Lead defense attorney Thomas Mesereau made certain the jury were aware that Montgomery was testifying under a grant of immunity. She was granted ‘use immunity’ which means her testimony cannot be used against her in any other legal proceedings. She had initially refused to testify about a charter flight on which secret recordings of Jackson and his then lawyer Mark Geragos were made.In a blow to her credibility, she also acknowledged that she is being sued by the singer for her part in the surreptitious recordings, made on the flight to Santa Barbara where Jackson was due to surrender to authorities. She is also suing the singer for $50,000 she paid for flights that has allegedly not been reimbursed.
She said she has twice “spoken voluntarily" to the FBI about the incident and claims she had not been aware of the recording until the day after the flight. The FBI is investigating the alleged violation of federal laws governing surreptitious interception of communications.
"I am a witness for that case," said Montgomery.
Under cross-examination she also admitted that she had ignored a request to use a different charter company for the flight following a discussion with Schaffel, whom defense lawyers say was involved in the secret taping.
"We thought it was in the best interest of our client to use Xtra Jet," Montgomery said.
She said at one point she was asked by authorities to make a “pretext†phone call to one of Jackson’s associates and that the call was to be recorded. She did not say to whom the call was made or what was discussed.
She also told jurors that she had advised flight crews to put Jackson’s wine into soda cans after being told by a flight attendant that he had once made the request.
She also claims that Jackson lied when he told a television interviewer that he had been manhandled during his arrest.