Jackson attorney assails accuser's credibility

BY TINA SUSMAN | STAFF CORRESPONDENT

April 16, 2005

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A key accuser in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial gushed in reverential tones about the pop star in a video that Jackson's attorney showed to jurors yesterday as he tore into the woman's testimony, portraying her as a master of deception who bilked JC Penney out of more than $150,000 and then wove an incredible tale of abduction and captivity by the pop star in hopes of getting money from him.

The 37-year-old woman, the mother of the boy Jackson is charged with molesting, insists she and her three children were forced to make the video two years ago by Jackson as he scrambled to undo damage to his reputation from an earlier documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson." In that documentary, he talked about how he enjoyed sleeping with children and was shown with the boy, who was 13 at the time.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. butted heads with the witness, who became increasingly combative as she was pressed to explain apparent inconsistencies in her story.

"I have a lot of thoughts in my heart about you," she sneered at Mesereau at one point, after he sarcastically told her she was a good actress for her performance in the so-called "rebuttal video." The witness has testified that every word in the video was scripted by Jackson associates and that she and her children were "acting" when they raved about Jackson being a "father figure" to them.

The judge admonished both of them several times.

In addition to expressing doubt that the video was acted, Mesereau quizzed the witness about her claims five years ago that she, her then-husband, and their children were beaten by security guards in a JC Penney parking lot -- a claim that led to a judgment of more than $150,000 for the family. At that time, she showed physical injuries she said had been caused by the beating and denied that her husband beat her regularly.

Under pressure from Mesereau, she admitted she lied during the lawsuit and that her husband, whom she divorced in 2001, had beaten her throughout their 17-year marriage.

"You made that statement because you wanted any bruises you had to be attributed only to JC Penney" to ensure a big payoff, Mesereau said. She said she lied because she was embarrassed by her abusive marriage.

Later, she said she never told police officers she knew that she was being held captive at Jackson's Neverland ranch. One in particular was a friend, but she said because he was newly married "out of consideration" she decided not to tell him.