Defense, Jackson accuser's mom spar
Witness admits 'poor judgment,' says star fooled the world
SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's defense attorney kept up his attack Monday on the mother of the pop star's teenage accuser, trying to use her own statements to raise questions about her credibility.
Thomas Mesereau Jr. also pressed her about the family's efforts to raise money after her son was diagnosed with cancer.
But the mother, who was feisty during two days of tough cross-examination, told jurors that Jackson has "managed to fool the world" and that he "didn't really care about children."
"He just cared about what he was doing with the children," she said. "What he puts out in the world is not who he really is."
Her remarks were stricken from the record after defense attorneys objected.
The mother admitted she showed "poor judgment" by letting her children stay at the pop star's Neverland Ranch after she said she saw Jackson lick her son's head during a 2003 airplane ride.
She also said she told investigators from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department that her family "might disappear in a hot air balloon."
"I told police they had various ways to make my family disappear," she said, referring to Jackson's entourage. "This is one of a variety of ways."
Mesereau's cross-examination of her ended shortly before court recessed for the day. She will return for more follow-up questioning by the prosecution Tuesday.
Jackson, 46, arrived at the Santa Maria courthouse Monday morning accompanied by his mother, Katherine.
Also in court was former child TV star Gary Coleman, who is covering the trial for the All Comedy Radio Network, according to a network spokesman.
Mom cashed checks
Throughout the trial, Mesereau has characterized the accuser's mother as the manipulative force behind what he says are false allegations of child molestation against Jackson.
Monday, he asked her repeatedly about whether she was involved in efforts to solicit money for the family after the accuser was diagnosed with cancer in 2000.
She insisted she did not ask for money and was not aware of two fund-raisers planned for her son at the Laugh Factory, a California comedy club. But she did admit she cashed two $10,000 checks given to the family by comedienne Louise Palanker, and that she withdrew money from a bank account set up for donations for her son.
She said she did so at the direction of her then-husband, the teen's father. She denied that any of the money had gone for her own use, saying it was used to pay living expenses and bills.
But she also said her husband, whom she later divorced, took some of the money and "went to Las Vegas."
The mother also denied that she ever told anyone the family needed money to pay for cancer treatments, which were covered by insurance.
"At no time did I say it was costing us a penny," she said.
Jackson's accuser's cancer went into remission after treatment. Now 15, he testified earlier that Jackson twice masturbated him while they were sleeping alone together in Jackson's bedroom at Neverland in 2003, when he was 13.
The mother testified that during the family's first visit to Neverland in August 2000, she was present during a dinner conversation in which Jackson and her sons asked permission for them to sleep in his bedroom. However, she said it was her husband and not her who participated in the discussion.
The mother said she met Jackson on that visit but did not have any conversations with him.
"He didn't talk to me. I didn't talk to him," she said.
She admitted dancing with Jackson but said they were in a group with her children and other guests.
"Don't take it out of context and make it dirty," she said.
The mother also said that when it came to sleeping arrangements at Neverland, "I assumed children stayed with children."
"Now, I realize how stupid I was," the mother said -- a remark that also was stricken after the defense objected.
Mesereau also questioned the mother about why police were contacted about the alleged molestation only after she had talked to attorney Larry Feldman, who had won a multimillion-dollar settlement in a civil case filed against Jackson in 1993 over child molestation allegations.
She said she consulted a lawyer at the urging of a state social worker and insisted she told Feldman from the beginning "that I wanted to tell the police."
Mesereau pressed the mother on why she never called police, or asked anyone else to call them, during a period in February and March 2003 in which she says Jackson and his associates held her and her children against their will.
"You didn't call 911?" Mesereau asked.
"That's correct. But I have now," she said.
She said she did not ask for help because she thought the lives of her parents would be at risk if she did.
She said she told then-girlfriend of comedian Chris Tucker, Aja, about her family's plight, saying, "I made her aware they were not letting us go." The mother said she did not directly ask the woman to call police.
Follow-up questioning
Following cross-examination, prosecutor Ron Zonen asked the mother about injuries she and her children sustained in an altercation with JCPenney security guards in 2000. The incident resulted in a civil settlement with the retailer.
The defense has pointed to the case to argue that the mother has a history of launching false allegations for profit. But Zonen sought to counter that argument by introducing photos showing the mother's injuries, including bruising to her face and body.
She said her hand was broken in the melee, which she said began after her son -- Jackson's accuser -- was accused of shoplifting two school uniforms. He suffered a broken arm and a black eye, and her other son had a concussion, she said.
The mother said the guards "clobbered me" after she saw them hitting her husband outside the store and tried to intervene.
The settlement totaled more than $150,000, she said, of which she received $32,000. Her children received money from the settlement that is being held for them until they become adults, she said.
A grand jury indicted Jackson last year on charges of molesting the boy giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive in 2003. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It is CNN's policy not to reveal the names of the underage accuser or members of his family.
CNN's Dree De Clamecy, Ted Rowlands and Stan Wilson contributed to this report.
