Deputy District Attorney Mag Nicola spent hours Monday showing juror’s charts of phone calls, primarily between the phones of three men named as unidentified co-conspirators, the mother of the boy accusing Michael Jackson of child molestation and an assortment of Jackson employees and lawyers.
Defense attorney Robert Sanger objected to the prosecution’s presentation saying that it was cumulative and its relevance was not shown, but Judge Rodney Melville overruled the objection and allowed Sheriff’s Detective Robert Bonner to continue his narrative about the phone calls.
Bonner told the jury that individual calls lasted between a few minutes and 90 minutes. On the chart were the phone numbers of Marc Schaffel, Vincent Amen and Frank Cascio, also known as Frank Tyson. Cascio, being the most active, was charted to be involved in 38 calls to Schaffel and 19 to Amen in one day. The three men have been named as unindicted co-conspirators.
During cross-examination, Sanger showed that the witness could not link Mr. Jackson to any off the calls. “In all these phone records you had were you ever able to determine if Michael Jackson was on a single call?†Sanger asked. “No.†replied Bonner.
The calls began in February and continued into the following month with the first series of calls accruing during a trip to Miami taken by Jackson, his entourage, his accuser and his family. Prosecutors showed calls going to and from the presidential suite at the Miami resort where the group stayed. Witnesses have stated that Jackson rented the suite but numerous people occupied it.
Numerous calls were also shown to be made to Jackson’s assistant Evelyn Tavasci at Neverland, as well as to the homes of the boyfriend, now husband, of the accuser’s mother and her parents. A few calls were made to Jackson’s ex-wife, Deborah Rowe, and the office of his former attorney Mark Geragos.
On cross-examination, Sanger brought up the issue of who actually participated in the phone calls. Bonner acknowledged a few key facts, such as, there were many people who occupied Schaffel’s office and that it was unlikely that a one minute call to an attorney’s office would go beyond the receptionist. The defense also showed that some calls were missing from the prosecution’s analysis. “I am aware that some of the records did not make it into the computer to be analyzed,†Bonner stated.
The Prosecution did not tell the jurors how the charted phone calls supported their case but is expected to argue that they show frenzied activity in an effort to stem the damage of the “Living With Michael Jackson†documentary and corroborate with the accuser’s mother’s story of being besieged by calls from Casio to return to Neverland and participate in the rebuttal video to counter the documentary.
Marc Schaffel
Schaffel’s name has repeatedly surfaced in connection with efforts to contain damage from the “Living With Michael Jackson†documentary and the alleged abduction of the accuser’s family.
In unexplained testimony during Monday’s trial, a bank manager testified that in April 2003 Schaffel cashed checks for $1 million and $500,000 on an account for which he and Mr. Jackson were the only signatories. Beverly Wagner said she was able to get approval for the transaction but did not know what the money was for.
In a separate civil court lawsuit against Michael Jackson, Schaffel claims that he had extensive financial dealings with Jackson involving millions of dollars in loans and production fees for the rebuttal documentary and Jackson shopping sprees.
Mr. Jackson was asked how he was feeling as he left court at the end of the day. “A little better today,†he said.
Source: AP/eMJey