The Court Hearing on Mark Shafell’s Lawsuit Is Nearing Its End

In the final session of the court hearing regarding Mark Shafell’s lawsuit, Michael Jackson was portrayed by the defense attorneys alternately as a simple artist and as a calculating businessman. Shafell’s defense attorney, Howard King, said: "Michael Jackson doesn’t pay his bills. Mr. Jackson is a cautious, calculating witness." King expressed dissatisfaction with Mandehl’s attention to Shafell’s background in making pornographic films, saying it was unrelated to the core issue of the case. He also complained that Shafell was depicted in court as if he were like a puppet-master in Michael’s financial life. At the end of his remarks, King asked the jury to order Michael Jackson to pay Mark Shafell $1,474,280 based on their verdict. Thomas Mandehl, Michael’s defense attorney, also addressed the jury, describing Shafell as a greedy person and responding to King’s descriptions of Michael by saying: "I don’t see the evil, the underhanded, puppet-master person that he sees. I see a dignified, impressive artist who pays little attention to financial matters." And while Shafell claimed that he had not been paid for his services, Mandehl said: "At that time, Shafell was traveling around the world in a private jet." "Mr. Shafell saw Michael Jackson as an opportunity. He could do projects for him and impose himself on him as part of those projects." Mandehl also asked the jury not to let anything that was already in this case benefit Shafell. Today, after the final arguments by the defense attorneys, the case was handed to the jury members to deliver a final verdict. Source: eMJey / AP