Michael Jackson's lawyers were set to rest their case yesterday without calling on the "King of Pop" to speak out in his own defense at his child-sex trial.
Lawyers from the two sides made it clear that comedian Chris Tucker, who started testifying on Tuesday, would be the last of the 50 witnesses called by the defense team.
Jackson has denied molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient, plying him with alcohol and holding him and his family prisoner two years ago, but jurors have only heard him speak in videotaped interviews recorded around that time.
Tucker, who had befriended the alleged victim when the boy was in hospital, was expected to conclude his testimony yesterday.
The decision not to put Jackson on the witness stand came as no big surprise to legal analysts who have been following the trial in the conservative Californian city of Santa Maria, near the Neverland Ranch where the pop idol allegedly fondled the young boy.
Shortly after jury selection started on Jan. 31, the defense said it might call on dozens of the world's most famous stars to testify in Jackson's favor.
But only a few celebrities showed up, including Tucker, who was called by Jackson's lawyers to support their claims that the accuser and his mother were out to bilk celebrities.
Tucker recalled how the boy once called him asking for money to help cover the costs of his treatment for cancer, even though jurors have heard that the alleged victim was covered by medical insurance.
The comedian, who starred in the Rush Hour movie, said he immediately sent the boy's family "US$1,500 or more."
Another US celebrity, television comedian Jay Leno, said the boy had called him several times in 2000 or 2001. Leno told jurors that he thought at the time the boy was after money even though he never asked for it directly.
"It sounded a little odd for me at that time" that the boy would be interested in calling a comedian in his mid-50s. "I'm not Batman," quipped Leno, who frequently pillories Jackson on his television show.
Mary Holzer, an assistant for a lawyer who once represented the family, told jurors the alleged victim's mother appeared to have coached her children to lie under oath in a civil lawsuit that later earned the family US$150,000.
The family had accused US department store JC Penney security guards of hurting them and of sexually assaulting the mother when she and her children were detained on suspicion of shoplifting in 1998.
The mother insisted on being present when doctors examined her sons and told Holzer that while she was confident the oldest boy would "get the story straight," she could not be certain the younger one would remember to tell the story as the family had rehearsed it, Holzer said.
The witness also recalled the mother telling her the children were taking acting classes. "She wanted them to become good actors so she could tell them what to say, how to behave," Holzer said.
A watchdog group known for its campaigns against on-air indecency is protesting a popular fast-food commercial featuring celebrity heiress Paris Hilton seductively sudsing both a car and herself. The Parents Television Council said it is encouraging its more than 1 million members to voice their disapproval of the ad to Carl's Jr, a hamburger chain owned by Carpinteria, California-based CKE Restaurants Inc.
RSS