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发表于 2005-2-26 00:00:00
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Michael Jackson's defense will be allowed to present evidence at his child molestation trial about a lawsuit in which the accuser's family claimed security guards beat and held them against their will and groped the mother after the boy left a store without paying for clothes, the judge ruled Friday.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville came during arguments on motions in advance of opening statements that attorneys will begin presenting to the jury on Monday.
The department store lawsuit was one of many issues raised by attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. in a presentation that became a road map of how the defense will attack the credibility of the allegations against Jackson.
"You almost laid out your whole case, not for me, but for other people," the judge said critically, referring to the courtroom packed with observers, including a dozen reporters. Others watched in an overflow room.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient at his Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara County, plying the boy with alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive.
The prosecution alleges that the boy was molested after the airing of a TV documentary that showed the boy with Jackson, who said he allowed children to sleep in his bed.
Melville said he will allow testimony about the family's lawsuit against J.C. Penney, especially as it pertains to the mother's credibility. But he said the defense would not be allowed to refer to the boy as a "shoplifter."
Mesereau said that after the mother received a $150,000 settlement from J.C. Penney and Tower Records, which was also a defendant, she immediately accused her husband of abusing her and filed for divorce.
The woman then accused her ex-husband of inappropriately touching her daughter, Mesereau said.
The attorney also said the woman testified in the J.C. Penney case that her husband had never hit her, but alleged in her divorce that he had beaten his family for years. Mesereau said that was perjury.
Mesereau also told the court that the day after the alleged beating by guards, the mother returned to the store and hugged employees, then filed the lawsuit and later amended it to add the groping claim.
He said the mother hid assets from the settlement to get welfare payments from Los Angeles County.
Mesereau also said the mother had her son ask celebrities including TV host Jay Leno for money and spent some of the funds on cosmetic surgery.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen argued that the issue was how the mother acquired the money, not what she spent it on and that the issue was largely irrelevant.
"The question is whether a man who admits to sleeping with children was sleeping with this child, and what he did with this child. That's what this case is about," Zonen said.
Mesereau argued that it all showed a pattern of fraud.
"She got a breast enhancement and a tummy tuck and then told Mr. Jackson and all these people that she was destitute," the attorney said.
It was unclear whether the judge's decision to allow into evidence the J.C. Penney matter also extended to the divorce case and the allegation that the daughter was inappropriately touched.
The judge did rule that during opening statements lawyers may not show the jury the entire "Living with Michael Jackson" documentary but may use a clip. The prosecution plans to use a two-minute segment.
The first prosecution witness is expected to be the documentary's maker, Martin Bashir.
The defense, which plans to use a seven-minute video about Neverland, asked for permission to take the jury to the ranch. The judge did not immediately rule on the request. One juror and two alternates have already been there.
In another matter, Melville ruled that the defense will not be allowed to delve into the issue of alleged extramarital affairs by the accuser's mother.
The defense said it wasn't interested in her sex life but wanted to show that during the time she was allegedly held captive by Jackson she was in contact with a Los Angeles police officer and an Army officer who she eventually married. The defense claims that shows she could have asked for help if she had been a captive.
The defense also alleged that the mother might have been delusional at the time she was allegedly held against her will at hotels and Neverland because she wasn't taking drugs that were prescribed for her.
The judge barred mention of the prescription drugs unless the defense can establish that the woman was supposed to take them and did not.
A defense request to have District Attorney Tom Sneddon removed from the case was turned down by Melville.
Sneddon asked that the court record reflect that Jackson left the hearing at a midmorning break, and the judge said Jackson had asked for permission to leave and it was granted. http://www.the-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050225/APN/502250640&cachetime=5好长~~这个是关于辩方入案证据详细的信息~我没时间全部翻译了~~谁有时间翻译下~！ |
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发表于 2005-2-27 00:00:00
