55th Session - Witnesses: The Accuser’s Mother Is Greedy and a Con Artist

The defense attorneys, during today’s court session, by calling several witnesses to the stand, portrayed the accuser’s mother as a greedy and deceptive woman who carried out many schemes to get other people’s money and rejected any help other than money with violence. The defense attorneys also said that the accuser’s mother exploited her son’s stay in Neverland and, under various pretexts, received financial assistance from Michael Jackson. Marion Arvizo, the former sister-in-law of the accuser’s mother, testified today. She said that when she had decided to donate her own blood to help her sick brother’s nephew (the current accuser, Michael’s accuser), the accuser’s mother told her: " I don’t need your damn blood. " While the witness began to cry, she continued: " She said: I need money. " After the accuser’s aunt, the editor of a social newspaper was called to the stand. She said that in 1999, the accuser’s mother had convinced her to print a text about her sick son in that newspaper, so that people would be encouraged to provide financial help to this family. Connie Keenan said that, according to the accuser’s mother’s claims, she had doubted the cost of $12,000 for each injection for her son, and she had felt uncomfortable about publishing the name and home address of the accuser’s mother in the newspaper in order to send public donations. She added that after the first story was published, the accuser’s mother had called her and asked her to write another story, because the first one had not generated enough money for her. Addressing Thomas Mesereau, the defense attorney, she said: " This conversation lasted almost a minute and twenty seconds. I didn’t want to talk to her any longer because I knew that even at this point I had already been fooled. " Another witness today was a Social Security employee. He said that when the accuser’s mother was filling out the application request for financial assistance to this organization, she had not mentioned anything about the $152,000 she had obtained only 10 days before this request during a legal case, nor about the $7,000 that Michael Jackson had paid to the accuser’s family for shopping expenses and other costs. The dates mentioned show that the accuser’s mother received this $7,000 from Michael during the period in which, according to her claim, she had been imprisoned in Neverland, and with it she bought expensive clothes and cosmetics products and had dinner at luxurious restaurants. Mike Radakovich continued by saying that at the same time the accuser’s mother was receiving Michael Jackson’s thousand-dollar assistance, the Social Security organization was also giving her $769 every month. Radakovich said the organization was unaware of this, and in fact the accuser’s mother’s actions amounted to a kind of fraud. Legal expert Jim Moret also said that the accuser’s mother received money from others through showmanship and deception. " She was getting money from her boyfriend. She was getting money from Michael Jackson, and at the same time she was also receiving checks from the Social Security organization. " In today’s court session, two $10,000 checks that the accuser’s mother had received two years ago for her son’s cancer treatment expenses were also mentioned. Maria Gomez appeared in the witness stand again today and confirmed the existence of a warning bell outside Michael’s room. The accuser’s brother had testified that when he passed through the hallway leading to Michael’s room, he had heard a ringing sound from the bell. He then claimed that he had seen Michael sexually abusing his brother in his room. The defense attorneys believe that, despite such a warning device, the accuser’s brother could not have seen Michael in his room carrying out the alleged act. In contrast, the prosecution argued that the sound of the bell was not loud enough when the accuser’s brother was passing through the hallway to alert Michael. In response to this claim by the prosecution, Gomez said from the witness stand that a test conducted earlier this year on the bell showed that its sound had not changed over the past several years. The defense attorneys announced in today’s session that on Tuesday they would call Jay Leno and Chris Tucker to testify before the court. They also said they intended to summon the 9-year-old daughter of Mike Brando and the grandson of Marlon Brando to the stand as well. The prosecution has objected to this decision by the defense attorneys. Marlon Brando spent some time with Michael at the Neverland property in the later years of his life. Source: Santa Maria News / Associated Press / Reuters