackson's songs play in the background, including the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There."
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