This is an amazing run of threads on one subject... after today's testimony by Debbie Rowe, I thought it would be best if we began our tenth thread with a news blurb about Ms. Rowe's testimony.

Please keep the photos coming, they're great... just don't repost them, please.

Great discussion guys, keep it up! -June7



Jackson's Ex-Wife the Best Defense By Joal Ryan
Thu Apr 28, 9:19 PM ET



In his opening argument, Michael Jackson prosecutor Tom Sneddon promised jurors that the singer's ex-wife would "testify to some interesting evidence" in his molestation and conspiracy trial.

And Debbie Rowe did. It just turned out her evidence was most interesting to the defense.

A day that began with Jackson's lawyers moving to strike all of Rowe's testimony from Wednesday ended with the team deciding it could live with statements like this: "Michael [is] a wonderful person."

According to Rowe's testimony, her former husband is also:

"Generous. To a fault. Giving and kind."
"A good father. Great with kids. Put[s] other people ahead of him."
"A brilliant businessman."
A prosecution witness, Rowe was called to the Santa Maria, California, courthouse to bolster the prosecution's conspiracy case. Instead, she helped the defense preview its case.

Rowe said Jackson, brilliant though he may be, was removed from the day-to-day workings of his far-flung operation by "opportunistic vultures" who sought to exploit his troubles--and sometimes even stoke his troubles--for their financial gain.

The portrayal of Jackson-as-victim is Defense Strategy 101. So is the slamming of ex-Jackson business associate Frederic Marc Schaffel and ex-Jackson managers Dieter Weizner and Ronald Konitzer. The defense is actively trying to distance their star client from the three men--all identified by the prosecution as unindicted coconspirators, all tagged by Rowe as liars and members of the "opportunistic vulture" society.

Schaffel is suing Jackson over allegedly unpaid loans, and on Thursday, according to the Associated Press, unsuccessfully tried to get a lien put on Neverland Ranch.

Rowe, meanwhile, had even more opinions as to who were the "vultures" in Jackson's camp, but Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville cut her off. "Sounds like she's got a long list," he said.

The ex-nurse did have a long list. Blunt and plain-spoken, Rowe said she thought Schaffel was "full of s---." When a question by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. made her briefly think the prosecution had bugged her telephone, she blurted out, "Damn you, guys. You never share anything." According to Court TV, she even took a swipe at ex-Jackson lawyer Mark Geragos.

About the only person Rowe didn't have a snap judgment for was the defendant.

Per reports, Rowe choked up when she talked about the entertainer she met at the dermatologist's in the 1980s. (She worked at the office; he was a client.) Divorced from Jackson since 1999, and currently fighting for visitation rights to their two children, Rowe said she still considered him a friend--"if [only] he'd talk to me."

It was her desire to help her friend, and their children, that led her to sit down for a videotaped interview orchestrated by the Jackson camp in February 2003, Rowe insisted on the stand.

Prosecutors had insisted Rowe was coerced into going on camera and saying nice things about Jackson, much as it insists the singer's young accuser and his family were. Both interviews were conducted in response to the controversial Martin Bashir documentary, Living with Michael Jackson.

Sneddon's opening argument said Rowe would talk about being "scripted," ordered to undergo a "complete rehearsal," and stopped whenever Jackson's henchmen "didn't like her answers."

But for the second day in a row, Rowe didn't talk about any of those things--no matter how many time prosecutor Ronald Zonen tried.

"Did you, in fact, make changes in your interview in accordance with [Schaffel's] request?" Zonen asked, trying to fire up the case for arm-twisting.

"Only if it didn't change the meaning of what I had to say," Rowe replied, dampening the case for arm-twisting.

"Did anybody offer you anything in response to your doing this [interview]?" went another hopeful Zonen question.

"No," went another deflating Rowe response. "I was excited to see Michael and the children when this was all over."

"At some point in time, did you take a look at a script?" went yet another Zonen question.

"No," went yet another--and possibly case-destroying--Rowe response.

There were written-out questions, Rowe said, but she didn't want to look at them. She didn't say anybody forced her to look at them, either.

As for the prosecution's charge that Jackson used their children as bargaining chips to secure her help, Rowe said no promises were ever made--and certainly not by Jackson. She said that after the interview a pleased Schaffel told her she'd be coming up to Neverland soon. But nothing ever happened. Rowe still hasn't seen her children since 2001.

