Posted by Defense Witness List Full of Scammed Celebs & Key Witnesses? – MJEOL Bullet #245 Witnesses may be able to testify as to what the family was really doing during the prosecutions timeline while others may have been the victims of fraud by this family The defense witness list became known during a Feb 14 2005 session of court where jury selection continued in the Michael Jackson “case”. The reported 370 people on the list are mostly not celebrities, but the media on;y seemed to picked up on the recognizable names. Their list It does include the likes of Kobe Bryant, CBS’s Ed Bradley and Fox news’s Rita Cosby. The defense has recently amended the list to include another 13 witnesses. There were previous reports that George Lopez, Chris Tucker, Brett Ratner and Bryan Michael Stoller were also on the defense’s list. Other new names include Jay Leno, whose disgustingly ridiculous, juvenile and defamatory comments and failed jokes about Jackson may not be enough to get the moron out of being dragged into this case. The importance of these people in relation to this “case” is very obvious to those who have been following it. But apparently most of the mainstream media is stuck on stupid. Heres a newsflash to the media: Just because you arent aware of certain facts in the case, it doesn’t mean that there’s no adequate reason for some of these peoples names to be on the defense’s list. The media just doesn’t seem to want to ever ask one question of import about why so many well-known people are on the defense’s witness list. They prefer to mock, ridicule and question the defense’s motives. Thus, making them appear more out of touch with what’s going on in this “case” than some ever would have realized. Certain pundits, tv lawyers and talk show hosts dont seem to have a clue as to why some of these peoples names are on the defenses witness list. Yes, it appears there will be some who can testify to Jacksons character. There may have even been some famous friends who were at Jacksons Neverland ranch at times when the accusing family was also there. Others may be people Jackson spent time with at the time prosecutors are claiming he was with the family. While others are independent witnesses who have a history with helping the accusing family, and whose testimony could be crucial irrespective of how they personally feel about Jackson. The mothers past scams were partially outed by Celebrity Justice in reports dated January 3 and January 4 2005. If CJ got their hands on this much information, one can only image what all the defense has found out. But in one CJ report dated Jan 3 titled Did Jackson Accusers Mom Falsely Solicit Aid for Sons Treatments? it details how the accusing mothers plea for money may have been unnecessary. The boys father, who is a Teamster, had insurance completely covering the accusers medical bills. He may know where all the bodies are buried from the mothers past, or he could have been duped just like she may have done to everyone else. From that CJ report:
And as if that wasnt enough, it turns out the boy was being treated at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, at absolutely no cost to the family. Thats right, there were, in fact, no medical bills. All treatments were covered by insurance. (see Did Jackson Accuser’s Mom Falsely Solicit Aid for Son’s Treatments?)
The head of the Teamsters union in Los Angeles even confirmed this on camera. More from that report:
The boy’s father was a teamster member who worked at a supermarket facility in the LA area. “CJ” spoke with Paul Kenny, heads of a teamster’s union in LA, who confirmed that the teamsters negotiated a sweet deal when it came to health care coverage. “They’re covered 100% under HMOs,” Kenny stated. “Including Kaiser, which is an HMO.” “There was no cost to [the boy’s father] out of pocket, at all,” Kenny added. “Everything should be covered 100% under his contract. Everything. There is no exceptions.” (see Did Jackson Accuser’s Mom Falsely Solicit Aid for Son’s Treatments?)
