Posted by Tabloid Reporter Admits She Knew of Jackson Raid in Advance – MJEOL Bullet #221 Defamatory program + ego + big mouth = unethical behavior? In one of the most disgusting and one-sided displays of so-called journalism from supposedly an objective entity, UKs Channel 5 ran a Michael Jackson bashing program called Michael Jacksons Mind. The show featured almost no one who actually knows Jackson on a level that would allow an intelligent discussion of Jacksons mind. The pseudo-psychoanalysis from the likes of Carole Lieberman, Ernie Rizzo and tabloid reporter Diane Dimond is completely ridiculous. And of course Jacksons musical acumen was almost non-existent in the show. On the show, Dimond admits she knew Jacksons Neverland Ranch would be raided ahead of time. She even offers ill-conceived, nonsensical, overly-simplistic and ignorant critiques of who she thinks Jackson is. This is the first time certain observers are aware of the actual confession from her own mouth. Previously, the highly revealing information came by way of a Hollywood Reporter article dated November 20 2003. During the ratings-chasing show, Dimond flat-out admits:
Dimond: I knew the raid was coming. I had two camera crews and a producer. (from the program)
Within the course of the show, she levels accusations herself, claiming that Jackson would blame the media for this latest case and somehow sic his fans on her. Oh yeah, like the medias absolute neglect to report the full facts of the “case” and Jacksons life have nothing to do with it. As if her own unethical, callous, vampire-like, and incredibly incorrect reporting have nothing to do with why Jacksons fans are more than a bit skeptical of everything that comes out of her mouth. The Hollywood Reporter article details Dimonds actions before the ransacking of Jacksons Neverland Ranch. There were questions as to whether she knew about the investigation months before Jacksons home was raided on November 18 2003. She went to Court TV CEO Henry Schleiff and asked him to provide resources to her for a big, juicy story she was working on. She is cited in the article as saying:
She said: I told them, I want to go get you a big, juicy story, but I cant tell you what it is; you have to trust me. And you have to let me hire the camera crews because I dont want anyone to know where Im going. (see Court TV coup: Dimond lands another scoop )
The November 20 2003 report details how Dimond was given the time and place of the police raid even before it happened; and given the information early enough to allow time for her to fly from New York to California:
Dimond flew from New York to Santa Barbara on Tuesday, arriving at 2 a.m., enough time to get three hours of sleep and have one of her two camera crews stationed at Neverland when the police arrived at 6 a.m. (see Court TV coup: Dimond lands another scoop)
The bloodlust for this story was so enormous that she and another camera crew at first were at the local police station in hopes of getting the first shots of Jackson being brought in handcuffed:
She was at the local police station with the other crew when the raid began just in case Jackson was arrested, but she soon sped back over to Neverland. (see Court TV coup: Dimond lands another scoop)
The disgustingly jovial attitude was evidence as she told her story during that interview as well; laughing at recalling a question from an unaware local station crew:
Court TV had the police-raid story to itself until an unsuspecting camera crew with local station KCOY-TV just happened to be filming an unrelated story down the road. They came over and asked if we were filming a commercial, she recalled laughing. (see Court TV coup: Dimond lands another scoop)
Did this leak come from the prosecution team? Or did it come from her drinking buddy former sheriff of Santa Barbara Jim Thomas? There is yet to be word of whether or not Dimond was actually inside the gates of Jacksons Neverland when police were searching; or whether or not she was caught on camera doing so. What is known is that the U.S. Supreme Court and a number of federal appeals courts have allowed reporters to be liable for invasion of privacy if this happens. From an online report:
Privacy considerations go beyond public records. The U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal appeals courts have found that reporters who accompany officials onto private property can be liable for invasion of privacy. The courts have also found that police officers can violate search and seizure laws by bringing a third party with them. (see Privacy and private property)
