Posted by MAY 25 2005 — The defense rested it’s case today, but not before some absolutely and totally devastating testimony from actor/comedian Chris Tucker. At this point, the prosecution should be tired of hearing the word “devastating”. Any pro-prosecution pundit who tries to downplay Tucker’s testimony today is either totally delusion, don’t know the facts, was asleep in the courtroom or just wasn’t there. Tucker described both the accuser and his brother as “cunning”. Reportedly, he says the accuser himself, Gavin Arvizo, was manipulative. Ironically, it was Gavin Arvizo who introduced Tucker to Jackson. According to courtroom observers, the jury was paying very close attention to Tucker’s testimony. Tucker is at least one of 3 witness who put the accuser, his brother and his mother together being involved in asking for money, being “cunning”, being manipulative, and the mother coaching her children. Mary Holzer, another explosive defense witness, damn near confirmed that the JC Penney lawsuit was a fraud, and that the mother coached all of her children to backup the sex abuse allegation she (the mother) tacked onto that civil suit over a year after she initially filed it. Vernee Watson Johnson also testified she would often get calls and could hear the mother in the background telling them what to say and even coaching them to ask if they could sleep over at her house. As for Tucker, he says Gavin Arvizo would repeatedly ask him to buy him things, sometimes while reminding Tucker that he really didn’t feel well. This is where the manipulation and the cunning behavior comes in. According to an Associated Press (AP) report dated today titled “Tucker Takes Stand As Final Defense Witness”, Tucker testified: “He would always say, ‘Chris, let me have this … I’m not feeling too good,”‘ Tucker said (see Tucker Takes Stand As Final Defense Witness). Importantly, Tucker put the final nail in that ridiculous “conspiracy” charge. Tucker testified today that it was the Arvizos who contacted him (Tucker) searching for Michael Jackson. Gavin Arvizo told Tucker the media was hounding them and trying to contact them, so they asked if Tucker would help them locate Jackson. Remember, prosecutors and the Arvizos claimed they got a call directly from Michael Jackson telling them their lives were in danger and that they needed to come to Miami to take part in a non-existent press conference. Obviously that tale wasn’t true. The accuser told Tucker that they had no car and no way of getting out of town. They called Tucker, reportedly on Feb 4 2003, trying to find Jackson. They knew Tucker knew Jackson, and used him to get to Jackson in Florida. At some point, Tucker found out Jackson was staying in Miami. Tucker says it was his private jet that flew the accusing family to Miami in search of Jackson’s whereabouts; not Michael Jackson or any of Jackson’s people. Remember, prosecutors and the family claimed Jackson had arranged for that flight to keep the family from seeing the American airing of the Martin Bashir “documentary”. Obviously that’s not true. Through Tucker, the defense has yet more evidence showing that these people got on the stand and flat out lied to this Santa Maria jury. Tucker also says both the accuser and his brother’s behavior was absolutely disruptive. He talked about inviting them onto the set of a Rush Hour movie he was filming for a couple of days. This corroborates what a number of both defense and prosecution witnesses have said about their behavior. Everyone from the accuser’s previous teachers to Julio Avila have all talked about the way the accuser behaved. The dentist they went to see during their alleged “kidnapping” says the children were unruly, going through her things and contaminating sterilized equipment. Vernee Watson Johnson says they were disruptive, going through her draws, jumping on her son’s bed, etc. And Cynthia Bell said it was absolutely an embarrassment to have the accuser on that flight back from Miami to Neverland in Feb 2003 because of the accuser’s behavior. Tucker says they long overstayed their welcome on the set of Rush Hour; sometimes to the point of upsetting the crew and the director, and making it impossible to shoot scenes. Tucker says he overlooked the behavior at first because of the accuser had battled cancer, that the family had a lot of problems, and he probably had a soft spot for him because of that. This, too, may have been Jackson’s reaction to some of the misbehavior — the behavior he was aware of — concerning the accuser. According to previous testimony, the accuser at one point was apparently just days away from dying from cancer at one point. Tucker also says people around him were warning him that the family was taking advantage of Tucker’s kindness. In turn, Tucker testified that he warned Jackson in Miami after they caught up with Jackson that something wasn’t right with this mother. He also testified that the mother appeared to be trying to keep Tucker from talking to Jackson. From that AP report:
“I told him to watch out for her because I felt suspicious about her,” Tucker said. “I was trying to talk to Michael. She kept interrupting. … I pulled Michael in a room. I told him, ‘You need to watch out.’ ” Tucker said Jackson listened but they didn’t talk long because the singer was busy. (see Tucker Takes Stand As Final Defense Witness)
The comedian says the family would be overly effusive towards him, calling him their brother. Tucker testified that the mother would call Jackson the father; saying Jackson was like the father and Tucker was like the big brother to her children. At one point, Tucker gave the family $1,500 after they complained that a previous fundraiser at the Laugh Factory comedy club didn’t made any money. How true that is remains to be seen because Tucker, as well, was at that fundraiser and saw a lot of people there. From that AP report:
“He was just real sad looking, saying they didn’t raise any money and they needed some money,” Tucker said. Jackson defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. asked Tucker if he became suspicious since he had seen many people at the benefit. “Yes, but I was always thinking I was helping him so I just did it,” Tucker said. (see Tucker Takes Stand As Final Defense Witness)
Tucker also testified that before all of this went down, he once promised the family could have his old truck and even gave the accuser’s mother the keys. According to reports, he says the accuser repeatedly hounded him about the truck to the point where he was annoyed and became rather suspicious. Previous testimony by his ex-fiance, Azja Pryor, corroborates this behavior. She says the accuser’s sister and mother would call her and hound her about it. We’ve also already had testimony the family was being physically kept away from Jackson during most if not all of the prosecution’s “molestation” timeline, which ran from late Feb to early March 2003. Tucker’s ex-fiance, Pryor, says Janet Arvizo actually complained to her in early March 2003 that Jackson’s associates were keeping the family from Jackson. More info as we get it.