Summary of the Thirty-Seventh Court Session
In the thirty-seventh court session, Cynthia Montgomery, a prosecution witness, said that Marc Schaffel, one of Jackson’s employees, had asked her to reserve four one-way tickets to São Paulo, Brazil, for the complainant’s family.
Montgomery’s answer to the prosecutor’s question to Mag Nicola—about “the possibility of an American citizen entering Brazil with a one-way ticket”—was negative.
Montgomery then explained that she had taken the initiative herself and had determined the date on which this family would return to the United States.
The prosecution claims that Jackson and his employees intended to force the complainant’s family to go to Brazil.
According to Montgomery’s testimony, this trip was never carried out, and even the tickets were never purchased. Schaffel had told her during a phone call that, “The plan has changed.”
Before this, the complainant’s mother had testified that after being forced to stay during her confinement in Neverland, she had managed to escape Neverland by “getting a passport, buying suitcases, and having her legs waxed,” and to have the plan for an involuntary flight to Brazil fall apart.
Montgomery said she had never discussed this trip with Jackson. She also noted that 99 percent of Jackson’s travel plans were received from his private assistant, Ewy Tavasdio.
She said her first meeting with Jackson took place on a flight from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara. This was the same flight in which the plane crew secretly filmed private conversations between Michael and his former lawyer, Mark Geragos. According to Montgomery, the crew intended to sell that footage. But after Jackson filed a complaint against the airline company, they were not allowed to do anything further.
Montgomery is currently being questioned by the FBI for the same reason.
Michael Jackson’s defense attorney, Thomas Mesereau, pointed out that Montgomery, like many other prosecution witnesses involved in the legal complaint case against Michael Jackson, has also been drawn into this matter.
Montgomery has claimed that Michael owes her $50,000.
When Mesereau asked her, “Do you know that if Mr. Jackson is convicted in this case, you will be able to win your lawsuit against Jackson in court more easily?” she answered with bitterness: “No.”
Hamid Moslehi, Michael Jackson’s private videographer from 1996 to 2003, was the second witness today and the person who filmed the interview of Jackson’s employees with the complainant’s family. In the witness stand, he said that Marc Schaffel had asked him to conduct this interview in his home.
“Marc didn’t want the complainant’s family to know where he lived.”
He also said he was surprised to see private investigator Brad Miller, who later cooperated with Mark Geragos—Jackson’s former lawyer—when charges were being brought against Jackson. Moslehi said Miller was also among the team that came to his home to interview the complainant’s family. According to Moslehi, Michael himself was not present at that time.
He continued that when he took the complainant and her siblings from Neverland to his home, Joe Marcus, one of Jackson’s employees, stopped them and said the children couldn’t leave Neverland.
Moslehi added that the complainant’s mother complained about the harassment the media created for her after the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson” aired.
Moslehi told the jury members that he also is owed $250,000 by Jackson, which is why he sued him.
Moslehi explained that Konitzer and Wiesner did not pay him his $250,000 fee for filming the second part of the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson,” which led to his lawsuit against Michael Jackson.
Source: Court Tv / Associated Press