It is very important to have this background information when attempting to have an educated discussion of the various reasons why some of the names appear on the defenses witness list. __Why Kobe? Heres why__ The most baffling to some know-nothing commentators, but pretty obvious to most pro- and con- case observers is [b]Kobe Bryant[/b]. The accusing family has been accused by Jacksons defense of defrauding not only Jackson, but a number of other celebrities out of money for non-existent medical bills. This was shored up by recent research from the show Celebrity Justice. Bryant was one of the many celebs that may have been helping this family by providing money for these non-existent bills. The mother has also dropped Bryants name at least once during a 2001 domestic disturbance. The State of California Health and Welfare Agency became involved in 2001 because the children were alleged victims of emotional abuse due to domestic violence, states the 2001 document (doc). The doc also states the following about the mother:
During the interview, the mother told the officers that Kobe Bryant, Fritz Coleman, Michael Jackson, and other celebrities are helping her. The officers asked mother if shes ever had psychiatric treatment and she said yes, in the past but not currently. (see State of California Health and Welfare Agency report)
Did this mother actually know Bryant? Was Bryant swindled by this family? Did Bryant know of the mothers past? Did he simply not remember or wasnt aware that this was the same family in Jacksons case? News out of CBS and BET yesterday (Feb 15 2005) suggest there could be even more of a connection to Bryant. Sources say that Bryant was one of the celebs the mother tried to get her children to cozy up to; even telling them to began calling him daddy, just as she did with Jackson. The host of BET Nightly News reported that sources say the mother and Bryant had some kind of falling out as well. From BET Nightly News:
HOST: attorneys expect Bryant to testify that he once met and had a falling out with the famiy of the boy who is accusing the singer. Sources say the boys mother wanted him to call Bryant daddy.
CBS legal analyst Trent Copeland addressed the issue yesterday on The Early Show and his comments were replayed on BET Nightly News. He had the following to say:
(begin videotape) TRENT COPELAND: If its true, it really suggests that this mother was sort of leveraging her sons cancer condition to forge a relationship with these celebrities. And that really suggests shes some kind of grifter. And that really plays right into the hands of the defense because thats really what theyve been suggesting all along is that this mother is someone who wants to glom onto these celebrities and uses her children to do so. This really could hurt the prosecution. (end videotape)
If these reports are accurate, Bryant is hardly a witness simply put on the list for show, as some know-nothing pundits initially claimed. __Media Witnesses__ Two other names on the witness list are from the media: CBSs Ed Bradley and Foxs Rita Cosby. [b]Ed Bradley[/b] seemed to baffle some in the media as well. Well Bradley could play more of a direct and pivotal role than they realize. Bradley went to Neverland after the Bashir interview aired in February 2003 to do an interview with Jackson about it. The interview didnt happen at that time, but during his long wait, Bradley actually had a conversation with the accusing family in Jacksons kitchen. Thats right. Remember, this was right when the prosecution now claims that they were being held hostage/kept away from people/kidnapped/threatened/whatever. Bradley was interviewed by CNNs Larry King on February 4 2004. He says the family spoke glowingly of Jackson. Bradley says he went to Neverland with my crews, producer, associate producer. He initially got to speak one and one with Jackson for approximately half an hour, he says. From the interview:
KING: This was before the charges were brought, now, way before. BRADLEY: Oh, yes. In fact, the kid who is now charging him and his mother were there that day. KING: Really? BRADLEY: We sat in the kitchen having coffee and doughnuts and sodas and his mother and the kids said they were willing to go on television to say what a great person Michael Jackson was. (see Ed Bradley Talked to Accusing Family during Feb 2003 – CNN)
So Bradley could be called to testify as to his own observations of the family. By his own actions of speaking with these people, he may have blown another devastating hole in the prosecutions so-called case. If theyre talking to Bradley 1) why didnt they ask for help from being kidnapped (ha!), and 2) why the hell were they allowed to speak to Bradley in the first place if they were being kept away from people/kidnapped? It simply makes no sense at all. Regardless of the familys view and they may stupidly claim they didnt know they were being kidnapped it doesnt explain away why their supposed kidnappers would ALLOW them to be talking to media. So that prosecution excuse is a non-starter, and that appears to be the main reason why Bradleys name is on the list. Bradley told King he was stunned when found out the family making the allegation was that same family he talked to in Jacksons kitchen. From the transcript:
