Jackson's hand 'in boy's pants'
2005-04-09 08:55
Santa Maria, California - Michael Jackson's former chef testified on Friday that he saw the pop icon fondle then-child movie star Macaulay Culkin, with his hand inside the boy's shorts.
The bombshell account from French chef Phillip Lemarque capped a week of lurid testimony, including from an alleged child sex victim and from former employees who claim they caught the superstar in compromising positions with young boys.
Lemarque told jurors he was shocked to see Jackson fondling Home Alone star Culkin, who was then 10 or 11, when he brought them chips in the video game arcade of the fantasy-themed estate in California in 1991.
"Michael was playing with Macaulay Culkin at one of the games," he said, explaining that the singer was holding up the young actor, who was too short to reach the controls.
"His left hand was inside the pants of the kid," he said. "It was in the crotch area," the chef said as Jackson looked on impassively from the defendant's table in the Santa Maria, California court.
"I was shocked, I almost dropped the fries," he said.
Culkin, now 24, has denied he was ever abused by Jackson and has said he has no intention of testifying against him at the trial.
Jackson is on trial for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in early 2003, but jurors have heard of five earlier child-sex allegations against the star, which prosecutors claim demonstrate a pattern of behaviour.
Prosecutors insist that one of those victims was Culkin, despite the young actor's denial that there was any inappropriate conduct by Jackson.
Lemarque's testimony ended a devastating week for the faded "King of Pop".
In some of the most explicit testimony in six weeks of trial, sacked Neverland security guard Ralph Chacon told jurors on Thursday he saw Jackson performing oral sex on a young boy in the early 1990s.
The boy described by Chacon won a 1994 out-of-court settlement worth more than $20m from Jackson.
Jackson's former personal maid, Adrian McManus, claimed she saw the pop icon kissing that boy, Culkin and another youngster as he touched their rear ends or crotches.
But Jackson's lawyers went all-out to shatter the credibility of the former employees who had lost a wrongful job dismissal lawsuit against Jackson.
Jackson's lead lawyer Thomas Mesereau aggressively attacked McManus on Friday, insisting she was seeking to extort the superstar.
"You wanted millions, right?" Mesereau asked.
"I didn't want anything, I wanted justice," she replied, adding that Jackson gave her $300 to "cover up" for him in a 1993-1994 child sex investigation.
Mesereau pointed out, however, that a jury had once found McManus guilty of stealing from Neverland and she admitted she had taken a sketch of Elvis Presley, apparently drawn by Jackson, but said she had found it in the bin.
He also revealed that McManus swore under oath during the 1993-1994 investigation that she had never seen Jackson behaving inappropriately with the boy.
"The jury is left with a witness whose credibility is badly damaged if not destroyed," said legal analyst Jim Moret, who is following the case.
Mesereau had taken aim earlier at Chacon's story, portraying him as a greedy, cash-strapped, disgruntled former employee.
But the skilled lawyer had a much tougher time trying to shatter the credibility of the French chef, who said he and his wife, who also worked at Neverland Ranch, had decided not to sell their story to tabloids "because if was against our principles".
Jackson, who faces 20 years behind bars if convicted, showed no expression during the lurid testimony.
He has denied all 10 charges that he fondled a 13-year-old, served him alcohol and conspired to kidnap him and his family.
Judge Rodney Melville, meanwhile, rejected a motion for mistrial, dismissing defence arguments that prosecution witnesses had violated court rules by discussing the case among themselves.
- AFP