Court Session 15

Today, Michael Jackson arrived on time at court wearing a black suit, a red tie, and a red-and-white armband. Unlike the crying face from the day before, this time he was smiling.

Today it seemed that his physical condition was better than the previous day. Michael moved faster, but he still needed help to take steps.

One of his attorneys, Brian Oxman, said, “Michael still has pain, but he’s bearing it.”

His mother, father, and Jackie his brother were with him again today, just like the day before. The Los Angeles comedian and the person who had been a benefactor for the Jackson accuser’s family was subpoenaed to testify today. During the time he was on the stand, Michael stared at him.

Palanker said that the accuser’s father was a hot-tempered freeloader who guided his children in “cutting” famous people, and that the accuser’s mother was an overly emotional woman who had been beaten and abused by her husband for years.

The defense believes the accuser’s mother dominated her children in order to get money by bringing false accusations against Michael Jackson.

During the two hours Palanker was on the witness stand, he described the accuser’s mother as incapable of carrying out such schemes. He said that for the first time he met the accuser, his brother, and his sister at a camp arranged to help needy children. He said, “I feel that she (the accuser’s mother) is a likable and kind person.” He continued, “I’ve never heard that the accuser lies. He was honest, despite others wishing he weren’t. ”

Palanker told the jury that he felt the mother of the household suffers from a syndrome that makes her constantly think she has been “taken hostage.” He added that he believes this started after she married her current husband at age 16. The woman also claimed that her husband abused her.

Palanker said the accuser’s mother was very anxious during a phone call with him and was murmuring. She told him not to call her back using the same number she had called him from.

“Don’t call me here. They listen to everything I say. These people are devils.”

“I asked her whether the kids were at school, and she said no, and then she started crying.”

Palanker said the accuser’s mother had not told him anything about where she was calling from. After that, Palanker called his attorney. “I felt like they were holding them somewhere against their will.” He added that he had asked his lawyer to speak with the accuser’s mother, but the lawyer says nothing to the police.

The prosecutor alleged that Michael Jackson had imprisoned the accuser’s family in Neverland in order to force them to appear in the second part of the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson” and to say positive things about him in that documentary.

Palanker also admitted that when the accuser was hospitalized in a cancer hospital because of his illness, he had once given the accuser’s family $10,000 to cover their living expenses. But within only two weeks after that payment, the accuser’s father requested another $10,000 so that he could build a special room for his sick son. Sometime later, Palanker realized that the $20,000 had been spent on buying a large television and DVDs.

He continued that the contractor’s fee for building the room was never paid, and in the end the contractor was given the room as a gift to that boy.

He also said that the accuser’s mother never asked him for money, while the father kept asking her for money even after receiving the $20,000.

“He kept telling me they had no money to continue living, and also no food or clothes.” He continued that when he asked the accuser’s father what his wife had done with the $20,000, he said he had spent it on “candles and things like that.”

Palanker also said that actor and TV comedian George Lopez believed the father had been instructing his children to lie.

Lopez first met the boy at a camp, and after the boy got sick, he invited him to his home. Palanker said that some time later, the boy’s father calls Lopez and tells him that his son left a wallet containing $300 at his house. When Lopez finds the bag, there are only $3 inside. He becomes angry and thinks he has been extorted.

Palanker continued, “When the accuser’s father asked his son to say in front of me that there was $300 in the wallet, the boy felt uncomfortable and refused to say it. And that made the accuser’s father angry. And we never found out the secret of that wallet.”

Palanker said that he and Jamie Masada arranged two charity programs to help the accuser’s family. But George Lopez refused to attend the second program because the accuser’s father had accused him and his wife of stealing $300 from the boy’s wallet.

“They were angry and believed he was lying.”

Palanker added that he believed the father had instructed the children not to reveal the gifts they had received for Christmas from other people. Palanker said, “But after the father left the room, the boy told me that Michael Jackson had given him a PlayStation 2 as a gift.”

During repeated questioning by Thomas Mesereau, Palanker revealed that things about this family seemed strange. In addition, he felt that the mother of the family was bipolar.

Thomas Mesereau asked Palanker about the family’s interest in meeting famous people.

“Did you ever say that they tried to get close to famous people in order to escape the situation they were in?”

“They would get close to anyone who could help them.”

He also said the family liked calling famous people.

Jay Leno, host of the TV show “Tonight Show,” complained during a phone call with him that the accuser’s family had left him three voicemail messages and he wanted them to stop doing that. Palanker also asked the accuser’s father not to call Leno anymore.

The mother and father of the family separated in 2001. The father denied allegations of abuse and violence against children and his wife.

Both George Lopez and Jay Leno may be subpoenaed to testify in court.

During one of the court recesses, one of Michael’s fans seated in the public section fainted. When court officers rushed to help her, she began shouting “Michael! Michael!” and striking at the officers. The resumption of the court session was delayed for a while because she was being taken on a stretcher, but her shouts could still be heard in the courtroom for several minutes.

Source: eMJey.com / CNN, Associated Press, Santa Maria Times