AMERICAN MORNING
Update on Michael Jackson Case
Aired November 19, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's 7:30 here in New York City.
There are new developments in the Michael Jackson matter this morning that we'll talk about in a moment here. We'll talk about the photos seized by police at Jackson's estate. Some of them have been unsealed now by prosecutors. And also there is this pornography producer who is suing Michael Jackson. We'll try and put all of this together with Court TV's Lisa Bloom in a moment here.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's got a lot going on legally speaking lately.
HEMMER: Yes.
HEMMER: Prosecutors unsealed never-before-seen pictures of Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch, while one of his former business associates is now suing the pop star for more than $2 million.
Court TV's Lisa Bloom now with me here in New York again.
Good morning to you, Lisa.
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: Good morning.
HEMMER: A couple things to get to here, first about the photos. We're going to put them on the screen to show our viewers at home. How significant are they? And what do we see in these pictures?
BLOOM: Well, because of the gag order in this case, we've had very few. This is Bradley Miller's office. Now, he was the private investigator, defense sources say, was hired by Mark Geragos. And in a recent ruling, the judge said that items obtained from Bradley Miller's office are admissible.
The real point here from the prosecutor's point of view is that the items were in plain view. As you can see, like in many offices, it's a little messy. There are papers and items lying around. And because they were in plain view, it was appropriate for them to be seized.
This is inside Michael Jackson's home. Michael Jackson, as is commonly known, has a lot of memorabilia. He's got the knight in shining armor. In the right corner at the bottom, there is a statue of a little boy with just a shirt and a hat on. Apparently that's a little boy from "Peter Pan." I think it's Wendy's little brother from "Peter Pan." He has a lot of child-like items, Mickey Mouse statues, things of that nature, in his home.
HEMMER: But is there anything you could use in a court case that you see in those photos?
BLOOM: Probably not. I mean, those were the photos used by police to get through the home, to get the lay of the land essentially.
HEMMER: OK.
BLOOM: But not much more than that.
HEMMER: Let's move on to this business associate. His name is Marc Schaffel, right?
BLOOM: Yes.
HEMMER: Am I saying it the right way?
BLOOM: Schaffel, yes.
HEMMER: What is his story? He's a producer.
BLOOM: Right.
HEMMER: But he's suing Michael Jackson for what?
BLOOM: Well, for $3 million for unpaid loans and a lack of payment on business contracts.
But what's interesting about the case, first of all, this is one of the un-indicted co-conspirators in the criminal case. Prosecutors say this man, along with four others, conspired with Michael Jackson to keep the boy in the molestation case at Neverland. He wouldn't let him leave until the boy made statements favorable to Michael Jackson.
In this case, he paints Jackson as a man really spiraling out of control, with a serious alcohol and drug problem, for example, unable to pay his bills and paying some of his friends to issue public statements of support.
HEMMER: Those are very strong charges.
BLOOM: They are.
HEMMER: Why are we to believe this guy?
BLOOM: Well, that will be played out in the civil case. But this is a man who very was close to Michael Jackson. He's been sued by a number of other business associates, some of them successful. Marcel Alvorem (ph) back in 2002 won a multimillion-dollar judgment against Jackson.
But the idea that Marlon Brando was paid $1 million to publicly support Jackson on camera, Elizabeth Taylor paid $6,000 in jewelry to support Michael Jackson in the molestation case, those are pretty explosive allegations.
HEMMER: You're suggestion, though, is that this witness could help the prosecutors build their case.
BLOOM: Well, absolutely. You know, whenever there's an un- indicted co-conspirator, prosecutors want that witness to flip, to turn on the main defendant, which in this case is Jackson. Is this man working closely with prosecutors at this time? We don't know. But we do know that he's clearly hostile to Jackson by virtue of this case.
HEMMER: When this is all over, could they come back and indict a guy like this?
BLOOM: They absolutely could. And prosecutors say that they intend to, him as well as the four other un-indicted co-conspirators.
HEMMER: So why would he cooperate...
BLOOM: Well, because he may get immunity.
HEMMER: ... if he knows he's going down?
BLOOM: Well, because if he flips and he testifies for the prosecution, he may get immunity. He won't have any criminal problems down the line.
HEMMER: Thanks, Lisa. Have a good weekend, OK?
BLOOM: Thank you. You too.