However, the larger questions surrounding the “case” abound: Did Dimond have anything to do with this “case” coming to fruition? Did she contact the family either before or after the investigation began? What involvement, if any, did she have with this family either before or after they met Jackson? ETC. Knowing Dimonds history of trying to create victims and create news, these questions may not be totally speculative. As reported earlier, sources dug up an old show from the now defunct tabloid TV show Hard Copy done sometime after the 1993 investigation was complete. In the show, Dimond chronicles her attempt to find another alleged victim of Jackson. And it totally blew up in her face. As discussed in MJEOL Bullet #141, Dimond has a history of suspicious involvement with regard to people making claims against Jackson. Between the 1993 investigation and this current “case”, she actually flew to another country on a crusade to find someone to level an accusation against Jackson. Kinda like Sneddon flying to Australia. She and her Hard Copy crew tracked down, met, interviewed, and videotaped a young liar from Canada claiming Jackson had molested him. The story was fake, as Dimond would learn later on. It turned out the kid was being fed very detailed lies from a reportedly Jackson-obsessed nut named Rodney Allen. Allen, according to him, felt it was his mission to make Jackson pay for some imagined wrong done to him by someone in Jacksons family. Allen was the one who wrote letters to Dimond which sparked her interest. Known as the guardian of the young liar in the letters, Allen did finally admitan admission caught on tapethat he was the one who fed the info to the youngster. After the young liar was questioned individually by the Toronto Police with reps from Santa Barbara, he finally admitted he lied about the entire situation from beginning to end. The following is from the transcript of that Hard Copy show:
(begin videotape) Diane Dimond, Hard Copy: I care about this one kid who gave me all sorts of information about Neverland, about Havenhurst, about Disneyland, about Michael Jacksons body. Where did he get all that information? Allen: He got it from me. Dimond: You planted all this stuff in this kids head? Allen: I didnt plant it in his head. He was asking questions. I answered them the best I can. I told him what I could tell him about the place because I want Michael to face it. Dimond: So this kid is an A-1, number one liar? Allen: Professional. (end videotape) Dimond voiceover: The whole story was a scam. A Toronto street kid meets a man obsessed with the Michael Jackson case, and the results could have been an international scandal. Meanwhile, back at the police station the boy finally broke down. He admitted that he and Rodney Allen had made up the whole story. (begin videotape) Dimond: The young boy was lying? Det. Darryl Campbell: Thats my belief. And as a result of that, he was charged, yes. Dimond: Can you tell us what he was charged with? Campbell: Public mischief. (end videotape) Dimond: Well the boy is still in custody tonight. And police continue their investigation of Mr. Rodney Allen. (see :camera video report)
This story and the actions of a desperate reporter is more than just reporting a story. Some say she seemed to have injected herself into the situation because she was so eager for another molestation scoop. Dimond has also been involved in a love letters story. Through court documents, it was revealed that prosecutors may not have found any letters at Millers office nor at Jacksons ranch. As a result, they recently wanted to force Jacksons attorneys (via a failed Sanchez motion) to hand over information that doesnt exist. But early on during this investigation, Dimond appeared on Larry King Live Nov 24 2003 proclaiming to absolutely know of the existence of said love letters even though she admitted she had never seen them:
KING: Do we — hold it! Does anyone here — does anyone here — anyone — know of the existence of these letters? COCHRAN: I don’t. I mean, I think that’s… DIMOND: Absolutely. I do. COCHRAN: … again, speculation. DIMOND: I do! COCHRAN: I don’t know of this. KING: Hold it! COCHRAN: I’ve never seen them. The only… DIMOND: I absolutely know of their existence! KING: Diane, have you read them? DIMOND: No, I have not read them, but I absolutely know that that… COCHRAN: So how do we know? DIMOND: … was tops on the list of the DA and sheriff’s department, things to look for inside Neverland. (see transcript)
She absolutely knew of their existence? How is that? From where did she get this information? How did she know, on November 24 2003, that these items were at the top of the list of things police were looking for? Recently, she tracked down a Mr. Vicarro–who illegally kept and sold memorabilia belonging to Janet and Michael Jackson–and physically handled a pair of dingy, twenty year old underwear which may or may not have anything to do with Jackson. She then called the Santa Barbara Sheriffs department, who then dispatched officers to go pick up those dirty old draws. Desperate isnt a strong enough word for those actions. Some observers say that without Jackson being somehow involved in molestation accusation, Dimonds career would be almost non-existent. With this case her career seemed to rise from the dead. So its not surprising that some would be more than a bit suspicious as to how this reporterthe same one from the earlier set-upjust so happened to be the one with all of this information ahead of time. By every indication, there seems to be much more to the story in relation to Dimond than meets the eye. Stay tuned. -MJEOL