Michael Jackson a no-show in federal court

Pop star Michael Jackson was a no-show Wednesday morning in federal court where he or his lawyers were to have told Judge Eldon Fallon the name of the attorney who would be defending him against a lawsuit filed last fall by a Louisiana man who claims the singer imprisoned and sexually assaulted him in 1984.

Local attorneys previously engaged by Jackson — four from New Orelans and one from Baton Rouge — withdrew from the case in April and subsequently sued to collect nearly $50,000 that they say he owes them for legal services.

Jackson's accuser, Joseph Thomas Bartucci Jr., claims he was 18 and in New Orleans with two friends for the 1984 world's fair when a Jackson employee lured him into the singer's limousine. Bartucci claims he was held prisoner, sexually assaulted and battered over nine days during a drive to California and back again.

Bartucci said the memory, so traumatic it was repressed, was revived by TV coverage in 2003 of the alleged child molestation charges of which Jackson was recently acquitted, following a lengthy trial and attendant media circus in California.

On Wednesday Judge Eldon Fallon scheduled an Aug. 17 hearing for Jackson to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court and a default judgment entered against him.

Entry of a judgment, Fallon said, would be a two-stage process. In the first, the judge would hold Jackson liable for damages Bartucci claims he suffered.

"Default on liability is able to be taken because the pleadings are sufficient to the court's information as to the liability aspect of the case," Fallon said.

After that, the judge said, he would take evidence to decide how much money Jackson should have to pay.

Er... no. I wholly accept the possibility of him being guilty of child molestation at some point in his life but that right there is just ridiculous.

The accuser was 18 at the time and this supposedly happened in all the way back in 1984. He claims he held prisoner and sexually assaulted - he must not have had no problem with this at the time. The accuser strikes me as someone who enjoys homosexual S&M & RPG.

This shit is OLD, but strangely still going on in the courts

Well, I don't believe ANY of the other stuff, but this one seems credible

old story..

In other Jackson news, a New Orleans man has sued the singer for alleged sexual assaults he says he repressed for nearly 20 years.

In the civil action, obtained by TV's Celebrity Justice, Joseph Thomas Bartucci Jr. says the memories were unearthed in November 2003 as he watched a Court TV special on the Jackson child-molestation case.

Bartucci accuses Jackson of physically abusing him during a one-week period in May 1984, when Bartucci was 18 and Jackson was 25. The incidents took place in Jackson's limousine and in "an unknown building in California," the lawsuit alleges.

Bartucci claims Jackson cut him with a razor blade, punctured him with a steel wire and forced him to "consume mood-altering substances." He alleges the singer, then at the height of his career, directed his staff to bully Bartucci and even hold him at gunpoint.

The suit seeks unspecified damages for alleged sexual assault and battery, assault and battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress. Bartucci claims the alleged sexual encounters left him with some 30 ailments, ranging from nightmares to fear of intimacy to "aggravation of pre-existing heart problems."



I wonder why the press didn't love this story.
[Edited 7/20/05 13:52pm]

And here we have Joseph Bartucci, Jr., seen here in a mug shot taken by Louisiana authorities back in 1996 when they arrested him for stalking a woman in Rapides Parish. Bartucci is the guy who just recently (November of 2004) filed a lawsuit against Michael Jackson allegeding sexual assault going back to May of 1984. (Bartucci said the memories of the sexual assault were repressed until just recently.) At any rate, Bartucci was convicted of a reduced charge of harassment, paid a fine and was sentenced to probation with a 90-day suspended jail sentence. He'll no doubt be asked to talk about this incident if his Michael Jackson suit ever gets to court.

The ex-girlfriend of Michael Jackson's latest accuser is speaking out and labeling her ex a con man.

Hope Horne, of Pineville, Louisiana, spoke exclusively to "Celebrity Justice." She told us Joseph Thomas Bartucci, Jr., is her ex-boyfriend, and she claimed that long before Bartucci filed a lawsuit accusing Jackson of graphic sexual molestation, she knew he was planning to do it.

