The 24th Day in Court

In today’s court session, the 24-year-old complainant—who testified yesterday that Michael Jackson sexually abused him more than 15 years ago—was called to the witness stand for the second time to be questioned about his testimony.

When Thomas Mezrow, Michael Jackson’s senior attorney, cornered the 24-year-old complainant over the information he had provided in interviews with the investigators, the young man repeatedly said that he did not remember the details of those interviews and that he had a poor memory. He also admitted that in 1993 he had told the investigators that no inappropriate behavior by Jackson had occurred. When Mezrow asked whether the investigators, while asking him questions, would get angry and call Jackson a “sexual abuser” and curse him, the 24-year-old complainant said that he did not remember the details of the interviews.

He also said that whenever he read a book and/or got an A grade in his classes, Michael would pay him as encouragement. He had previously stated to the prosecution’s special investigators that nothing like that had happened.

When Mezrow asked, “Was it not only after being heavily pressured by the police investigators that you began to say things similar to what they were saying?” the complainant replied that he didn’t remember what was said in most of the interviews.

Mezrow quoted a line from one of his interviews. He had said, “They made me talk. They pressured me. I wanted to hit them in the head.”

The complainant said he did not remember saying something like that. Mezrow showed him a handwritten page and asked, “Doesn’t this page refresh your memory?” The complainant’s answer was also no.

Blanca Francis, Michael Jackson’s former housekeeper and the mother of the person who testified that he had been sexually abused by Michael more than 15 years ago, was called to the witness stand after her son. She testified that she had once seen Michael showering with a young boy.

She added that she had seen Michael with the children, including Macaulay Culkin, in bed.

Thomas Mezrow quoted a portion of what this woman had said in 1993, which had been written in an affidavit that year. He stated that she had said, “She only saw Michael Jackson’s shadow through the bathroom door.”

Francia said that by “shadow,” she meant “image.”

She added that once, while cleaning Michael’s room, she had seen his underwear next to the underwear of a small boy that had fallen on the floor of the room.

Following this statement, Thomas Mezrow bombarded the witness with questions about Michael Jackson’s pet chimpanzee, Bubbles. Although it was not clear what his goal was in raising these questions, it appeared that he was trying to suggest that the underwear might have belonged to Bubbles and not a child. It was also revealed that Bubbles had bitten Mrs. Francia twice.

Source: Guardian Unlimited / AFP / AP