Statements by Michael’s Former Lawyer About the Shafell Lawsuit

Yesterday, Michael Jackson’s Iranian lawyer, Zia Mandeber, testified as a witness, saying that by showing a film depicting Shafell directing a pornographic film, Michael was made aware of Mark Shafell’s background in producing such films: "I think Michael didn’t want to believe that something like this was true. He became angry and upset." Shafell also testified, saying that after Michael learned about it, Michael called him and said that his name had been crossed out from the charity song project What More Can I Give. Using a legal clause that keeps matters between defense attorney and client confidential, Mandeber provided only limited information in his testimony. However, the direction of his testimony was in Michael Jackson’s favor and portrayed Shafell as someone who became wealthy by using Michael’s money. Mandeber referred to letters exchanged between him and Shafell’s defense attorney to inform them that Shafell had been removed. He continued: "My whole concern was how I could obtain the right to release that charity song, because Shafell claimed that he had the royalties to the song. I was busy trying to sort out that mess." In his letters, Mandeber noted that Shafell had no right to use the charity song. Howard King, Shafell’s defense attorney, said that Michael wanted Shafell to be granted the royalties for the song. Mandeber said he knew about Shafell’s renewed collaboration with Michael Jackson in 2003, and in protest he told members of Michael’s team that they should not collaborate commercially with Mr. Shafell. When King asked about the reaction of Michael’s team members, Mandeber replied: "I was told they were handling it." Before that, Michael’s defense attorney had asked Shafell about moving forward the cashing date of an 18-check payment Michael had given him. The amounts of these checks totaled $784,000, and initially their cashing dates had been set for a few days after Shafell was fired from his job. Mandeber, by showing one of these checks to Shafell, said: "And you set the cashing date of these checks for November 14, because you knew that if the dates were later, you would have trouble due to being fired from your job?" Shafell confirmed this. Shafell had received his termination order on November 15, 2001. Shafell explained that he had included expenses such as a house rent advance, utility service advance, and the cost of renting a video camera in these checks. Mandeber then continued asking Shafell: "Isn’t it true that you tried to manipulate the accounting records so that before you were fired, you could get as much money as possible from Mr. Jackson?" Shafell replied: "I only didn’t want to be responsible for the expenses that Mr. Jackson had agreed to." Shafell claimed that Michael had agreed to pay his expenses and costs for six months after Shafell’s removal from the group. He also said that even after learning about his dismissal, he maintained a friendly relationship with Michael and occasionally spoke to him by phone about projects. Mandeber showed the text of an email that Shafell had written to a doctor named Arnold Klein, the person who introduced him to Michael. The email text contradicted Shafell’s claim that he kept a friendly relationship with Michael. In the email, Shafell wrote: "I’m deeply sorry that this ended my friendship with Michael Jackson... I was the only person who was always willing to fight for him. I lost the chance to help him. I lost my friend. All of our projects came to an end." The email was written on June 30, 2002. In court, Shafell answered questions about his claim from the previous day that Michael had hired him to transfer $300,000 to Argentina and deliver it to a third person there. Yesterday, he claimed that the reason for his trip to Brazil was Michael’s desire to have several Brazilian boys adopted. In response to a question from Mandeber asking: "Was this payment made using your bank account in Brazil?" Shafell said: "No, I saved the money from a transaction that had already taken place in Brazil, and it wasn’t in the bank. It was in a safe deposit box." Mandeber: "In a safe deposit box in Brazil?" Shafell: Yes. Mandeber: "I see." Mandeber had previously noted that there was no receipt for this $300,000. Yesterday, in a video shown in court, Michael said he at least remembered one occasion when he had received money from Shafell at the location where a video clip was being filmed. He explained that he received the money in a special bag used to carry fast food. Michael said they called it "French fries," and that word became their term for referring to money. Michael said that Shafell had been working on the charity song project What More Can I Give, but he had no intention of paying Shafell for it because he viewed Shafell’s involvement as his own help to that charity project. In late 2001, Michael learned about Shafell’s background in making pornographic films and fired him, but he did not do it personally because he didn’t want to embarrass him. In this video, Shafell’s defense attorney asks Michael about how Shafell was rehired in 2003. In that year, Shafell produced two television specials for Michael that aired on Fox. Michael said about this: "I didn’t personally hire Shafell. In fact, someone on my team did it." Michael said he doesn’t remember many of his financial matters. Including that he doesn’t recall instructing Shafell to pay $1.1 million to Marlon Brando for his appearance at the Madison Square Garden concert held in New York in September 2001. King asks: "Did you want to give Marlon Brando $1.1 million for his appearance at that concert?" Michael: "It wasn’t mostly for the concert. It was because he needed money, and I wanted to help a friend." King asked Michael whether Shafell had loaned him that amount to pay Marlon Brando. Michael again mentioned his poor memory regarding financial matters, but said that if that money wasn’t his own, he wouldn’t accept it from Shafell. "I don’t accept money from anyone. That’s not right, and I work for the money I get. Don’t think I’m begging someone for money. I have pride." In another part, King asks Michael whether he received $420,000 from Shafell for making his purchases. Michael laughs and says: "Maybe it looks like he was taking care of me a lot. But I didn’t make that request. I’m not the kind of person who says, ‘Give me $420,000 so I can go shopping.’ I’m sorry." King continues: "You don’t overspend on shopping?" Michael: "No, not the way it seems. No." Source: eMJey / AP