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Michael Jackson
31/03/2005 21:07
Day 22: Flight Attendent Says She Never Saw Mr. Jackson Serve Alcohol to A Minor
Created: Wednesday, 30 March 2005
Michael JacksonDay 22 in Michael Jackson’s trial most noteably consisted of testimony from the comedy club owner who has previously claimed to have been the initial conduit between the accuser and Mr. Jackson as well as a flight attendant who flew with Mr. Jackson on several occasions.
Jamie Masada, a comedy club owner, sparred with Thomas Mesereau Jr. throughout a long cross-examination, mostly trying to keep the tone light and frequently drawing laughter.
The tone changed when Masada, who owns the Laugh Factory club in Hollywood, was asked by Mr. Mesereau about comedian Louise Palanker, who testified last week.
"She wants to be a comic," he said. "We help them. Sometimes you have to give them bad news."
"You've told her she's not funny?" asked Mr. Mesereau.
"Let me tell you," Masada said. "I find you more funny than she is."
Masada said Palanker had been in touch with him since she testified and that she once referred to O.J. Simpson's acquittal in the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend and Blake's recent acquittal in the 2003 slaying of his wife.
"She said that you have made this court like O.J.'s court or Robert Blake's court, and you lied and changed the words around," Masada said.
The boy became involved with the Laugh Factory when he, his brother and his sister attended a comedy camp there. The relationship with Masada and various comedians continued when the boy became ill with cancer.
Masada played down his role in bringing Mr. Jackson together with the boy and said only that he made a number of calls to people, including music producer Quincy Jones, to try to fulfill the ailing boy's wish to meet Mr. Jackson.
"I don't know if the message got to him or the fact that he called the next day was by the will of God," he said.
Masada said he had never met Mr. Jackson. "This is the first time I've seen him," he said, turning to Mr. Jackson and asking, "How are you?"
The defendant waved.
When Mr. Jackson left at the end of the day, he was asked about the levity.
"You can use a little comic relief sometimes," Mr. Jackson said.
The mother of Michael Jackson's accuser refused an offer of money after the broadcast of a documentary featuring the pop star and her son, a witness said on Tuesday, as prosecutors sought to counter claims that her greed was behind the sex-abuse charges.
Jamie Masada, owner of the Laugh Factory on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, also recalled a frantic telephone call from the mother after "Living with Michael Mr. Jackson" was aired, in which she told him she and her family were being held against their will at the pop star's Neverland Valley Ranch.
"She was kind of in a state of crying, like 'Oh my God, they're holding me here,"' Masada told the jury. "She said, they're holding me with my kids against my will. I need to get out of here."
Masada is a key figure in the molestation case against Mr. Jackson. He first met Mr. Jackson's accuser at a 1999 comedy camp at his club, and two became close when the boy was hospitalized for what doctors thought was terminal cancer.
The Iranian-born Masada said that after the boy asked him to set up a meeting with his "idol" Mr. Jackson, he tried to put the two in contact. The effort apparently paid off with a phone call by the singer inviting the family to Neverland.
But after the broadcast of the documentary in February 2003, which showed Mr. Jackson and the boy holding hands, schoolmates began taunting him, Masada said.
Masada introduced the mother to his attorney in a bid to stop further broadcasts of the documentary. During that time, Masada said, he told the mother that he knew someone who wanted to give her substantial amounts of money -- although the mysterious benefactor was not identified in court. It was later revealed to be Howie Mandel.
Over defense objections, Masada said the mother rejected the offer by saying: "All I need is friends, all I need is prayer. Prayer is all I need. I don't need money."
That testimony was sought by prosecutors to counter a central defense theory -- that the mother was a grifter who saw celebrities as easy marks and cooked up the sex-abuse accusations in a bid to wring money from Mr. Jackson.
The day ended with testimony by a charter jet flight attendant who served Mr. Jackson and members of the accuser's family on a trip from Miami to Santa Barbara.
Cynthia Ann Bell contradicted a prosecution claim that Mr. Jackson ordered wine to be served in Coke cans and then shared the wine with the accuser. Bell acknowledged that she served Mr. Jackson white wine in a Diet Coke can, but said the idea was hers. Mr. Jackson was a nervous flyer who could not stand turbulence and sometimes had a flight land because of it. She suggested the drinking was to relieve his anxiety and calm his nerves but did not want to be seen drinking in front of children.
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: Okay. Now, how many times do you think you've flown with Michael Jackson?
MS. BELL: I believe three; no more than six.
MR. MESEREAU: And in none of the flights that you shared with Michael Jackson -- let me rephrase that. At no time on any flight you've been on with Michael Jackson have you ever seen him share wine with any child, correct?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
MR. MESEREAU: You've never seen Michael Jackson share a Diet Coke can with wine with any child, correct?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
MR. MESEREAU: You never saw the Arvizo children drinking from a Diet Coke can with alcohol at any time, right?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
MR. MESEREAU: You've never saw those children drinking from a Diet Coke can with wine, correct?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
(End of Excerpt)
She said she did not see Mr. Jackson share his drink with anyone and that she saw the accuser sitting next to Mr. Jackson — but that Mr. Jackson's children Prince and Paris were always either beside him or on his lap during the flight.
She also described the accuser on that flight as "loud, obnoxious, like 'Serve me my food, this isn't warm.' It was embarrassing to have him on board." She said that the accuser screamed at her that his food was not warm and that he was "altogether loud, obnoxious," in contrast to Mr. Jackson and his children, who behaved courteously.
(Excerpt from Court Transcript)
MR. MESEREAU: You never saw Michael Jackson give her alcohol?
MS. BELL: Absolutely not.
MR. MESEREAU: And you've never seen any inappropriate behavior between Michael Jackson and any child on a flight, right?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
MR. MESEREAU: And you have never seen Michael Jackson caress or touch any minor child in an intimate manner, right?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
MR. MESEREAU: And, now, you indicated that his children were always around him on the flight the Arvizos were on, right?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
MR. MESEREAU: You never observed Michael Jackson at any time when his children weren't around him, right?
MS. BELL: I'm sorry, what?
MR. MESEREAU: On the flight the Arvizos were on, you always saw Mr. Jackson's children around him, right?
MS. BELL: Absolutely.
MR. MESEREAU: And we're talking about three children, correct?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
MR. MESEREAU: And two nannies, correct?
MS. BELL: Three nannies.
MR. MESEREAU: Okay. Do you recall someone throwing food on the plane when the Arvizos were on board?
MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Relevance; beyond the scope.
THE COURT: Overruled. You may answer.
Ms. Bell: Yes.
MR. MESEREAU: You saw one of the Arvizos throwing food on the flight, correct?
MS. BELL: That is correct.
(End of Excerpt)
When Bell identified a photograph of the accuser, Mr. Mesereau asked her, "You told the grand jury he's a weird kid?" "Yes, I did," she said.
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