Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Mother testifies about Las Vegas trip

Woman says Jackson begged her to allow son in his bed

Michael Jackson waves to fans Monday as he enters the county courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- The mother of a boy who received millions of dollars from Michael Jackson in a lawsuit more than a decade ago told jurors Monday that Jackson pleaded with her to allow her son to sleep with him in visits to his Neverland ranch and on trips to Las Vegas, Florida and Europe.

The woman said that in 1993 she was treated by Jackson to trips and gifts of jewelry after she agreed to let the boy sleep in Jackson's room. She never testified to seeing her son molested.

Her testimony set the stage for prosecutors to call the mother of the boy now accusing Jackson of molestation in a scenario that nearly duplicates the situation described by the mother in the previous case.

Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen told the court at day's end that prosecutors would call the current accuser's mother as early as today after legal matters regarding her testimony were resolved.

The witness testified that after being flown to Las Vegas on resort mogul Steve Wynn's jet and treated to a weekend at the Mirage, Jackson left to take her son to a performance of Cirque du Soleil but returned early and knocked on her door in a distressed state.

"He was sobbing, shaking, trembling. He said, `You don't trust me. We're a family. Why won't you allow him to be in my bedroom?' " the woman testified.

She said Jackson told her there was "nothing going on" and again asked whether she trusted him.

She said she finally relented, and the next day Jackson gave her a gold Cartier bracelet.

The woman appeared to be the last witness in a prosecution effort to support the current allegations by resurrecting past claims that never led to charges.

Prosecutors are trying to build a circumstantial case by showing a pattern of behavior in Jackson's life that suggests inappropriate behavior with young boys.

The woman said her son is now 25, and she has not spoken to him in 11 years. Asked whether that was by her choice, she said no. Her son has refused to testify in Jackson's prosecution.

After the Las Vegas incident, the boy was constantly with Jackson, and the pop star came to the family's Santa Monica home and stayed there with the boy, she said.

"Did Mr. Jackson ever spend nights at your residence?" District Attorney Tom Sneddon asked.

"Yes ... more than 30 times," she said.

"And where would he stay?" Sneddon asked.

"In (my son's) bedroom," she said.

During the day, she said, Jackson would leave the home while her son was in school and come back when he returned.

She said that they made trips to Disney World in Florida in May 1993 and that she began to see a change in her son.

"He started dressing like Michael ... was kind of smart-alecky. He was withdrawn. He didn't want to be with (my daughter) and me."

In the following month, she said, they traveled with Jackson to Monaco, where she and her daughter went on a shopping spree paid for by the star.

"I was given his credit card," she said.

So close was the relationship, she said, that when she and her children flew to New York to attend a family wedding, she received word from Jackson's secretary that he would be joining them. She said he arrived after the wedding and stayed at the same hotel.

She said her brother raised concerns about the relationship, and she too became concerned.

She said another confrontation with Jackson occurred, and "he was upset that I wanted my son back."

She said, "I didn't like the situation. It was getting out of control."

That June, she said, Jackson gave her a necklace, a pair of earrings and a ring. He later gave her a $7,000 gift certificate to a West Hollywood boutique, the woman said.

The jury heard about the woman's domestic problems. She said she and the father of the boy divorced in 1985, and that same year she married another man who became the boy's stepfather. They have divorced.

She said that in the summer of 1993, she was asked by a private investigator and an attorney to sign a document involving a change of custody arrangement for the boy that involved visitation with the father.

She said Jackson urged her to sign the document.

"He was frantic. He was begging me to come over and sign it, so there wouldn't be any lawsuits," she said.

The witness confirmed that her son was involved in a lawsuit against Jackson and received compensation.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. suggested on cross-examination that Jackson countersued the family for "extortion," but the woman said she knew nothing about it and testified they never paid Jackson any money.

She described first meeting Jackson in August 1992 at her husband's business, Rent-a-Wreck, after the pop star showed up and her husband called her to come by. She said her son admired Jackson, and she invited the pop star to call him.

She said Jackson called, and they had eight to 10 conversations that initially lasted 10 minutes and grew to 90 minutes. But she said they were not invited to Neverland until the following February.

On cross-examination, she denied Mesereau's suggestion that she took the molestation allegations to a lawyer before going to police. She said she went to child welfare authorities, where her son made a report to officers working there on Aug. 7, 1993.

Mesereau said that when she was interviewed by Los Angeles County prosecutors in 1993, she talked of the family's relationship with Jackson and said, "Michael Jackson wasn't the superstar. He was a regular person. We couldn't believe how nice he was."

The mother said she never suspected anything improper during the Florida trip.

"And did you ever tell the Los Angeles district attorney that your ex-husband said the relationship with Michael was a wonderful means for (your son) to not have to worry for the rest of his life?" Mesereau asked.

"Yes," the witness said.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient, plying the boy with alcohol and holding his family captive in February and March 2003 to get them to help rebut a damaging television documentary.