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Friday, February 25, 2005
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| SANTA
MARIA, Calif. — Jurors in Michael Jackson's
(search)
child molestation trial will be allowed to hear evidence that
the accuser's mother had made allegations of improper touching
against store security guards, a judge ruled Friday.
Attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. (search)
made the allegations during motions on whether evidence could
be admitted about the family's lawsuit against J.C.
Penney (search).
The family claimed in a lawsuit that they were beaten by
guards and held against their will and that the mother was
groped, after Jackson's young accuser left the store with
clothes that had not been paid for.
Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville (search)
said he will allow testimony about the case, especially as it
pertains to the mother's credibility. But he said the defense
would not be allowed to refer to the boy as a shoplifter.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old former
cancer patient at his Neverland ranch, plying him with
alcohol, and conspiring to hold him and his family
captive.
Mesereau said that after the mother received a $150,000
settlement from J.C. Penney and Tower Records, another
defendant in the case, she immediately accused her husband of
abusing her and filed for divorce.
The woman then accused her ex-husband of inappropriately
touching her daughter, Mesereau said.
The attorney also said the woman testified in the J.C.
Penney case that her husband had never hit her, but alleged in
her divorce that he had beaten his family for years. That was
perjury, Mesereau said.
Mesereau also said the mother had her son ask celebrities
for money and spent some of the funds on cosmetic surgery.
In other news, a 74-year-old woman who had suffered a
massive heart attack died at a Santa Maria hospital after
being moved out of a trauma room to make way for Jackson, the
patient's family said.
Jury selection in Jackson's child molestation trial had to
be temporarily postponed Feb. 15 when the pop star was taken
to Marian Medical Center, complaining of flu symptoms.
When Jackson arrived, Manuela Gomez Ruiz was moved from the
primary trauma room and taken off a machine ventilator, with
her breathing assisted manually by hand pump, until she was
relocated to a smaller room nearby, her family told ABC
News.
The larger room was kept for Jackson, the family said.
When Ruiz was moved to a smaller room, the family said
equipment had to be crammed into the room. They also were
limited to two visitors at a time. Once those visitors were in
the room they could not leave and let other family members in
because the hospital restricted movement in the hallways after
Jackson arrived, the family said.
"This was the last time we might be able to talk with our
grandma. They took that from us," Marcos Meraz, one of Ruiz's
grandsons, told ABC News.
The family has hired an attorney to sue both the hospital
and Jackson, the network reported.
There are also reports that Jackson is getting special
treatment in the Santa Maria courthouse, such as his own
private bathroom. The whole building is supposedly shut down
when Jackson enters and leaves the building. Security around
the courthouse is extraordinarily tight even by
celebrity-trial standards, FOX News has learned.
Jackson arrived at the courthouse Friday morning with his
attorney. Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. PST, both sides will get
their chance to give opening statements. District Attorney
Tom Sneddon (search) is
expected to give the opening statement for the
prosecution.
Jury selection for the trial was completed Thursday when
four men and four women were sworn in as alternates who would
step in if there is a problem with any of the 12 regular
jurors chosen earlier in the week.
The jury is mostly white and Hispanic; the alternate panel
includes one black man.
Jury selection had been expected to last several weeks, but
was completed Thursday, the sixth court day. There were two
week-long breaks in the process because of the death of an
attorney's sister and Jackson's hospitalization with flu-like
symptoms.
Also Friday, prosecutors said they would show the
documentary called "Living with Michael Jackson," in which the
singer is shown holding hands with his accuser and saying he
allowed children to sleep in his bed, but not for any sexual
purpose.
Both sides also agreed to meet Saturday for a joint
interview with a former attorney who represented the alleged
victim's mother. What the attorney might talk about was not
disclosed.
FOX News legal analyst Jim Hammer contributed to this
report. |