Frühere Angestellte entlastet Jackson

[elli]

Jackson-Prozeß
Frühere Angestellte entlastet Jackson

09. Mai 2005 Im Kindesmißbrauchs-Prozeß gegen Popstar Michael Jackson hat die Verteidigung am Montag eine frühere Hausangestellte des Sängers in den Zeugenstand geholt.

Sie zog die Aussage einer Kollegin in Zweifel, die für die Anklage im Gericht von Santa Maria (Kalifornien) beschrieben hatte, daß sie Jackson beim unsittlichen Berühren von Kinderstar Macaulay Culkin beobachtet habe. Während ihrer dreijährigen Zusammenarbeit zu Beginn der 90er Jahre habe ihre Kollegin nie schlecht über Jacksons geredet, sagte die Zeugin vor der Jury.

Culkins Aussage Mitte der Woche erwartet

Culkin („Kevin allein zu Haus”), der in früheren Fernsehinterviews jedweden Mißbrauch durch Jackson abgestritten hatte, steht auf der Liste möglicher Verteidigungs-Zeugen. Ein Prozeßbeobachter des amerikanischen Senders CBS rechnet damit, daß der jetzt 24 Jahre alte Schauspieler Mitte dieser Woche vor Gericht aussagen wird. Im weiteren Prozeßverlauf könnten auch Stars wie Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross und Stevie Wonder zur Entlastung des Popstars in den Zeugenstand gerufen werden.

Der 46jährige Sänger muß sich wegen sexuellen Mißbrauchs eines heute 15 Jahre alten Jungen auf seiner Neverland-Ranch verantworten. Die Tat soll sich im Frühjahr 2003 ereignet haben.

Verteidigung in der Offensive

Die Verteidigung war in der vergangenen Woche mit der Aussage von zwei jungen Männern, die als Kinder häufig auf Jacksons Neverland Ranch zu Gast waren, in die Offensive gegangen.

Wade Robson (22) und der eigens aus Australien angereiste Brett Barnes (23) stritten Belästigungen durch den „King of Pop” vehement ab. Die Anklage hatte beide als Mißbrauchopfer des Sängers dargestellt. Auch die Mütter der Zeugen, die ihre Söhne als „spezielle Freunde” Michael Jacksons sahen, beteuerten vor der Jury, daß die Freundschaften harmloser Natur waren.

http://www.faz.net/

[elli]

Former Jackson staff deny molestation claims

19 minutes ago

SANTA MARIA, United States (AFP) - The defence in
Michael Jackson's child sex trial used some of the singer's past and present employees to chip away at allegations that he repeatedly molested young visitors to his Neverland Ranch.
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Kicking off the first full week of defence testimony, Francine Contreras, who worked at Jackson's fantasy-themed estate in the early 1990s, labelled a former maid who testified to seeing the singer touch young boys in a sexual manner as a liar and a thief.

Insisting she had never heard the maid, Adrian McManus, say anything negative about Jackson when they had worked together at the ranch, Contreras said she had cut their friendship when she realised McManus was stealing on the job.

"She had hats that belonged to Mr. Jackson ... pyjamas, watches, T-shirts ... items that belonged to the ranch," Contreras said, adding that McManus would smuggle the singer's clothes out in a laundry basket under the pretext of taking them home to iron.

"There was a hat. You can't iron a hat," she said.

As a prosecution witness, McManus, who worked as Jackson's personal maid in 1992 and 1993, had told jurors she saw the pop icon kissing three young boys, and touching their rear ends or crotches.

She identified one of those boys as former child star
Macaulay Culkin, of "Home Alone" fame, who has denied ever being abused by Jackson and is expected to testify on the singer's behalf later in the week.

Two other boys the prosecution says were inappropriately touched by Jackson, testified at the start of the defence case last week that they had never been molested in any way by the superstar, even though they regularly shared his bed.

Jackson's lawyers insist all the molestation claims are fabrications by greedy parents or former Jackson employees seeking to get rich from civil suits, books or newspaper stories.