"When I was watching 'Celebrity Justice,' I was just shocked," Horne said. "I couldn't believe he went through with it. He told me a couple of months before that he was going to sue Mr. Jackson, and I told him he was full of it. I am speaking out because I don't want to see this con man ruin a person who already has enough on his plate."

"CJ" has learned that Bartucci filed another suit in 2001, accusing a Louisiana reverend of sexual molestation, claiming the minister "demanded that the plaintiff's masturbation was necessary in order to purify and avoid going to hell."

Attorneys for both sides say that the suit settled out of court with the terms confidential. Bartucci's lawyer on that case told "CJ" that his client seemed truthful, but the reverend's lawyer said it was a totally meritless suit that devastated the minister and his family.

"I'm angry that he's doing this," Hope told us. "I feel hurt that he's doing this and glad that maybe I'll see justice served. He's a total con artist and a liar."

Hope says she's surprised that Bartucci is also facing a civil suit, in which a woman claims he used "fraudulent conduct" and "obtained title" to her insurance policy. That woman's lawyer claims Bartucci faked a convulsion during a deposition, about which Hope said, "It does not shock me at all."

As for the Jackson case, Bartucci claims the abuse happened in 1984 when he was 18 and he repressed the memory of it until 2003 when he saw a Court TV episode and then decided to sue.

So what's Hope's theory on why Bartucci is accusing Jackson of sexual assault, cutting him with a razor blade and puncturing his chest with steel wire? "He's trying to get a quick buck," Hope said. "He thinks Michael Jackson will pay him off and shut him up."

We tried, but couldn't find Mr. Bartucci for comment on all this. We also repeatedly called the attorney representing Bartucci on the Jackson suit, but could not reach him.

http://celebrityjustice.w...1/11a.html

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE???

lilgish said:

this is very Rove of mj fans to be throwing shit out like this..do not like one bit... let the courts decide...jees...isnt that what mj fans kept saying from the get?

bullshit.

damn, this shit is STILL relevant? i thought it had been decided that dude was full of shit.

ya gotta be shittin me

sosgemini said:

oh ok, ill just believe that a michael, in the height of his career, would hold someone at gun point?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
That dude probably even kno how to hold a gun, how's he gonna hold someone at gunpoint or cut them with razors or shit. this cat was playing with bubbles in the 80's, not blades. give me a break...

TheBoyfromtheBand said:

are we seriously going to get into the whole "probability deal" in regards to mj? cause, i soo would never think a rich loonie man who shaves his body hair and hangs out with cute young boys and brags about living in a "child-like" state would ever ummm...play doctor with his boy sleep-overs?

thats soo unrealistic.....

Never heard of this case

Will CourtTV become the new MTV?





.
[Edited 7/21/05 1:11am]

sosgemini said:

you have quite an imagination.

I think it's hilarious how he supposedly got all these repressed memories rushing back to him after seeing a Court TV report on the case on a Sunday, while Court TV don't actually air coverage on Sundays - so I've been told, I'm not American so thankfully can't pick up that channel.

cranshaw62 said:

Exactly! It's ridiculous.

endorphin74 said:

Exactly. I cant believe this guys story is even being tolerated. Its an absolute disgrace. Man if Jacko had to turn up to every court appearance of every little complaint someone makes against him, in the vague hope they can make a quick buck off him, he'd have to retire from music all together, he'd never get anything done.

That said, you could argue he brought this kind of stuff on himself by settling out of court over Jordy Chandler. Sick people like this man will have seen that and thought hey i want a peice of that.

damn,s omeone jail these stupid ppl. How can they claim such stupidities without being punished? What took him sooooo long to complain.

I want to punch his nose

LightOfArt said:

You should cut him with a razor and poke a wire in his chest, too. All at gun point, of course.

Cloudbuster said:

he would forget it anyway

LightOfArt said:

Well, for a few years at least.

cranshaw62 said:

Marrk said:

honey, i aint the mj famatic.

sosgemini said:

.. with a matching avatar.

squiddyren said:

oooh that is harsh