KING: Back to last February when you met the mother and the kid, what did you think when you heard it was that mother and that kid? BRADLEY: I was stunned because they were there to tell me that day what a great person he was. KING: Were you going to put them on camera? BRADLEY: We hadn’t gone that far. KING: Might you have? BRADLEY: I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I don’t know. The kid was in the documentary that the BBC — not BBC, but the English program did. I forget his name now. KING: But you were shocked that the kid — that was the kid? BRADLEY: I was shocked that that was the kid because both the child and his mother were praising Michael and were sitting there in his kitchen eating and saying what a great person he was. (see Ed Bradley Talked to Accusing Family during Feb 2003 – CNN)
Not exactly the words of someone who has nothing to do with this case. He could certainly testify as to what he actually heard this family tell him at that time. Again, its another illustration of the media questioning Jackson because of their lack of understanding the facts around this case. Foxs [b]Rita Cosby[/b], too, is of import to this case. Rita NOI Cosby is interesting because she was actually at Neverland February 21 2003, after the alleged conspiracy had started and the prosecution-alleged molestation is supposed to have begun as well. Just why in the world Jackson would still be inviting people to his house including reporters in the middle of an alleged kidnapping, is something the prosecution wont be able to explain away at all. Cosby reported on Fox sometime in early 2004 that she saw the kid and what appeared to be his family there. She said he looked happy, healthy and like he was enjoying himself. Again, remember prosecutors are claiming the family was kidnapped and held from people. So how did Cosby see them? Because they werent being held hostage, obviously. She reports:
RITA COSBY: I actually saw him. I was at Neverland. I got a private tour through some friends. Said Do you wanna come to Neverland? I said, of course. These are one of these places that you never get access to. And I went in there with my producer on February 21 of this year [2003]. We were not allowed to take pictures, but we basically spent the whole day there. And I saw the boy there, because this was just after the Martin Bashir video. And the boy, as we know, has been reported–we’re of course not saying the name. But he was in that video, and I said, ‘Isn’t that the boy in the video?’ And they said absolutely. It looked like he was with his mother, possibly also his other siblings. He looked happy. He looked healthy. He looked like he was enjoying it. And this is around the same time that now we know the allegations are stemming from. (see Rita Cosby on The Factor talking about being at Neverland | audio pt 1 \ audio pt 2)
Cosby has also said she heard that as early as January 2003, the mother was making threats of going to the tabloids and making up stories about Jackson. When the host of the show on which Cosby appeared asked her about what the defense has said, she reported the following:
COSBY: It’s going to be clearly attack the mother’s credibility. Also go after the credibility of the boy. I mean, as I said, I saw this boy happy. This was the end of February. This is when now we’re hearing that they were alleging that these things were taking place. What we’re hearing is as early as January [2003], I’m told back then that mother was saying, ‘I’m gonna to go the tabloids. I’m gonna cause problems.’ Didn’t alleged child abuse back then. Just said ‘I’m gonna come up with some stories and make things look bad for you.’ (see Rita Cosby on The Factor talking about being at Neverland)
Cosby went on to report information from sources about the mothers demands. She says the mother wanted a house, more money, and more things. From the interview:
COSBY: She wanted apparently a house. She’s being put up in an apartment sponsored by Michael Jackson. So she wanted more money, more things. And they sense that there was gonna be trouble. So back then, I’m told, as early as January, they actually brought in two men specifically from the Jackson team to stay at Neverland, to keep an eye on this mother. Then they got her on video tape, which we reported exclusively last week, saying everything’s fine. ‘I love Michael Jackson’. Also, have the boy saying that. They also got written statements. They have a number of eye witnesses who were there at Neverland who [are] gonna say they [the family] were happy. I’m also told that they also have some employees who are gonna say that this mother was high on crack at Neverland. So they’re gonna go after her credibility. They’re gonna dig into anything in the background and say that this was all about greed. (see Rita Cosby on The Factor talking about being at Neverland | audio pt 1 \ audio pt 2)
While Cosby probably wont be called to testify as to what she heard about the mother, her own personal observations of the familys behavior on February 21 2003 when she was at Neverland will become an issue. What about this does the media not get? I guess this is what you get when you only focus on the extremely sensationalized version of a case filled with very important facts. The witness list does read like a whos-who of Hollywood. And in Part 2 of this special MJEOL, well discuss other reports about what some of the other names on the list may be able to add to this case. Names like Chris Tucker, Brett Ratner, and Fritz Coleman have all come up with respect to this accusing family. Though no one wants to be a part of such a case, its important to know that sources and reports state that both Tucker and Ratner are squarely behind Jackson and could be pivotal witnesses for the defense. Stay tuned. -MJEOL