HEMMER: Court TV's Lisa Bloom with us again today.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/american.morning/
Update on Michael Jackson Case
Aired November 19, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's 7:30 here in New York City.
There are new developments in the Michael Jackson matter this morning that we'll talk about in a moment here. We'll talk about the photos seized by police at Jackson's estate. Some of them have been unsealed now by prosecutors. And also there is this pornography producer who is suing Michael Jackson. We'll try and put all of this together with Court TV's Lisa Bloom in a moment here.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's got a lot going on legally speaking lately.
HEMMER: Yes.
HEMMER: Prosecutors unsealed never-before-seen pictures of Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch, while one of his former business associates is now suing the pop star for more than $2 million.
Court TV's Lisa Bloom now with me here in New York again.
Good morning to you, Lisa.
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: Good morning.
HEMMER: A couple things to get to here, first about the photos. We're going to put them on the screen to show our viewers at home. How significant are they? And what do we see in these pictures?
BLOOM: Well, because of the gag order in this case, we've had very few. This is Bradley Miller's office. Now, he was the private investigator, defense sources say, was hired by Mark Geragos. And in a recent ruling, the judge said that items obtained from Bradley Miller's office are admissible.
The real point here from the prosecutor's point of view is that the items were in plain view. As you can see, like in many offices, it's a little messy. There are papers and items lying around. And because they were in plain view, it was appropriate for them to be seized.
This is inside Michael Jackson's home. Michael Jackson, as is commonly known, has a lot of memorabilia. He's got the knight in shining armor. In the right corner at the bottom, there is a statue of a little boy with just a shirt and a hat on. Apparently that's a little boy from "Peter Pan." I think it's Wendy's little brother from "Peter Pan." He has a lot of child-like items, Mickey Mouse statues, things of that nature, in his home.
HEMMER: But is there anything you could use in a court case that you see in those photos?
BLOOM: Probably not. I mean, those were the photos used by police to get through the home, to get the lay of the land essentially.
HEMMER: OK.
BLOOM: But not much more than that.
HEMMER: Let's move on to this business associate. His name is Marc Schaffel, right?
BLOOM: Yes.
HEMMER: Am I saying it the right way?
BLOOM: Schaffel, yes.
HEMMER: What is his story? He's a producer.
BLOOM: Right.
HEMMER: But he's suing Michael Jackson for what?
BLOOM: Well, for $3 million for unpaid loans and a lack of payment on business contracts.
But what's interesting about the case, first of all, this is one of the un-indicted co-conspirators in the criminal case. Prosecutors say this man, along with four others, conspired with Michael Jackson to keep the boy in the molestation case at Neverland. He wouldn't let him leave until the boy made statements favorable to Michael Jackson.
In this case, he paints Jackson as a man really spiraling out of control, with a serious alcohol and drug problem, for example, unable to pay his bills and paying some of his friends to issue public statements of support.
HEMMER: Those are very strong charges.
BLOOM: They are.
HEMMER: Why are we to believe this guy?
BLOOM: Well, that will be played out in the civil case. But this is a man who very was close to Michael Jackson. He's been sued by a number of other business associates, some of them successful. Marcel Alvorem (ph) back in 2002 won a multimillion-dollar judgment against Jackson.
But the idea that Marlon Brando was paid $1 million to publicly support Jackson on camera, Elizabeth Taylor paid $6,000 in jewelry to support Michael Jackson in the molestation case, those are pretty explosive allegations.
HEMMER: You're suggestion, though, is that this witness could help the prosecutors build their case.
BLOOM: Well, absolutely. You know, whenever there's an un- indicted co-conspirator, prosecutors want that witness to flip, to turn on the main defendant, which in this case is Jackson. Is this man working closely with prosecutors at this time? We don't know. But we do know that he's clearly hostile to Jackson by virtue of this case.
HEMMER: When this is all over, could they come back and indict a guy like this?
BLOOM: They absolutely could. And prosecutors say that they intend to, him as well as the four other un-indicted co-conspirators.
HEMMER: So why would he cooperate...
BLOOM: Well, because he may get immunity.
HEMMER: ... if he knows he's going down?
BLOOM: Well, because if he flips and he testifies for the prosecution, he may get immunity. He won't have any criminal problems down the line.
HEMMER: Thanks, Lisa. Have a good weekend, OK?
BLOOM: Thank you. You too.
HEMMER: Court TV's Lisa Bloom with us again today.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/american.morning/