Jackson accuser’s mom ‘a liar’ – News24

Jackson accuser’s mom ‘a liar’ 02/02/2005 07:34 – (SA) News24.com Los Angeles – Prosecutors want to block lawyers for Michael Jackson from telling the jury at his child molestation trial about prior lawsuits filed by the family of his young accuser, documents showed on Tuesday. Prosecutors asked the California court to bar mention of any prior litigation by the mother of the 13-year-old boy who has accused Jackson of abuse. Jackson’s trial started on Monday with jury selection. Jackson’s team has alleged in pre-trial hearings that the boy’s mother, known in court documents as Jane Doe, is a “liar” and a greedy opportunist who has a history of launching lawsuits aimed at winning financial settlements. Doe obtained a $137 500 settlement from a United States department store which she sued in 2001, claiming security guards had assaulted her and her two sons. Many previous cases And in May, the family sued Los Angeles child welfare officials seeking financial damages over the leak of a confidential memo, which said a departmental investigation had found there was no evidence to suggest Jackson had sexually assaulted the boy. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon has asked trial Judge Rodney Melville to “limit introduction of evidence if prior litigation involving the Doe family.” The judge is expected to consider the request at a hearing set for February 10, according to court documents. Jackson’s team of lawyers has made it clear that they intend to attack the credibility of the woman and her family to cast doubt on the veracity of their allegations against the “King of Pop.” Prosecutors have also asked Melville to “exclude reference by defence counsel to Jane Doe’s use of ‘psychiatric medication’ from the trial,” according to another of the court documents obtained Tuesday. In a further attempt to protect the reputation and credibility of the accuser’s mother, prosecutors asked Melville to ban “any reference by defence counsel to any alleged extra-marital sexual conduct by Jane Doe.” However no further details of the three motions were available as they are sealed by the court under a strict gag order governing the case ahead of the start of arguments, expected at the end of February at the earliest. Jackson has dismissed the allegations that he molested the boy on several occasions at Neverland Ranch in February and March of 2003 as a “big lie” concocted by the boy’s family in a bid to extort money from him. He has pleaded innocent to 10 counts, including child abuse, plying the boy with alcohol and alleged plots to kidnap and falsely imprison the boy at Neverland, as well as to extort the boy’s family. Jury selection in Jackson’s trial is due to resume on Monday when rival lawyers will begin grilling about 250 prospective jurors on their possible biases. Source: http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1656118,00.html