Jackson to Call Kobe as Witness

Michael Jackson Forum

Michael Jackson to Call Stars in His Defense

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson's lawyers plan to call some of the most famous people in America to testify in his defense, including basketball star Kobe Bryant, actress Elizabeth Taylor and "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno, the pop star's lead attorney told a court on Monday.

As jury selection resumed in Jackson's child molestation trial, attorney Tom Mesereau rattled off his list of more than 350 defense witnesses, including singers Barry Gibb, Nick Carter, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder, talk-show host Larry King, author and lifestyle guru Deepak Chopra and comedian Chris Tucker.

Mesereau also said he would call 10 members of Jackson's family to the witness stand, including two of the 46-year-old singer's young children, Paris and Prince Michael, and several of his nieces and nephews.

Mesereau did not say what testimony the famous athletes and entertainers could offer on behalf of Jackson, and the jury candidates showed little reaction to the star-packed list. One would-be juror was later asked by Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen if he could identify Chopra. The man responded, "I think he's a rapper."

Bryant, a star player for the Los Angeles Lakers, has legal problems of his own. He has been sued in civil court for rape by a Colorado woman who says he attacked her in 2003 in a Vail-area hotel. Bryant has said the two had consensual sex, and criminal charges against him were dropped last September after the woman decided she did not want to proceed.

Zonen and Mesereau were required by Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville to recite their witness lists before they began detailed questioning of the 242-member jury pool, a process known as voir dire.

Melville needs to seat 12 jurors to sit in judgment of Jackson. The judge also wants eight alternates in case any member of the original panel must be dismissed.

ONLY ONE DISMISSED

Jackson is charged in a 10-count Santa Barbara County grand jury indictment with molesting a then-13-year-old boy at his Neverland Valley Ranch and with conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.

The day began with the formal process of Melville introducing Jackson, dressed in a black suit and red vest, to the room full of jury candidates and asking any who knew him personally to speak up. None did. Jackson did not speak but turned to wave and smile at the would-be jurors.

Mesereau spent the bulk of the day questioning 20 potential jurors and alternates who were chosen at random to fill the jury box, asking them their feelings about Jackson and the news media.

Mesereau, who has said repeatedly he considers Jackson's teenage accuser a liar, asked each would-be juror if he or she considered child witnesses reliable. One woman told Mesereau she was sympathetic to Jackson because she had twice been falsely accused of child molestation, once by her sister-in-law.
Zonen asked the possible jurors if they could treat celebrity defendants and witnesses like they would anyone else who came into court. Each said he or she could.

By the end of the day, only one prospective juror had been dismissed, an 82-year-old man with a medical condition that would not permit him to serve in a trial expected to last up to six months.

Jury selection -- which many lawyers believe can often determine if a trial is won or lost -- may be especially critical in the Jackson case and complicated by the singer's worldwide fame, legal experts say.

Both sides must be wary of "stealth" jurors who may have an agenda to convict or acquit Jackson and be less than candid because they want to be on the jury.

Some legal experts saw red flags when more than half of those summoned to the Jackson trial said they were willing and able to serve, a remarkably high number for a child molestation case expected to be lengthy.

- Reuters

His kida are going to testify OMG OMG - If anyone knows how to get me on the Jury - then tell me NOW! How cool would that be, to actually see his kids, you'd be one of like maybe 50 people in the whole world who have seen their faces. There's no way he could contrive any excuse to keep their faces covered when they were in court. Is there?

Call me stupid, but doesn't having someone who's been accused of violent rape as a character witness seem a bit odd? Then again, nothing much about this trial is going to be very normal.

Maybe they will all get together while they are at it and shoot a new music video for...
something like....

"We are the super freaks, super freaks, super freaky, yow."

All the proceeds will go to pay for a few of their members court and attorney fees.
Yeah, I'll be sitting outside Tower Records with bated breath the day that one comes out.

I'll have to rethink my view of Stevie Wonder on this one. I love the guy.

Did anyone think that him calling Kobe may be an attempt to get Kobe fans to side with him? So many people did not believe the accusations against Kobe. Maybe Michael hopes that they will consider him as another famous person who was shaken down for money like some think Kobe was.

I would hope that his lawyer told him that Kobe is a really bad idea. You just can't make the allegations go out of everyones mind. After all, Kobe did lie about having sex with the girl. So even if her were innocent, he is still a liar.

What is with all the celebrities? Is this an attempt to sway the jury? Do they hope that the jury members will be a fan of one of these people and believe their testimony?

Kobe, David Blaine, MJ and Jay Leno, all in one place......First of all Leno has been cracking on these guys for years, why the heck would he be there?

Well dang they might as well bring in Nicole Richie (MJ's goddaughter) and really turn it into a freakshow circus, hey they even said Uri Gellar(spoon bender), Nick Carter and Diana Ross(Miss DUI). This is going to be the most F'ed up case in history. These people are unnecessary celebs........bring in the people who count. Macaully Culkin, Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis, Jimmy Safechunk, the first kid that brought the allegations, Wade Robeson, and any other kids who were his"special pals". For Pete's sake you think he would do something out of the ordinary infront of Kobe or Chris Tucker? I mean damn, have they slept in the same room with MJ......not that i know of. But I do know of the kids who have spent enough time with MJ for him to give them pet names like "rubba" and "blowhole".

FREAK SHOW INDEED

Kobe Bryant & MJ- alleged rapists unite!

-HECK!

With friends like these...

The trial of the century gets better

So Michael Jackson is languishing in hospital, instead of facing jury selection in court.
Let's take a look at the chamber of horrors he's lined up to defend him.

Liz Taylor - alcoholic/ painkiller addiction
Diana Ross - drink driving conviction
Stevie Wonder - what's he going to say - "I didn't see anything?"
Kobe Bryant - accused of rape
Nick Carter - suspected of beating up his ex, Paris Hilton
Barry Gibb - known as "Pilly" in Bee Gees days.
Uri Geller - Spoon bender
Chris Tucker - the man that cancer boy accuser Gavin really wanted to meet through the Make A Wish Foundation but got Jacko instead.

- Pop *****