Zonen did get Rowe to concede that she fudged a bit in the interview. But she said the misstatements were all hers, including one where she described herself as being part of the Jackson family. She said she just wanted to protect her children from nosy media inquiries.

Also on the stand: Iris Finsilver, a Rowe attorney, who was present for the rebuttal video taping.

In other business, Sneddon announced he'd wrap his case Tuesday.

Jackson, 46, is accused of masturbating a boy, then 13, serving alcohol to the child and conspiring to hold him and his family captive. The pop star has pleaded innocent to all charges

Here's more...

Jackson's Ex-Wife Calls Him a Great Father
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Thu Apr 28, 8:16 PM ET



SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The mother of two of Michael Jackson's children described the pop star Thursday as a "good father, great with kids" who became a victim of "opportunistic vultures" in his inner circle as they sought to make millions from his troubles.

The testimony about Jackson's associates marked the second straight day that Jackson's ex-wife Deborah Rowe turned the tables on prosecutors who called her to the stand in his child molestation trial.

Rowe was called to bolster a charge that the singer and his associates conspired to hold the accuser's family captive to make a video praising him. But the strategy may have backfired when Rowe portrayed Jackson as the one victimized by the men, who are named as unindicted co-conspirators in the case.

"Deborah Rowe was a devastating witness for the prosecution," said San Francisco defense lawyer Michael Cardoza, who has been observing the trial. He noted that it was even more damaging because prosecutors are about to wind up their case.

"It's like thinking you see a light at the end of a tunnel and it's a train coming at you," he said.

Rowe said the associates recruited her to make a video praising Jackson, then sold it for millions and kept the money. She said the organizer of the video, Marc Schaffel, bragged to her about how much money he was making off Jackson.

"He was out to hurt Michael and in addition would hurt my children," Rowe said.

Rowe's testimony was sometimes teary, sometimes salty and sarcastic. At one point she said swore at prosecutors in an apparent misunderstanding about a question.

She seemed to lament the state of her relationship with Jackson when a defense lawyer asked if she still considered Jackson a friend. "Yeah," she said, adding, "if he'd talk to me."

At one point when she was asked by the defense to describe Jackson, she caught her breath and said: "Generous to a fault, good father, great with kids, puts other people ahead of him. Brilliant businessman."

She later became teary-eyed when she described her feelings about Jackson, who at one point dabbed at his eyes. Rowe only spoke positively of her ex-husband and reserved expressions of ill will for Schaffel and two other unindicted alleged co-conspirators, saying, "I think they're opportunistic vultures."

Rowe was a nurse for a Jackson doctor when they married in 1996, and they had two children together — 8-year-old Prince Michael and 7-year-old Paris.

The couple filed for divorce after three years of marriage, and Rowe is now locked in a family-court dispute over visitation with their children, who are in the singer's custody. Jackson has a third child, Prince Michael II, whose mother has remained anonymous.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient in February or March 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the accuser's family captive to get them to rebut the "Living with Michael Jackson" documentary, in which the singer said he lets children sleep in his bed.

District Attorney Tom Sneddon had said Rowe would tell the jury that her remarks were scripted in the separate rebuttal video she made praising Jackson.

But Rowe denied Wednesday that her remarks were scripted or rehearsed. She said she agreed to make the video because she wanted to help the singer and she hoped to see their two children.

Rowe also testified that she had not been truthful about everything in her videotaped interview.

Rowe's second day of testimony came after Jackson's lawyers tried to abort her appearance with a motion to strike everything she said on Wednesday — a move they dropped after Thursday's questioning elicited more positive testimony about Jackson. Their reason for the motion was not made public.

When asked by Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen about how she felt about doing the video, she said, "I was excited to do it. I would get to see the children and could renew a relationship with Mr. Jackson."

At the end of his direct examination, Zonen asked, "What was your motivation for participating in this interview?"

"To see my children," she said.

Zonen also asked a question designed to show she had no recent knowledge of Jackson's parenting skills at the time of the interview.

"How long had it been since you had seen your children?" Zonen asked.

"About 2 1/2 years," she said.

But under cross-examination by Thomas Mesereau Jr. she said she did not blame Jackson for keeping her away from the youngsters but felt that his advisers and lawyers had interceded.

The prosecution announced it would probably rest its case Tuesday.

