Saturday, February 19, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Web site: LV lawyer topic of testimony

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in town with golfer girlfriend. Carmelo Anthony gets things rolling for NBA All-Star weekend. Duane "Dog" Chapman hands out autographs.

David LeGrand, the Las Vegas attorney who represented Michael Jackson in 2003, takes some hits in California grand jury testimony in the child molestation case against Jackson, according to thesmokinggun.com.

Las Vegas resident Ann Gabriel, who was hired briefly by LeGrand to handle crisis management and public relations for Jackson, gave the Jackson grand jury her account of dealings with LeGrand and F. Marc Schaffel, a Jackson associate whom prosecutors have named as an unindicted co-conspirator with the performer.

Gabriel testified that she received a telephone call one night from an "extremely upset and agitated" Schaffel, who said "there was a problem at the ranch."

According to thesmokinggun Web site, she told the grand jury that Schaffel voiced concern that the mother might attempt to sell her story to a British tabloid. Gabriel testified that Schaffel later called to say "the situation had been contained" and "we found them and brought them back to the ranch."

Gabriel said Schaffel's reference to a situation being contained left her feeling "like this was something out of a very bad `B' movie. It made me sick to my stomach," she testified.

In her grand jury testimony, she said that after passing along Schaffel's comments to LeGrand, she told the attorney, "Don't make me think that these people were basically hunted down like dogs and brought back to the ranch." LeGrand "told me that he couldn't talk about it," she said.

During another conversation with LeGrand, Gabriel testified before the grand jury that Jackson's lawyer said, "We've got her (the boy's mother) on tape, and we're going to make her look like a crack whore."

Gabriel added: "The only thing I can tell you adamantly is that he was absolutely gleeful when he said that to me."

LeGrand, a shareholder with Hale Lane Peek Dennison Howard & Anderson at 2300 W. Sahara Ave., did not return a call by deadline.

Schaffel, a former porn producer with Las Vegas ties, could not be reached for comment.

The Scene and Heard

I'm back in Denver, my old stomping grounds during the '80s and '90s, to check out the NBA All-Star weekend. It's the center of the celebrity universe and it will take some serious cash to rub shoulders will this crowd. Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony and seven-time NBA all-star Alonzo Mourning got things started with a $500-a-ticket ($1,000 at the door) charity pool event Thursday. Best line so far: "It's bling-time in the Rockies," says Patty Calhoun, editor of the alternative weekly Westword. ...

"Trading Spaces" designer Laurie Smith visits the new Lane Home Furnishings store in Summerlin from 1-5 p.m. today. She'll be at the Lane store in Henderson from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Sightings

The Cincinnati Bengals cheerleaders, among a bachelorette party at "Thunder From Down Under" (Excalibur) on Friday night. ... Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, watching pro golfer gal pal Natalie Gulbis practice Thursday at Reflection Bay as she prepares for next week's LPGA event in Hawaii. Later, Big Ben was seen taking a beating on the craps tables at Casino MonteLago. ... A&E "Bounty Hunter" star Duane "Dog" Chapman, signing autographs at the Grand Lux (The Venetian) on Thursday. He's in town for the MAGIC convention and the bail bonds convention.

The Punch Line

"I praise loudly. I blame softly." -- Catherine the Great, 1729-1796

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.