Courting stars is trial and error

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The man with the oversized chin walked confidently to the witness stand, turned to the court clerk and held up his right hand. "My name is Jay Leno. L-E-N-O," he said loudly, as if anybody didn't know.

With that, the biggest name in the big-name trial of Michael Jackson took his turn before jurors, following actor Macaulay Culkin, preceding comedian Chris Tucker, and highlighting the celebrity current that has rippled through this case.

Even celebrities who didn't testify found their way into Jackson's trial on child molestation and conspiracy charges. Larry King was called by the defense, though the judge ended up disallowing his testimony. Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross and Kobe Bryant appeared on the defense team's initial witness list, and Taylor and Bryant were mentioned in testimony, though none was called to testify. Brooke Shields and Liza Minnelli were cited by witnesses talking about Jackson's female friendships. Marlon Brando's daughter-in-law and granddaughter related to jurors their memories of the accusers' behavior at Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch.

Somewhere along the way, Mike Tyson, Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey were mentioned as celebrities allegedly eyed by the accusers as potential shakedown targets.

Even celebrity animals figured in the case as Jackson, in a video shown to jurors, spoke in all seriousness of his desire to throw a bash for Benji, Lassie and other famous fur-balls.

But will the star power fly with a jury from Santa Maria, whose most famous resident may be Jane Russell of '50s films and Playtex bra fame? That was one of the intriguing calculations of this trial as jurors began deliberating Friday following closing arguments. Calling stars to testify carries with it added risks because of the expectations that accompany their star power, say legal experts. Hence, when they don't deliver as promised, the consequences can be greater - and the performances of the stars in this case got mixed reviews.

"It was kind of over-promised and under-sold," Seattle attorney Anne Bremner said of the defense's final week, in which Leno, Tucker and the Brando relatives took the stand for what was expected to be a litany of devastating testimony that would portray Jackson's accusers as grifters who glommed onto the rich and famous to better their own lives.

Celebrity testimony

Leno acknowledged the family was a bit pesky, but he said they never asked him for a thing. Tucker said he didn't trust the family, but he appeared so evasive under cross-examination that some analysts said he may have tainted his own testimony. The Brandos offered virtually nothing to the defense other than to tell jurors what they already knew: That the mother of the alleged victim acted oddly, and that the alleged victim tended toward rambunctious behavior.

"At this stage in the defense, if you're not helping them, you're hurting them," Los Angeles attorney Trent Copeland, who has represented several celebrities, said of the defense team's final, famous-name witnesses. "Jay Leno was supposed to be one of these final, knock-your-socks off kind of witnesses, and it clearly didn't pan out."

Like many regular court observers, Bremner said that up until that final defense week, she had viewed the case as Jackson's to win. "They started so strong ... and then it sort of falls apart," she said, explaining the possible impact of bad celebrity appearances. "There's so much anticipation anyway because of who they are, and then when they come in and just fall flat, in some ways the jurors are left saying, 'Is that all there is?' "

Culkin's vivid account

One star did shine on the stand: Macaulay Culkin, who defended Jackson and denied prosecution claims he had been groped by Jackson as a child. Culkin, now 24, presented a sympathetic and vivid account of being catapulted to fame by "Home Alone" in 1990 and of being helped through the chaos by Jackson.

"One day I was a normal kid ... the next thing I knew I'm this thing, and people are hiding in the bushes and trying to take my picture," he said.

"We have a unique understanding," Culkin said of the seemingly odd friendship that he, as a little boy, developed with Jackson, who was in his 30s at the time. "He understood what it was like to be put in that position."

Skeptics, though, pointed out that Culkin is a star for a reason. "He's an actor - he's a trained actor," said former Connecticut prosecutor Susan Filan. Not only did Culkin's description of his friendship with Jackson match the "same pattern of grooming" he is accused of using on other alleged molestation victims, Filan said, but Culkin had good reason to lie. "It's not good for his career" to admit he was molested, she said.

Jackson himself is proof that celebrities are risky witnesses. He testified during a 2002 civil trial over concerts he failed to put on and behaved oddly on the stand, including giggling and mugging for cameras. Jackson lost the case.

But stars can bring special clout to a case, particularly a case like Jackson's in which so many non-celebrity witnesses seemed to be swayed by things that would not affect wealthy entertainers: a desire to get close to Jackson, a pending lawsuit against the singer, anger at having been fired from Neverland or simply shut out of Jackson's life. "You have an advantage when you're a celebrity. People know you, they like you, they trust you. You have no ax to grind," said legal analyst Jim Moret.

In addition, even if jurors can't relate to such witnesses' wealth and Rolex-studded lifestyles, they should be able to relate to the fear of being wrongly accused of wrongdoing or targeted in a fraudulent suit, said Jackson family attorney Debra Opri, citing Santa Maria's small-town folksiness.

"No one wants to be a target," said Opri, comparing Jackson's plight to that of a small-business owner being driven out of business by a dishonest competitor. "In the end, the jury will consider Michael's celebrity in terms of the way he is treated."

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