As Jackson left court at the end of the day he was asked if it was good to see Rowe again.

"Yes," he said.

Schaffel is suing Jackson on claims that he hasn't been paid more than $3 million in loans and fees. A Santa Monica judge on Thursday rejected Schaffel's request to place a lien on Neverland until after the criminal trial, Schaffel's attorney, Howard King, said in Los Angeles.

since she has sold him the kids..

Third!

way to kill a thread, Cloudy.

TheFrog said:

Eat cock!

Cloudbuster said:

Cloudloser

TheFrog said:

I'm gonna market you.

that's disgusting.

dam i cant see the picture, what is it?

hellomoto said:

A dead frog.

My baby draws pictures of sex all over the walls in graphic detail.

Twelth!

Or is it twelfth?

Or twelvth?

Stupid numbers!

Thirteenth!

:happynow:

Fourteen...we should publish these threads. what about it June?

lilgish said:

Sure... but, not much market for "third" "fourth" "thirteenth"...

Sixteenth! Fucking golddust!!

Number23 said:

Number23

Guess everyone is bored with Fridays trial coverage.

news just in that the prosecutors showed 2 books full of nude pics of little boys that michael had, that the prosecution collected from the 1993 search. even though the books arent actually porn, a girl on an mj website posted the pics from the books and it doesnt look like the book was sexual in any way, and plus one was sent to him by a fan.

hellomoto said:

And you know what, the DA didn't even open the books, just the covers! He had a detective on, who described the pictures? C'mon... thats just sad.

BlueNote

Jackson jurors shown seized books of boys


- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Linda Deutsch



April 30, 2005 | SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) -- Jurors in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial saw two books seized from his bedroom in 1993 that include pictures of nude boys.

Prosecutors showed the jury only the covers and front pages on which dedications were written, and put a detective on the witness stand to describe the contents.

Los Angeles police Detective Rosibel Smith, who found the books in a locked filing cabinet in Jackson's master bedroom, testified that both books featured boys "playing, swimming, jumping.''

The books were seized during a molestation investigation involving a boy who received a multimillion-dollar settlement from Jackson in 1994. That probe never led to criminal charges against Jackson.

Jurors have heard testimony relating to long-ago allegations against Jackson under a California law that permits evidence that may tend to show a defendant's propensity toward child molestation.

Judge Rodney S. Melville allowed the prosecution to use the books despite defense objections that they were found too long ago to be relevant to the current case and would be prejudicial.

Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the accuser's family captive to get them to rebut a documentary in which Jackson appeared with the boy and said he allowed children to sleep in his bed but that it was non-sexual.

One book, called "Boys Will Be Boys,'' featured an image of fair-haired boys in swimsuits jumping into water.

The book contained an inscription written by Jackson: "Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys' faces, this is the spirit of boyhood, a life I've never had and will always dream of. This is the life I want for my children.''

The other book, "The Boy: A Photographic Essay,'' also contained an inscription that said: "To Michael from your (heart symbol) fan, XXXOOO, 'Rhonda.''' The note was dated 1983.

Prosecutor Ron Zonen said earlier that one book was about 90 percent pictures of nude boys and the other about 10 percent.

Prosecutors have previously introduced dozens of adult magazines featuring adult women as well as a few art books that featured nudes.

The judge also heard extensive arguments over whether the prosecution should be allowed to present testimony by a journalist, Ian Drew, but he ultimately barred the testimony after finding that California's shield law applied and that the value of the testimony was "questionable.''

The prosecution wanted to question Drew about whether he heard Jackson's associates use the word "escape'' when they told him a planned interview with the current accuser's family had been canceled because the family "had disappeared from the ranch in the middle of the night.''

The issue of whether Drew should testify involved the prosecution's effort to support the portion of its case alleging Jackson conspired with associates to hold the accuser's family captive. The associates are named as unindicted co-conspirators.

RE: Introduction of 2 picture books as evidence

Lame
totally lame

When is this expected to finish? (damn it I wanted to be first )

So has he gotten away with it yet?

PurpleKnight said:

He would of done if it wern't for those meddling kids.

The D.A was willing to cop a plea which would mean no jail time, mike said no cos he didn't do a damn thing.

lilgish said:

Really. So no jail time for what in return?

m.j. just threw debbie some more cash before she testified to make her happy, thats all this was....

missfee said:

Riiight.