Posted by APRIL 18 2005 (1:30 PM ET) — The accuser’s mother is on the stand under cross-examination by Tom Mesereau today. According to reports, the accuser’s mother, Janet Arvizo, is still combative and not following the judge’s orders to simply answer the question asked of her. Mesereau is impeaching her concerning her claims that she didn’t know Bradley Miller worked for Mark Geragos. Miller recorded a conversation between the accusing family and himself at Maj. Jay Jackson’s residence. Mesereau is playing the Miller tapes and at the beginning of the tape, Miller is heard stating his name, stating that he works for Mark Geragos, and stating the time. So she obviously was told by Miller himself that he worked for Jackson then-attorney Mark Geragos. The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that the mother also cited attorney-client privilege when asked a question about whether or not she was represented by an attorney at the time she claimed to have been held hostage at Neverland. What’s already come out in court is that during the prosecution’s kidnapping timeline, the mother met with civil attorney Bill Dickerman and Jamie Masada at a comedy club. And who drove her to this meeting? One of the prosecution-alleged “co-conspirators”. Now she was being asked about another attorney named Michael Manning. From the AP report:
Resuming a tough cross-examination that began last week, Jackson defense attorney Thomas Mesereau asked the woman if she had been represented by attorney Michael Manning from 2001 through 2004 on issues involving her divorce her previous husband. The woman said Manning had helped her on several issues involving the divorce. She added that Manning worked for her for free and that as a result she was one of his low-priority clients. Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville ordered the latter comments stricken from the record. When Mesereau asked the woman if Manning was her attorney at the time of the alleged captivity, the woman asked, “Is that attorney-client privilege?” Mesereau said he would drop the question if she was citing her privilege, and she said she was doing so. (see article)