Jackson jurors 'mocked witness'

2005-04-07 11:30

California - The judge in the Michael Jackson trial was told that jurors were overheard during a break laughing at a remark that might have been mocking a witness, but no court action was planned.

"It is an unsubstantiated rumour and there is no investigation," Darrel Parker, a court administrator, said on Wednesday.

Jurors are strictly barred from talking about cases before they begin deliberating.

In tearful testimony on Monday, a 24-year-old man said Jackson touched his groin area over his clothes on two occasions in the late 1980s and under his clothes in 1990, each time while tickling him.

Robert Cole, a foreign editor for the British news station Sky News, said that as he walked past an area where jurors were taking a break behind a covered fence, he heard one juror mimicking someone crying, and others laughing.

Not sure who they're talking about

"All I heard was, 'He was like uh-huh-huh (imitating a crying sound)' and then I heard laughter. It sounded like they had just heard this kid crying and they were kind of laughing at what had happened, mimicking him. I didn't hear any names or anything. ... I don't know if they were talking about him or not."

As Cole's account circulated through the media, it turned into a story where reporters supposedly overheard a juror say, "Oh boohoo, Michael Jackson tickled me." But Cole said he did not hear jurors use Jackson's name and was not sure they were talking about the case.

Cole said another reporter also heard the conversation. That reporter declined to comment on Wednesday.

Prosecutors presented the witness on Monday in an attempt to show Jackson has a pattern of molesting boys and to lend credence to the singer's current accuser.

Judge Rodney S Melville was out of town handling administrative duties, and court was scheduled to resume Thursday.

Cole said he discussed the jurors' comments with former Santa Barbara Sheriff Jim Thomas, who is an analyst for NBC News and a close friend of District Attorney Tom Sneddon, the prosecutor in the case. Thomas said he reported it to media pool co-ordinator Peter Shaplen so that Shaplen could notify Parker, the court administrator.

Prosecutors did not return phone calls on Wednesday. Jackson defence attorney Brian Oxman declined to comment, citing a gag order in the case.

- AP