AP Panther Fan
03-10-2005, 12:49 PM
Jackson late for court; judge threatens arrest warrant
Thursday, March 10, 2005 Posted: 12:39 PM EST (1739 GMT)
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Pop star Michael Jackson was facing jail and revocation of his bail after failing to meet a judge's deadline to appear at his child molestation trial Thursday morning.
When Jackson did not show up for the scheduled start of the court day at 8:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET), Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
Melville said he would revoke Jackson's $3 million bail and jail him if he did not show up at the Santa Maria courthouse by 9:35 a.m. (12:35 p.m. ET).
Jackson did not meet the deadline, although sources reported that he was on the way. The judge has not yet revoked bail.
Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told Melville that Jackson was in Cottage Hospital with a "serious back problem," but the judge did not accept the excuse.
Last month, jury selection in Jackson's trial was delayed for a week after he was briefly hospitalized with the flu.
As the final minutes ticked down, Mesereau paced outside the courthouse, talking on a cell phone.
The dramatic developments Thursday came as the accuser in Jackson's child molestation trial was scheduled to return to the witness stand.
On Wednesday, the teenage accuser said in court Wednesday that he was "kind of hypnotized" by the pop star after meeting him while undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
"I thought he was the coolest guy in the world," the teen, now 15, told jurors in Jackson's child molestation trial.
The teenager's testimony marked the first time he faced Jackson in court. He will return to the stand when the trial resumes Thursday morning.
The accuser's appearance came late Wednesday. For most of the day, Mesereau challenged the accuser's brother on discrepancies in his testimony earlier in the week, and to a grand jury and investigators. (More on the brother's cross-examination)
The teen testified that on his very first visit to Neverland Ranch, it was Jackson who suggested that he and his younger brother sleep in Jackson's bedroom in the main residence, rather than in a guesthouse where their parents and sister were staying.
"[He] said we should sleep in his room, and we wanted to, too," he said. They did, after their parents agreed, he said.
That night, at Jackson's suggestion, one of his associates, Frank Tyson, used a computer to surf adult Web sites, the boy said. He said Jackson would point at certain women and say, "Oh, I like her."
Echoing earlier testimony from his younger brother, the teen said Jackson jokingly used the phrase "got milk" after seeing one shirtless woman. He also whispered in the ear of his sleeping son, Prince Michael, about what he was missing, using a slang term for female genitalia.
He testified that Jackson also coached him on what to say during an interview with Martin Bashir, the British journalist who made a controversial 2003 television documentary about the pop star.
The accuser said Jackson told him that the interview would be his "audition" for a movie career and urged him to call Jackson "daddy" and tell Bashir that he "pretty much had cured me of cancer."
He said he did not realize that the footage would be broadcast all over the world, thinking the video had been shot by Jackson for his own use. He also told jurors that the claim that Jackson had helped cure him of cancer was not true, saying much of his treatment happened before he knew Jackson.
His cancer is now in remission. But he told jurors that during his illness, he overheard doctors telling his parents "to prepare for his funeral" and that if his cancer didn't kill him, the potent chemotherapy probably would.
The boy testified that during his illness, he told Jamie Masada, the owner of the Laugh Factory, a Los Angeles comedy club, that he wanted to meet Jackson and two other celebrities, Jay Leno and Chris Tucker. He had met Masada when he attended a comedy camp at the club.
"One day, when I was in the hospital, someone called. I asked, 'Who is this?' He said, 'Michael Jackson,'" the teen testified.
He said the two of them had a five-minute conversation, during which Jackson invited him to come to Neverland.
As he went through his chemotherapy, the teen testified he had "20 calls, maybe" from Jackson -- some of them lengthy -- both when he was at the hospital and recuperating at his grandmother's house.
But he also said there were times when Jackson seemed to be trying to avoid him, dodging his phone calls and pretending to be away from the ranch during the teen's visits, when he was actually there.
During his testimony Wednesday, the accuser said he was 13 when Jackson molested him two years ago at the pop star's Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County. Jackson has denied the charges.
Jackson was indicted in April by a state grand jury on 10 felony counts for incidents that allegedly occurred in February and March 2003. The charges include four counts of committing a lewd act on a child; one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion; one count of attempting to commit a lewd act on a child; and four counts of administering an intoxicating agent to assist in the commission of a felony.
Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Thursday, March 10, 2005 Posted: 12:39 PM EST (1739 GMT)
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Pop star Michael Jackson was facing jail and revocation of his bail after failing to meet a judge's deadline to appear at his child molestation trial Thursday morning.
When Jackson did not show up for the scheduled start of the court day at 8:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET), Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
Melville said he would revoke Jackson's $3 million bail and jail him if he did not show up at the Santa Maria courthouse by 9:35 a.m. (12:35 p.m. ET).
Jackson did not meet the deadline, although sources reported that he was on the way. The judge has not yet revoked bail.
Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told Melville that Jackson was in Cottage Hospital with a "serious back problem," but the judge did not accept the excuse.
Last month, jury selection in Jackson's trial was delayed for a week after he was briefly hospitalized with the flu.
As the final minutes ticked down, Mesereau paced outside the courthouse, talking on a cell phone.
The dramatic developments Thursday came as the accuser in Jackson's child molestation trial was scheduled to return to the witness stand.
On Wednesday, the teenage accuser said in court Wednesday that he was "kind of hypnotized" by the pop star after meeting him while undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
"I thought he was the coolest guy in the world," the teen, now 15, told jurors in Jackson's child molestation trial.
The teenager's testimony marked the first time he faced Jackson in court. He will return to the stand when the trial resumes Thursday morning.
The accuser's appearance came late Wednesday. For most of the day, Mesereau challenged the accuser's brother on discrepancies in his testimony earlier in the week, and to a grand jury and investigators. (More on the brother's cross-examination)
The teen testified that on his very first visit to Neverland Ranch, it was Jackson who suggested that he and his younger brother sleep in Jackson's bedroom in the main residence, rather than in a guesthouse where their parents and sister were staying.
"[He] said we should sleep in his room, and we wanted to, too," he said. They did, after their parents agreed, he said.
That night, at Jackson's suggestion, one of his associates, Frank Tyson, used a computer to surf adult Web sites, the boy said. He said Jackson would point at certain women and say, "Oh, I like her."
Echoing earlier testimony from his younger brother, the teen said Jackson jokingly used the phrase "got milk" after seeing one shirtless woman. He also whispered in the ear of his sleeping son, Prince Michael, about what he was missing, using a slang term for female genitalia.
He testified that Jackson also coached him on what to say during an interview with Martin Bashir, the British journalist who made a controversial 2003 television documentary about the pop star.
The accuser said Jackson told him that the interview would be his "audition" for a movie career and urged him to call Jackson "daddy" and tell Bashir that he "pretty much had cured me of cancer."
He said he did not realize that the footage would be broadcast all over the world, thinking the video had been shot by Jackson for his own use. He also told jurors that the claim that Jackson had helped cure him of cancer was not true, saying much of his treatment happened before he knew Jackson.
His cancer is now in remission. But he told jurors that during his illness, he overheard doctors telling his parents "to prepare for his funeral" and that if his cancer didn't kill him, the potent chemotherapy probably would.
The boy testified that during his illness, he told Jamie Masada, the owner of the Laugh Factory, a Los Angeles comedy club, that he wanted to meet Jackson and two other celebrities, Jay Leno and Chris Tucker. He had met Masada when he attended a comedy camp at the club.
"One day, when I was in the hospital, someone called. I asked, 'Who is this?' He said, 'Michael Jackson,'" the teen testified.
He said the two of them had a five-minute conversation, during which Jackson invited him to come to Neverland.
As he went through his chemotherapy, the teen testified he had "20 calls, maybe" from Jackson -- some of them lengthy -- both when he was at the hospital and recuperating at his grandmother's house.
But he also said there were times when Jackson seemed to be trying to avoid him, dodging his phone calls and pretending to be away from the ranch during the teen's visits, when he was actually there.
During his testimony Wednesday, the accuser said he was 13 when Jackson molested him two years ago at the pop star's Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County. Jackson has denied the charges.
Jackson was indicted in April by a state grand jury on 10 felony counts for incidents that allegedly occurred in February and March 2003. The charges include four counts of committing a lewd act on a child; one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion; one count of attempting to commit a lewd act on a child; and four counts of administering an intoxicating agent to assist in the commission of a felony.
Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.