"They've begun with a parade of witnesses to systematically impeach the prosecution witnesses," said Michael Cardoza, a former prosecutor following the trial.

The prosecution, which rested its case on Wednesday, has sought to demonstrate a pattern of child molestation in Jackson's past, although the entertainer is not charged with any of the allegations dating back to the 1990s.

Jackson, 46, stands charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy in early 2003, plying him with alcohol and plotting to hold the boy and his family captive at Neverland.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Even as Contreras sought to undermine the testimony offered by McManus, prosecutors sought to damage her credibility by asking if she had been sacked from a previous job as a cashier for stealing.

She responded that she had been prosecuted for trespassing, not theft.

A former Neverland housekeeper who followed Contreras on the witness stand was challenged in similar fashion over a scheme to sell some of Jackson's furniture that resulted in termination of her employment.

Susan Filan, another former prosecutor following the trial, said mutual muckraking and mudslinging had become a leitmotiv of witness testimony from both sides.

"The unclean are tarnishing the less clean," Filan commented.

Also testifying Monday was Violet Silver, the current "safety coordinator" at Neverland, who said she had never seen Jackson engage in any inappropriate activity or seen kids drinking alcohol

Describing the "reckless" behavior of Jackson's current accuser and his younger brother when they were staying at Neverland, Silver said they would drive wildly around the estate in golf carts, at one point crashing into a fountain.

The testimony supported the defence assertion that the boys were out of control, and actually helped themselves to the wine and pornographic material that the prosecution insists was supplied by Jackson.

Silver indicated that anyone who felt they were being kept captive at the Neverland would have little difficulty escaping.

The golf carts were equipped with electronic remotes that would automatically open the main gates, said Silver, who also cited instances of fans who had managed to breach security circling Neverland before being caught.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050509/en_afp/afpentertainmentus_050509205117

[elli]

Janet Arvizo wollte Job auf Neverland

Housekeeping chief: Accuser's mother sought job at Neverland

Monday, May 9, 2005 Posted: 3:57 PM EDT (1957 GMT)


Michael Jackson arrives at court Monday.


SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- The mother of Michael Jackson's teenage accuser asked for a job at Neverland Ranch during her family's first visit there, the ranch's former housekeeping supervisor testified Monday.

Additionally, the accuser's mother offered to sleep in her car to be available for work at Neverland, because the family was "having money problems," Gayle Goforth testified.

Testifying for the defense, Goforth told jurors in the pop star's child molestation trial that the accuser's mother made the request during the family's first visit in 2000, as the boy was battling cancer.

Goforth said she tried to dissuade the mother by pointing out the more than 100-mile drive to the ranch from her home in Los Angeles. She said the mother offered to move to the Santa Ynez Valley, where Neverland is located.

Told that rents in the valley were high, the accuser's mother said she was "prepared to sleep in her car" to take the job at Neverland, Goforth said.

However, during cross-examination, prosecutor Ron Zonen tried to undercut Goforth's account by pointing out to jurors that the mother at that time had a job and did not have a car.

Monday marked the beginning of the first full week of the defense case in the Jackson trial, with his attorneys bringing to the stand witnesses designed to undercut the testimony of earlier prosecution witnesses, including the accuser's mother and Adrian McManus, a former Neverland maid who said she saw Jackson fondling several young boys, including child movie star Macaulay Culkin.

Another former maid who worked with McManus, Francine Contreras, testified Monday that during a visit to McManus' home, she saw items on display that had been taken from Neverland, including hats, pajamas, watches and T-shirts.

She also said she saw McManus take items from the ranch in a laundry basket, hidden under clothes McManus was taking home to iron as part of her duties. Contreras also said McManus "always talked good" about Jackson.

Zonen tried to turn the tables on Contreras' theft allegations against McManus, asking if she had been fired from her job at a department store for stealing.

"No, sir. Trespassing," Contreras said.

Jackson arrived at the Santa Maria courthouse Monday morning with his parents and brother Jermaine. He work a dark suit and vest with small polka dots and a striped armband.

A grand jury indicted the 46-year-old pop star last year on charges of molesting a boy, then 13, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive in 2003.

Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

CNN's Dree De Clamecy contributed to this report.

[Anja]

Hier noch mal etwas zum gestrigen Tag:

Folgende Artikel habe ich im Malibu-Forum gefunden:

Es kristallisiert sich immer deutlicher heraus, was für eine asoziale Bande diese Familie Avrizio ist. Der einzige Vorwurf, dem man Michael machen kann, ist der, dass er diese Bande spätestens nach 2 Tagen hochkant hätte rausschmeißen lassen müssen!

Jackson defense counters with own parade of Neverland workers

By Linda Deutsch
ASSOCIATED PRESS


SANTA MARIA – Michael Jackson's defense called current and former employees of his Neverland ranch Monday to counter the parade of ex-workers used by prosecutors to support the child molestation and conspiracy case against the pop star.

The defense sought to use the witnesses to portray Jackson's young accuser and his brother as destructive, suggest that one prosecution witness to alleged past inappropriate actions with boys was a thief, and characterize Jackson as a gracious host to his Neverland guests.

"The emphasis at Neverland was on hospitality. That was our primary duty, to make them feel welcome," said Violet Silva, who has worked there since 1991 and been security chief since 1997.

Former ranch employee Francine Contreras testified that while working with ex-maid Adrian McManus she never heard the woman say anything bad about the singer.

McManus was a prosecution witness who claimed she saw Jackson inappropriately touch child actor Macaulay Culkin and other boys.

Contreras did not address that testimony but cast doubt on McManus' character, saying the maid had a display in her home of hats, pajamas, watches, shirts and other items pilfered from Neverland.

She also said McManus took some toys that were supposed to be gifts for needy children.

The testimony was offered at the outset of the first full week of the defense case.

After the prosecution rested last week, the defense presented two young, Wade Robson and Brett Barnes, who as children repeatedly slept with Jackson but insisted they were not molested. They were supported by their mothers, who expressed trust in the singer, and their sisters.

[..]

Silva was asked about the various families of boys who have been guests at Neverland.

Of the Robsons, she said, "A wonderful family. They seemed to be very close-knit. A very bright and articulate family."

She said the Culkins were a "nice family" and the Barneses were "a wonderful family as well."

Silva said she had only minimal contact with the mother of Jackson's current accuser but described her behavior as somewhat unusual.

"I would say she was either excited or not excited. She was either very happy or she wasn't speaking," Silva said.

She said the accuser and his brother were usually cared for by their sister, not the mother, and only the sister would remind them to take showers and to be neat. --> Das sagt eigentlich ALLES über die Mutter!!! Sie sagte, das sich gewöhnlich die Schwester um ihre Brüder kümmerte und sie daran erinnerte, mal zu duschen und ordentlich zu sein, NICHT die Mutter!

Silva said she did not know of any children drinking alcohol or appearing intoxicated at the ranch. She said liquor was kept in the ranch wine cellar, which was locked.

The accuser and his siblings have claimed they were served wine in the cellar.

The Neverland security chief described the accuser and his brother as "rambunctious."

"They were pretty reckless," she said. "They'd get in a ranch vehicle and we had stop them. They were young. They couldn't drive.... They were pretty destructive."

Silva also testified about a Feb. 19, 2003, directive on a log at the Neverland guard gate that said the accuser and his brother were not allowed to leave. She said it meant they could not leave without adult supervision, not that they were to be held against their will.

During cross-examination, District Attorney Tom Sneddon asked Silva if she had told an investigator that as a mother she wouldn't want her children to participate in activities in Neverland.

Silva, who has daughters and granddaughters, acknowledged saying that.

Under redirect questioning by Jackson attorney Robert Sanger, she said she would bring her children for "family fun day" but not other times.

"Some of the activity was beyond my comfort level," she said without explanation.

When the prosecution presented former Neverland staff members, the defense attacked their credibility and motives by showing past legal problems, lawsuits against Jackson and sales of stories about the pop star to tabloids.

