Leno: Clarify Jackson trial gag order
From Miguel Marquez
CNN
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Late night talk show host Jay Leno, subpoenaed to appear as a defense witness in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial, has asked that a judge clarify the gag order in the case so he can continue to mention the trial in his nightly monologue.
According to court papers released Wednesday by the Santa Barbara County Superior Court, "The Tonight Show" host was subpoenaed February 17 to appear as a witness in the trial and filed a motion for clarification on the gag order February 18.
In the motion, attorneys for Leno asked that the gag order not be applied to the comic. But if it must be, they asked that it be amended to only prevent him from speaking about firsthand information he has in the case.
"When the court issued this gag order more than a year ago, it could not possibly have been seeking to affect the ability of entertainment personalities like Mr. Leno to comment about public information in this case," the motion said.
The gag order bars anyone connected to the case from publicly discussing testimony or evidence.
In opening statements Monday, Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told jurors that the accuser in the case had called Leno a few years ago in a pitch for money to help pay for his cancer treatments.
Mesereau said Leno became suspicious about the call, in which the boy's mother could be heard coaching her son, and contacted Santa Barbara police.
Wednesday night, Leno devoted seven minutes of his monologue to the Jackson trial, poking fun at the celebrity witness list.
He joked that attorneys would question possible witnesses like Larry King, Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross in a "Hollywood Squares" game show format, with Leno in the coveted center square.
