Jackson’s accuser’s mother ends testimony
The woman at the centre of Michael Jackson’s child abuse trial left the stand today after five days of rambling testimony in which she was alternately painted as a greedy opportunist and a mentally unstable victim.
She repeatedly clashed with lawyers and gave impromptu outbursts as she was questioned at Santa Maria court, California.
The mother of Jackson’s young accuser was a key prosecution witness on kidnapping and conspiracy charges but could prove just as vital to the defence, which painted her as a money-grabbing con artist who used her children to extort money wherever she could get it.
Legal experts questioned whether she should have been called at all after a volatile performance which could have tainted her own credibility.
At times mimicking Jackson’s unusual voice, gesturing wildly, bursting into tears and addressing the jury directly with lengthy statements unrelated to the question in hand, Judge Rodney Melville was constantly forced to strike comments from the record.
Defence lawyer Mr Mesereau fired his final salvo today by suggesting she had hoodwinked civil lawyers in a previous case when the family won a US$150,000 (€114,845) settlement.
He questioned the authenticity of bruises she allegedly received at the hands of a store’s security guards in 1998.
The jury was shown pictures of the woman covered in marks from the alleged beating after her son was accused of shoplifting.
She denied the bruises were the result of beatings by her former husband, who she has admitted frequently hit her and her children.
She claimed the pictures were taken immediately after the altercation at the shop but was then forced to acknowledge that she had previously told police the marks did not show up straight away.
Her mother later briefly testified that she had faked an illness to help get her grandchildren away from Jackson’s Neverland ranch.
She said that Jackson’s accuser, then 13, had changed when he returned home for the last time and was rude and badly behaved.
In a surprise development, the prosecution indicated that it would wrap up its case next week. As Jackson left the court, he was asked whether he felt that was good news for his case.
“I think it’s going well, thank you,” he replied.
Jackson denies all 10 charges against him. The court was adjourned until tomorrow.
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