This article appeared in my local newspaper last week.Not sure if it has been posted already,but here it is.The article was about Michael's lawyer (Mark Geragos) holding a press conference last week.He was pissed that he and Michael were secretly videotaped while flying on a private jet to Santa Barbara last week for Jackson's surrender.I'm sure you guys saw this on the news,so I'll just skip to the more interesting parts of the article...


"JACKSON LAWYER GOES ON OFFENSIVE"

By Linda Deutsch
(Associated Press)

The news conference came as doubts about the credibility of Jackson's accuser and his family began to emerge.The family of the child has already been involved in two previous cases that involved abuse allegations: a lawsuit in which family members said they were battered by mall security guards,and a divorce fight in which the father pleaded no contest to spousal abuse and child cruelty.

In November 2001,J.C. Penney Co. paid the boy's family $137,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging secuity guards beat the boy,his mother and his brother in a parking lot after the boy left the store carrying clothes that had not been paid for,court records show.The mother also contended that she was sexually assaulted by one of the guards during the 1998 confrontation.

A month before the settlement,the boy's mother had filed for divorce,beginning a bitter fight that would include criminal charges of abuse.The father's attorney,Russell Halpern,said the mother had lied about the case and had a "Svengali-like" ability to make her children repeat her lies.

Halpern said the father once showed him a script his wife had allegedly written for their children to use when they were questioned in a civil deposition."She wrote out all their testimony.I actually saw the script",Halpern said."I remember my client showing me,bringing the paperwork to me".

The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of child abuse.The child's mother has an unlisted number and could not be located for comment.J.C. Penney attorneys did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The family's past legal cases could be critical in the current molestation case,if Geragos can show the mother or the accuser lacks credibility,said Leonard Levine,a defense attorney who specializes in sexual-assault cases.

"It sounds like music to a defense attorney's ears--that there have been other cases where they have sued and there is at least an argument that the allegations are similiar to the ones here",Levine said,referring to the claims of physical abuse.

"Once you can get evidence in that there's previous evidence that either the child or the parents have fabricated evidence or testimony,you're 90 percent to an acquittal,"Levine said.

Oh, figures. If it's anywhere near the truth, I don't have to burn my Jackson CDs. Neither of them.

it's pretty easy to get a child to repeat your lies, especially if you're the parent. The adjective "svelgali-like" really wasn't necessary. I hope that the truth will come out about this whole case.

whoelse thinks it is SICK as hell how the father of the kid keeps trying to use all his kids as "pawns" in the media & in their messy divorce.

wow was a disgusting bastard!!

EVEN if I only believed my son 2% on this MJ sex crime thing.. I wouldn't go in the press and say he is a lier,ect..

what IF the kid isnt lieing and YOUR OWN dad is using you in the media... to get back at your mom! In the meantime your dieing in a hospital bed

pretty sick father


[This message was edited Sat Dec 6 0:18:07 PST 2003 by locoarts]

locoarts said:

that boy is cured of cancer

second of all that boy was all over michael like white on rice on that interview. He wouldnt be all like that if Michael did make him in any kind of harm

poor Michael, this whole thing is an outrage!!!

As a fan of Michael Jackson, I believe he is innocent until proven guilty. The last couple of days ensured me even more that he is the victim in this whole mess.

There are some things which will come out before the DA will file charges on Dec. 15, like the scripts which are now in the possession of the Geragos Team. The mother scripted the whole J.C. Penney Co. story and also scripted this one.

This thing will burst like a bubble and some reporters who thought this is the story of their life will realize that it really is, but not in a positiv way. People will fall and people will be prosecuted.

BlueNote

I just think it's odd that the boy was suposedly dying of 'Terminal' cancer, then it goes into remission.I thought once you have terminal cancer not just plain cancer, basically you're a goner. Much like you can live with HIV, but once AIDS kicks in, you're on borrowed time.

So he recovered while he was with Mike, now he's ill again with something else? something fishy going on here, i feel.

Marrk said:

On that documentary,I thought it was extremely odd the way that boy and his sister were acting as if Michael miraculously "saved" him.That was bizarre.

DavidEye said:

Have you ever been down and out and had someone give u love and support? Keep telling you that you're gonna get better, everythings gonna be alright? I bet you'd kind of feel like they played a part in your recovery.
And hey, they're kids after all, it's not like everything has to be logical...