www.lompocrecord.com
Jackson reps react differently to leaked lawsuit settlement
By Quintin Cushner - Staff Writer
6/17/04 The apparent leak of a confidential settlement showing that pop singer Michael Jackson paid $15.3 million to a boy he was accused of molesting in 1993 met with conflicting responses among representatives of the singer and his family.
The television network CourtTV announced Tuesday that they'd obtained documents from the 1994 settlement revealing Jackson agreed to fund a $15.3 million trust for the boy, and pay millions more to the boy's parents and his attorney.
The singer is currently facing charges that he molested a different boy.
Debra Opri, a lawyer for Jackson's parents, Joe and Katherine, said she had heard that another longtime attorney for the Jackson family, Brian Oxman, contacted numerous media outlets and expressed doubts about the authenticity of the documents.
Opri said that Oxman doesn't speak for the Jackson family on these matters, and that they want to distance themselves from him.
"(Jackson's parents) don't think it's appropriate that these comments were made," Opri said.
For his part, Oxman said he simply made a phone call to CourtTV's legal counsel asking for a copy of the documents so that he might authenticate them. He refused further comment about whether he had contacted other media agencies and declined further comment on the case.
Doug Jacobs, general counsel for CourtTV, said Oxman expressed his doubts to the network over whether the documents were authentic, and asked for a copy - a request the network denied.
Meanwhile, Raymone Bain, spokeswoman for Michael Jackson said the singer's counsel still need to do their due diligence to authenticate the documents.
Diane Dimond, anchor and head of investigative reporting at CourtTV, first broke the story about the documents. She said the documents, which are on the Web site www.smokinggun.com, are authentic.
She believes Oxman's questioning of the documents was an attempt to "spin" the story.
"He is a Mr. Fix-it for the defense," she added.
Dimond has covered investigations into Jackson since the early 1990s, and was once listed in a $100 million libel lawsuit filed when she worked for the syndicated television show "Hard Copy," she said. That suit was tossed out of court.
Opri said she's interested in knowing who leaked the documents and why.
According to her, only three people possessed a copy of the confidential settlement agreement.
"We knew the information in the document," Opri said. "The settlement was made as a business decision and it's my understanding that this was an insurance company settlement. They have extended (Jackson's parents) anguish for yet another piece of shock TV."
In the pending case, Jackson, 45, has pleaded not guilty to engaging in lewd acts with an unnamed boy under the age of 14 on four occasions between Feb. 7 and March 20, 2003, and four counts of "administering an intoxicating agent" - reportedly wine. |