More from the Jackson trial

Blitzkrieg

Jackson guard says he saw oral sex
Trial testimony focuses on other 'special friendships'

Christina Barany / Getty Images Michael Jackson leaves the Santa Barbara County Courthouse after court Tuesday. He sat as his ex-maid described how she apparently saw him showering with a young boy.

Slide show • Michael Jackson trial Click to see the latest pictures from the scene of Michael Jackson's trial.

The Associated Press
Updated: 8:03 p.m. ET April 7, 2005

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A former security guard at Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch told a lurid story Thursday about seeing the singer kiss, fondle and perform oral sex on a boy who later received a financial settlement from the pop star.

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But the credibility of the guard and another prosecution witness who also testified seeing Jackson fondle boys took an enormous hit during cross-examination by defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr.

He attacked the security guard, Ralph Chacon, as making the whole thing up “to get even� with the singer and portrayed the other witness, former Jackson maid Adrian McManus, as a thief and a liar. He accused Chacon of having tried to “extort� $16 million from Jackson in a lawsuit and lengthy trial that he, McManus and other ex-employees lost. They were ultimately ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in a judgment won by Jackson.

“After a six-month trial, this is a good way to get even with him, isn’t it?� Mesereau asked Chacon, drawing a strong objection from the prosecution.

Related story Commentary: Trial takes turn for the seedy Vote: Your take on the latest allegations?

The testimony is part of a prosecution attempt to show that the current molestation allegations against Jackson are part of a pattern of inappropriate sexual contact with little boys dating back more than a decade.

In questioning by District Attorney Tom Sneddon, Chacon told of looking through a window one night at Jackson’s pool house in late 1992 or early 1993 and seeing him perform oral sex on a 10-year-old boy.

• Jackson guard says he saw oral sex • Jackson trial takes a turn for the seedy • Witness: I saw boy shower with Jackson • Jackson attends Johnnie Cochran funeral • Jackson witness recalls molestation

Chacon said he saw Jackson engage in activities he described as “passionate� after the singer and the boy took a dip in an outdoor Jacuzzi and showered. He said he saw Jackson kiss the boy’s head and shoulders and later moved his hands “down to his private area.� He also said there was another incident in which Jackson took the boy away in a golf cart and kissed him in front of a Peter Pan display.

The boy received a financial settlement, reportedly between $15 million and $20 million, from Jackson in 1994. The boy did not cooperate with a police investigation and no charges were filed against Jackson. The boy is not scheduled to testify in the trial.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy’s family captive to get them to make a video rebutting a TV documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bed but that it was innocent.

Maid testifies about incidents with boys
McManus, a Jackson maid between 1990 and 1994, also testified Thursday that she saw the pop star kiss actor Macaulay Culkin on the cheek while his hand was on Culkin’s bottom. The defense has asserted that Culkin has repeatedly said he was never molested, and a spokeswoman for the actor has said he has no plans to be part of the case.

McManus described a similar scene with two other boys and third incident involving the same boy that Chacon testified about.

In the latter incident, she said, Jackson and the boy were changing their shirts when Jackson kissed the boy on his cheek and mouth and put his hand on his groin area.

But McManus also testified that when subpoenaed in the lawsuit that resulted in the 1994 settlement she did not tell attorneys that she had seen Jackson touching the boy.

“I didn’t tell the truth. I said I didn’t see anything,� she said.

Mesereau confronted her repeatedly with statements from her deposition and each time she said she could not recall until the attorney showed them to her.

“Do you know how many times you lied under oath in the ... deposition?� asked Mesereau.

“The whole time,� she said. “I believe I didn’t tell the truth.�

She said she was afraid of Jackson because he had threatened to report her to her superiors if she ever did anything he didn’t like. She also said she needed the job because her husband had been laid off and a house payment was due.

Mesereau also pointed out that McManus and her husband were found in a lawsuit to have defrauded three children of more than $30,500 from their estate and that in the Jackson lawsuit she was assessed $30,000 for stealing a sketch of Elvis Presley that Jackson had drawn and selling it to a tabloid.

McManus insisted that she found the sketch in the trash and didn’t consider its worth.

Joseph T. Cool

Administrator

This is turning into almost a big a circus as the OJ trial...

:tantrum:

Miakal

I don't think they should've admitted old evidence to this trial like this, especially when the person is Michael Jackson because it just ends up being far too complicated for the jury.

They should've left it at the boy who accused him this time and that's that. If these other things actually happened then they should be brought to trial on their own.

Joseph T. Cool

Administrator

A journalist covering Michael Jackson's child molestation trial has accused several jurors of laughing about a witness's tearful testimony. A 24-year-old man sobbed on Monday as he told jurors that Jackson groped his crotch over his clothes twice in the 1980s and touched his groin under his clothes in 1990, while ticking him. And Robert Cole, a foreign editor for British news station Sky News, claims he overheard jurors mimicking the man's emotional testimony, during the trial's recess. Cole says, "All I heard was, 'He was like uh-huh-huh (imitating a crying sound)' and then I heard laughter. It sounded like they had just heard this kid crying and they were kind of laughing at what had happened, mimicking him. I didn't hear any names or anything... I don't know if they were talking about him or not." But court administrator Darrel Parker insists, "It is an unsubstantiated rumor and there is no investigation."

Link: http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/#celeb2