(14 Apr 2005) SHOTLIST
1. Car arrives at court house
2. Jackson and entourage exit car
3. Jackson walks towards courthouse, waves to supporters, enters courthouse
4. Prosecutor Tom Sneddon passes through security and enters into court
5. Mother of alleged victim escorted into court, covering her face with jacket
6. Jackson passes through security and walks into court
STORYLINE:
The mother of Michael Jackson's teenage accuser testified on Thursday that she was sad and confused when she appeared in a video to praise the pop star as a father figure.
Prosecutors contend the woman and her family made the video under duress and that Jackson associates wanted them to do it to rebut a television documentary that had aired about two weeks earlier.
In the TV show, Jackson was seen with the boy and said he allowed children to sleep in his bed but that it was innocent.
The woman said she was given a script to follow and that during the video shoot she was read scripted questions.
She took the witness stand for a second day running on Thursday as the child molestation trial of Jackson continues.
The day before, Judge Rodney S. Melville allowed her to testify despite her refusal to discuss alleged welfare fraud - an issue on which the defence had hoped to attack her credibility.
She invoked the Fifth Amendment (an amendment to the Constitution of the United States that imposes restrictions on the government's prosecution of persons accused of crimes) to avoid questions about it.
46-year-old Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient, plying the boy with alcohol, and holding his family captive in February and March 2003 to get them to help rebut a damaging documentary.
The boy's mother said following the broadcast of the documentary showing Jackson and her children, the pop star convinced her in a "lovey-dovey speech" that her children were in danger, that there were "killers" after them, and that he was the only one who could protect them.
She also testified that she saw Jackson lick her son's head during a February 2003 flight from Miami to California on a private jet.
Defence attorneys have raised questions about the woman's credibility by accusing her in opening statements of swindling other celebrities and committing welfare fraud.
Jackson denies all the charges against him.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
