The mother, June Chandler, of the boy who accused Michael Jackson in the 1993 child molestation investigation testified Monday that her son had shared the bed with Michael Jackson for nearly 60 nights.
Portrayed as a key prosecution witness, June Chandler told jurors that on a trip to Las Vegas in March 1993, she denied letting her son stay with Jackson, but relented after Jackson became upset.
"He was sobbing, crying, shaking, trembling," she claimed, "He said: 'You don't trust me? We're a family. Why are you doing this? Why are you not letting (your son) be with me?' I said, 'I am'"
Chandler said she agreed to let her son stay with the singer from then on, and that for the next several months her son stayed with Jackson in hotels around the world, at the Neverland Valley Ranch, and the boy's home in Santa Monica
During questioning by Santa Barbara District Attorney, Tom Sneddon, the woman testified that the day after the confrontation, Jackson gave her a gold Cartier bracelet, and took her children and her to a David Copperfield magic show. In the following months, she testified Jackson showered her with gifts while allegedly molesting her son.
Prosecutors called her to the stand in an attempt to show parallels between the prior investigation and the current case. In both instances the father was absent during most of the boys´ encounters with Mr. Jackson, and the mother was showered with gifts while Jackson allegedly lured the boys into his bed, and molested the boys, prosecutors said.
In the prior investigation, no charges were ever filed.
The Defense insists that the parallels between the two cases are that both families were out to get money from Jackson, lied to get it, and went to civil attorneys before contacting authorities.
Jackson, who has pleaded Not Guilty to charges of child molestation often shook his head and whispered to his defense lawyers during the testimony.
The alleged victim, now 25, has declined to testify as he reportedly did after a multimillion dollar civil settlement in 1993 from Jackson.
The mother frequently looked at the jurors who appeared to be taking notes of every detail of the testimony.
Chandler seemed poised and composed throughout most of her testimony, but seemed to hold back tears when she said her son has not spoken to her in nearly 11 years.
During cross-examination, lead defense attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., asked if the mother recalled asking for a $4 million loan to cover for $5 million worth of debt. "Never" she responded.
"When you filed the lawsuit, your attorney was threatening to ruin Mr. Jackson's music deals, correct?" Mr. Mesereau asked, to which she answered "I don't recall". At that time, Jackson had just negotiated the largest endorsement deal in the history with PepsiCo.
"Your strategy was to negotiate a settlement before ever contacting authorities, correct?" the defense attorney asserted. "There was no strategy. Sorry" the woman insisted.
Under prosecution questioning, Chandler explained how she became concerned about her son's relationship with Jackson while in Monaco, where Jackson and the boy were holed up in a hotel for two days, sick with the flu. According to a sworn deposition, this is where the boy claims the alleged molestation started, however that statement will not be allowed into the current case unless the alleged victim decides to take the stand.
On cross examination, Chandler said her daughter and herself spent the day shopping with Mr. Jackson's credit card during the time the alleged molestation happened.
Before the woman took the stand, a former longtime public relations person, Bob Jones, testified.
He gave conflicting statements regarding whether or not he saw Mr. Jackson lick the head of the 1993 accuser on a plane from Monaco. Prosecutors allege Jackson licked the head of the current accuser's head as well.
"I don't remember anything about head licking", Jones said, and even when Senior Deputy District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss pulled out a portion of a book manuscript Jones is writing, Jones said his co-writer, Stacey Brown, wrote that part.
On defense cross examination, Mr. Jones acknowledged he has known lots of people who sensationalize material to make money off Michael Jackson and insisted he has changed "millions of things" in the current manuscript of his book, because they were not accurate.
But after the prosecutor showed him two e-mails sent to Mr. Brown about how the incident was important, given the current allegations, the prosecutor again asked if he had witnessed any head licking, Jones replied "I guess so".
Prosecution have used Mr. Jackson’s past in an attempt to show an alleged pattern of behavior with young boys, dating back to the early 90-ies.
Defense attorneys insist that every witness the prosecution has put on the stand from the 1993 investigation has had a financial motive to lie.
Prosecution is expected to wrap up its treatment of the prior investigation today, and will then return to the current case, where the mother of the current alleged victim is scheduled to take the stand.
Source: News-Press/MJJForum/eMJey