Date: Friday, September 10, 2004 KAREN FAYE DEMANDS CORRECTION FROM COURT TV FROM: The Law Offices Of Jerry L. Steering September 2, 2004 TO: Henry Schleiff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Art Bell, President and Chief Operating Officer Courtroom Television Network LLC 600 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Re: Demand for correction of statements pursuant to Cal. Civil Code § 48a for Court TV broadcasts of August 16, 2004 and August 17, 2004 on Catherine Crier Live, by Catherine Crier and Court TV Executive Investigative Editor Diane Dimond. Gentlemen: Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 48a, on behalf of my client, Karen Faye, I hereby formally demand that your company, Courtroom Television Network LLC (Court TV), retract and correct the statements described below, made during Court TVs broadcasts of Catherine Crier Live on August 16, 2004 and August 17, 2004, by Catherine Crier and Diane Dimond. On August 16, 2004, during the broadcast of Catherine Crier Live, Court TVs Catherine Crier and Diane Dimond discussed a leaked report by the California Attorney Generals Office regarding that offices investigation of entertainer Michael Jacksons allegations that Mr. Jackson was subjected to unreasonable force during his arrest and booking at the Santa Barbara County Jail on November 20, 2003. In a nutshell, that report, dated August 2, 2004, consisted of a three page letter from California Bureau of Investigation Chief Martin A. Ryan , addressed to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson, that concluded: In summary, this investigation did not uncover verifiable information that Mr. Jackson was injured at the hands of Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department personnel and no criminal misconduct on the part of Sheriffs personnel was identified. Should additional witnesses or viable information come forward in the future concerning these allegations, CBI will respond. The only reference to Karen Faye in the August 2, 2004 letter to Sheriff Anderson was a two sentence paragraph stating: Mr. Jacksons first complaint of pain was reported to his personal makeup artist and hair stylist on December 7, 2003. He explained that the pain was a result of the handcuffing in Santa Barbara. The August 2, 2004 letter never mentions Karen Faye by name. During the August 16, 2004 broadcast of Catherine Crier Live, Diane Dimond stated: Court TV has learned exclusively that much time was spent trying to find and question this woman; Karen Faye ; Michael Jacksons loyal longtime makeup artist. Shes seen here in a recent FOX special. According to confidential sources close to the investigation, informants told the AGs office it was Faye who actually applied makeup to create the bruise seen here on Jacksons arm, and that it was all smoke and mirrors. While that allegation is not addressed specifically by the AGs office, their final conclusion is that there are no facts, no evidence, to back-up Michael Jacksons claim. In responding to a question about how much the California Attorney Generals investigation of Mr. Jacksons complaint cost the taxpayers, Diane Dimond commented that the information on cost has not been released, and that: . . . it hasnt even been released whether they [the California Attorney Generals Office / California Bureau of Investigation] got to that makeup artist or not. On the following day, August 17, 2004, during Court TVs broadcast of Catherine Crier Live, Catherine Crier commented on Karen Fayes response to the above-referenced August 16, 2004 broadcast, stating, among other things, that Karen Faye denied the allegations that she used makeup to create the appearance of a bruise on Michael Jacksons arm, and that she would be pursuing a retraction of the August 16, 2004 statements . When asked by Catherine Crier what Diane Dimond had to say about that statement by Karen Faye, Diane Dimond replied: Well, I havent heard that we need to make a retraction, but Ill tell you exactly what we said yesterday. We didnt say that Karen Faye put makeup on his arm . . . to make a bruise. We said that the Attorney Generals people, who were investigating Michael Jacksons . . . ma, uh . . . the police brutality allegations, were trying to find her to talk to her about that. Theyd heard that shed gone to a dinner party and bragged that she had put the makeup on that arm. But as we also said yesterday, as you remember, we dont think that the investigators ever got to talk to her. Very few people in the Jackson camp cooperated. Not even Michael Jackson would give a statement to the investigators. Thereafter during that August 17, 2004 broadcast, Catherine Crier also stated that: . . . nobody from the Jackson camp really was giving statements. Diane Dimond then commented that the Attorney Generals Offices / CBIs investigation into Mr. Jacksons complaints looked into the allegation / issue of whether the photograph shown in both broadcasts of Mr. Jacksons arm, showing redness and bruising, was a fraud , but that the Jackson camps refusal to cooperate with that investigation essentially prevented investigation of that issue. As stated by Diane Dimond on August 17, 2004: They were looking into that. They were looking into that, into that allegation, but when people dont cooperate and you cant get it either way, you know, what are you going to say. The above-referenced statement According to confidential sources close to the investigation, informants told the AGs office it was Faye who actually applied makeup to create the bruise seen here on Jacksons arm, and that it was all smoke and mirrors is not true, and demand is hereby made that your company correct the broadcast of that statement. Karen Faye had nothing to do with applying makeup to Michael Jacksons forearm, and to her knowledge, no one did so. In addition, your companys smoke and mirrors comment has now apparently falsely and maliciously created the impression in the minds of your viewers, and in minds of the public generally, that Karen Faye participated in some sort of scheme to create a false impression that Mr. Jackson had been subjected to unreasonable force by members of the Santa Barbara Sheriffs Department. The above-referenced statements: Court TV has learned exclusively that much time was spent trying to find and question this woman; Karen Faye; Michael Jacksons loyal longtime makeup artist., and We said that the Attorney Generals people, who were investigating Michael Jacksons . . . ma, uh . . . the police brutality allegations, were trying to find her to talk to her about that. Theyd heard that shed gone to a dinner party and bragged that she had put the makeup on that arm. But as we also said yesterday, as you remember, we dont think that the investigators ever got to talk to her. Very few people in the Jackson camp cooperated. Not even Michael Jackson would give a statement to the investigators., are false, and demand is hereby made that those statements be corrected. The California Attorney Generals Offices / California Bureau of Investigation had no difficulty locating, contacting or interviewing Karen Faye, and she did submit to a long and detailed interview by them. Karen Faye had not gone to a dinner party and bragged that she had put the makeup on that arm. The false impression of Karen Faye created by these statements was compounded by the above-referenced statements: . . . it hasnt even been released whether they [the California Attorney Generals Office / California Bureau of Investigation] got to that makeup artist or not, and we dont think that the investigators ever got to talk to her. Demand is also hereby made that your company correct the immediately preceding statement. Demand is also hereby made that your company correct the following above-referenced statement, as none of the facts shown in that statement are true: According to confidential sources close to the investigation, informants told the AGs office it was Faye who actually applied makeup to create the bruise seen here on Jacksons arm, and that it was all smoke and mirrors. Your companys broadcasts, above-referenced, have caused Karen Faye to suffer great injury to her reputation, both personally and professionally, great injury to her business and profession, and great mental and emotional pain, distress and anguish. We believe that minimally, that your company acted with a reckless disregard for the truth, and with actual malice toward Karen Faye. Very truly yours, Jerry L. Steering Source: http://www.mjjsource.com/index.php/press/karen-faye-demands-correction-from-court-tv
Karen Faye Demands Apology from Court TV
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