Comedian Chris Tucker was the final defense witness to take the stand in the Michael Jackson trial Wednesday. Tucker told jurors that the accuser’s mother was “possessed†and that he warned Jackson about the family’s motives.
The defense has introduced 50 witnesses in a short three week period, following on from prosecutors who took 10 weeks to lay out their case against the singer. The defense initially presented a star-studded witness list featuring over 300 witnesses, including celebrities Elizabeth Taylor and Stevie Wonder. The witness list was greatly whittled down as the trial progressed.
Tucker grew suspicious
The “Rush Hour†star described the accuser’s mother, Janet Arvizo, as being "frantic" and sobbing after he offered the family a used truck.
"I got real scared that I went in too deep," said Tucker.
On cross-examination, District Attorney Thomas Sneddon asked if Tucker meant Arvizo was overwhelmed with gratitude.
"No. Like she was possessed. I know the difference,†Tucker replied.
He also told jurors that he was taken aback by the accuser’s maturity and “cunning waysâ€, but had been willing to overlook this because of his illness.
Tucker said the accuser's younger brother, a key prosecution witness in the trial, was even more cunning, He said that he became so suspicious of the boy that he wanted "to check (the brother's) pockets before he left my house."
Later, Tucker contradicted an important part of the conspiracy case made by prosecutors against Jackson. The Arvizo family testified earlier that Jackson had called the family to Miami to participate in a press conference that never took place. They claim to have been “kidnapped†by the singer and forced into taking part in a film praising him.
However, Tucker told the court that the boy had actually called him frantically searching for Jackson, who was in Miami. Tucker said the boy asked him to bring the family to Miami because they wanted to escape the media onslaught created by the broadcast of “Living with Michael Jackson†on UK television.
The comedian said he chartered a jet and flew the family to Florida. Once there, he told how he pulled Jackson aside to warn him that he no longer trusted the family.
"I told him to watch out for (the mother) because I felt suspicious about her," said Tucker. "I took him in the room and I was trying to talk to him. ...I said, 'Michael, something ain't right."'
The actor also testified about how his own associates had warned him about the Arvizo family.
"They did a lot of things I didn't see, that my people were telling me to watch out," explained Tucker, who nevertheless continued to help the family out of sympathy for the boy.
Arvizo family “would not leaveâ€
Tucker said his suspicions about the family were first aroused when they came to the set of a movie he was filming in Las Vegas and then refused to leave. He said he paid for their hotel and expenses, but after several weeks they were still there.
On cross-examination Sneddon implied that Tucker had encouraged the family by asking them to come to his brother's wedding. Tucker denied this, saying the family had invited themselves.
When Sneddon showed a wedding photograph of Tucker and the Arvizos, the comedian quipped, "That's a nice photograph. Can I get it?"
Sneddon retorted, "That depends on whether you're a good boy."
The prosecutor implied that Tucker's friendship with Jackson may have coloured his testimony and he suggested that the actor had refused to speak with police. However Tucker insisted that he would have granted police an interview, but that he left the matter in his lawyers' hands.
Prosecutors present rebuttal case
Following Tucker’s testimony, prosecutors called several rebuttal witnesses before the jury was dismissed. Lawyers then held a discussion about a prosecution request to play a 2003 video of the accuser's initial interview with police, in which he details his allegations against Jackson.
Jackson’s attorneys said that if the video was allowed, they would call the accuser for a second cross-examination.
Sneddon told the court Tuesday that his rebuttal case would be complete by Thursday. This means that closing arguments could start as early as the middle of next week upon which the jury will begin their deliberations.
Source: AP/Reuters/CNN/eMJey