The defense showed, for example, that McManus and her husband defrauded three children of more than $30,500 from their estate, and that she was once assessed $30,000 for stealing a sketch of Elvis Presley by Jackson and selling it to a tabloid.

Similarly, the prosecution sought to challenge Contreras' character by asking if she had been prosecuted for stealing at her subsequent job at a Mervyn's department store.

Contreras said she was prosecuted for trespassing, not stealing.

In brief testimony, Gayle Goforth, a former head of housekeeping at Neverland, said that the mother of Jackson's accuser asked her for a job during her first visit to the ranch. Goforth said she thought the request was inappropriate because the woman was a guest.

Goforth said she was suspended from her job because of a mix-up involving a sale of furniture from Neverland and she later quit because she was offended.

Associated Press Writer Tim Molloy contributed to this report.


Und der nächste:


REUTERS

Boys ran wild at Neverland, employee testifies

Mon May 9, 2005 04:15 PM ET

By Dan Whitcomb and Alexandria Sage

SANTA MARIA (Reuters) - The brothers at the center of the Michael Jackson sex abuse trial ran wild at Neverland, driving cars around the ranch, dropping litter and generally behaving in a "pretty destructive" manner, a senior employee at Jackson's Neverland home testified on Monday.

But the two boys, along with their older sister and mother, were never prevented from leaving the central California ranch and could have dialed the 911 emergency number any time, Violet Silva said.

Silva, a former security chief who now works as safety coordinator at Neverland, was the first employee or former employee to testify in the singer's defense following a string of damaging allegations made by ex-workers who were called by the prosecution last month.

She said Jackson's then 13 year-old accuser and his younger brother took golf carts and sports utility vehicles on high-speed spins around the grounds and wore the same clothes for days on end during their stay in February and March 2003.

"They were active. I'm trying to be polite here ... they were pretty reckless at the time," Silva told the jury. "They were pretty destructive, I would say."

In the prosecution phase of the trial, one former housekeeper blamed Jackson for running a "Pinocchio's pleasure island" where young boys were allowed to do anything, including drinking alcohol.

NO REPRIMAND

Silva said she never saw the boys' mother reprimand her children, and added that the mother's demeanor was "either excited or not excited ... she was either very happy or she wasn't speaking."

She said no one in the family ever complained to her about anything, and that any of the guests could easily dial 911 from Neverland phones. She said that an entry in the Neverland gate log which said the children were not to leave the property was an instruction that they should not leave without supervision, because they were children.

"Were they ever prevented from leaving the ranch when they requested?" asked defense lawyer Robert Sanger. "No," Silva replied.

The mother of the boys has testified that the family were held against their will both at Neverland and in a nearby hotel in February and March 2003.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to imprison the family, as well as molesting the boy and plying him with alcohol in order to seduce him. If convicted, the singer could face two decades in prison.

After two months of prosecution testimony, Jackson's lawyers last week began to detail the defense case. Among the first defense witnesses were two young men who denied Jackson had ever molested them when they were younger, contrary to claims by witnesses introduced by prosecutors.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=8431002

[Anja]

Und hier das wichtigste in Deutsch übersetzt von kingofpop.de:

Jackson würde sich nie wieder in eine solche Lage versetzen
Reuters
09.05.2005





Michael Jackson will der Welt klar machen, dass er des Kindesmissbrauchs nicht schuldig ist, wird in seinem Prozess aber auf Anraten seiner Anwälte möglicherweise nicht aussagen, erklärte eine Sprecherin der Popikone am Montag vor dem Gerichtsgebäude.

"Michael möchte, dass die Welt weiß, dass er kein Kind sexuell belästigt hat", sagte Raymon Bain. "Wenn seine Verteidiger möchten, dass er aussagt, wird er sich nicht dagegenstellen, und er wird nicht aussagen, wenn sie das nicht möchten."

Vorher sagte Bain: "Er wird auf das hören, was Anwalt Tom Mesereau ihm vorschlägt. Wenn Tom Mesereau ihn bittet auszusagen, wird er das tun."

Bain deutete an, dass Jackson seine Gewohnheit, das Bett mit Jungen zu teilen, beenden wird und sagte auch, dass der 46jährige Künstler seinen Anteil am Beatles Song-Katalog "auf keinen Fall" verkaufen wird, um seine - wie die Ankläger es nennen - wackelige Finanzlage abzusichern.

Auf die Frage, ob Jackson sein Bett weiterhin mit Kindern teilen wird, bezog sich Bain auf ein früheres Statement des Sängers, in dem er "darauf hinwies, dass er aus diesem Fall eine Menge gelernt hat. Er sagte, er würde sich niemals wieder in eine solche Lage versetzen."

Auf die Frage, warum Jackson es für angebracht hält, die Nacht gemeinsam mit Jungen in einem Bett zu verbringen, sagte Bain: "Er sieht die Dinge nicht so wie die meisten Leute. Er betrachtet die Welt durch eine rosarote Brille."

Diese Bemerkungen gaben auch ein Thema der Verteidigung wieder, die während des Prozesses sagten, dass Jacksons Motive völlig unschuldig seien und die Tatsache, dass er mit Jungen zusammen geschlafen hat nur eine Ausweitung seiner unschuldigen Liebe zu den Kindern dieser Welt sei.





Jackson möchte "die Menschen glücklich machen"

Jackson, so sagte sie, kann es kaum erwarten, zu seinem früheren Leben zurückzukehren, "als er die Menschen mit seiner Musik glücklich gemacht hat", und dass die Verteidigung viele offene Fragen beantworten wird, bevor sie ihren Fall in 8 bis 10 Wochen abschließt.

Am Montag sagten zwei Angestellte von Neverland aus, dass der Kläger und sein jüngerer Bruder ungebärdig und "destruktiv" gewesen sind, während sie Anfang 2003 auf der Ranch waren, in dem Zeitraum, als Jackson den Jungen belästigt haben soll.

Neverlands Sicherheitskoordinatorin Violet Silva sagte aus, dass die Jungen - Jacksons Kläger und sein Bruder waren damals 13 und 12 Jahre alt - mit dem Lincoln des Popstars auf dem Grundstück umher fuhren und Sicherheitsleute ihnen hinterherjagten.

Sie sagte, die Jungen hätten außerdem alles vollgemüllt, Golfcarts kaputtgefahren und tagelang die gleichen Klamotten getragen.

Ranchmanager Joe Marcus, der seit 18 Jahren für Jackson arbeitet, bestätigte diese Aussage.

"Sie respektieren kein fremdes Eigentum", sagte er. "Ich weiß, dass sie Gebiete auf dem Grundstück mit Graffiti beschmiert haben."

Beiden Zeugen sagte aus, dass - im Gegensatz zur Aussage der Mutter der Jungen - sie niemals gegen ihren Willen auf Neverland festgehalten wurden, und dass sie nie geäußert hätten, gehen zu wollen.

Silva sagte, sie habe nie gesehen, dass die Mutter ihre Jungen zurechtgewiesen habe, und fügte hinzu, dass die Mutter "entweder begeistert war oder nicht... Sie war entweder sehr glücklich, oder sie redete überhaupt nicht."

Sie sagte, dass eine Notiz an die Security, die Jungen am Verlassen der Ranch zu hindern, nicht bösartig gemein war, sondern zu ihrer eigenen Sicherheit ausgegeben wurde, damit sie das Grundstück nicht ohne Aufsicht verlassen konnten, weil sie noch Kinder waren.

Aber auf die Frage von Bezirksstaatsanwalt Tom Sneddon, ob sie ihren zwei Töchtern erlauben würde auf Neverland zu sein, sagte sie "nein", und fügte hinzu: "Einige der Aktivitäten wären mir unbehaglich". Sie führte das nicht weiter aus.

[Jacko_w]

hey, der letzte artikel klingt doch gut. was mich total gewundert hat in einem artikel vorher, janet avizo woolte job auf neverland. wenn da mal nicht die glocken klingeln. allerdings hab ich den artikel nicht gelsen, weil der auf english war. würde die hälfte soweiso nicht verstehen...
Lg