News & Politics - Jackson arrives late after arrest warrant issued

Ambular · 03-10-2005, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Jackson arrives late after arrest warrant issued
CTV.ca News Staff

Michael Jackson arrived in court more than an hour late Thursday, but avoided arrest even after the judge in his case threatened to revoke the pop star's bail.

Jackson was nowhere to be found when the morning's proceedings were scheduled to begin. His lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr., told the court that the pop star was being treated for a serious back problem.

A clearly angry Judge Rodney Melville responded by issuing a warrant for Jackson's arrest, saying he would revoke his $3-million US bail unless the performer appeared in court within an hour.

Mesereau could be seen outside the court pacing for the next hour, talking on his cell phone.

Jackson, 46, finally arrived arrived by SUV five minutes after the deadline passed. He was dressed in what appeared to be pyjamas and sandals, walking slowly on the arm of one of his bodyguards. He was able to turn to wave to fans on his way in.

Melville resumed the trial without arresting the late-arriving defendant.

Lawyers met with the judge in chambers before court resumed but it is not known what admonishment, if any, Jackson received.

Jackson's spokeswoman, Raymone Bain explained to reporters outside court that Jackson's back "gave out on him'' after he woke up this morning.

"He knows the seriousness of this. He's not play-acting,'' Bain said.

A spokeswoman at the Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital confirmed that Jackson had been at their emergency room earlier in the day. She offered no details of his visit.

It's not clear why Jackson didn't inform the court that he would be late.

This is not the first time Jackson has failed to report to court on time. During the jury selection phase, he was rushed to hospital with flu symptoms. That delayed proceedings for a week.

Jackson has arrived to court on time since then.

Today is the day that the Jackson's accuser is expected to provide the most graphic evidence yet in the trial. The 15-year-old began his testimony Wednesday but is expected to decribe the alleged molestation incidents today.

"Today, of course, will be the crucial day," legal analyst Steven Skurka told CTV's Canada AM Thursday. "We're going to get into the description of all of the incidents themselves."

"The evidence of the accuser for the next three days or so is really going to determine Michael Jackson's fate. If he doesn't do well on the witness stand, Jackson will be acquitted."

Jackson is accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive.

Jackson's defence contends the accuser's family has a history of filing false claims to get money.

Story here.

sick little jag · 03-10-2005, 12:37 PM

he should have his bail revoked if he's going to keep having these sudden "illnesses" every week or so. that's crap.

Ambular · 03-10-2005, 01:24 PM

Way to be convincing, on his part. It's one thing to inform the court that you have an illness and are most likely going to be hospitalized ... Just plain not showing up is another. He is so blatantly obvious about trying to avoid coming to court at all costs. And not surprisingly, today was the day that the accuser was going to give specific details about the incident, too.

Good for the judge for threatening to revoke his bail. I'm tired of seeing celebrities get away with whatever they want. Maybe now M.J. will acknowledge that he does not control this trial.

*Lauren · 03-10-2005, 02:13 PM

Threatening to revoke his bail is one thing. It should have been revoked on the spot. He's already done this before, he's shown complete disrespect to the court and he's ALOUD TO GET AWAY WITH IT. GRRRR.

TokyoNiGHTS · 03-10-2005, 03:03 PM

I can't believe this guy. His team is destroying the credibility of the prosecutions witnesses on a daily basis, and he's not showing up to court on time.

Ambular · 03-10-2005, 04:29 PM

True, Lauren. Considering he is a celebrity, I'm surprised he's gotten away with what he has. That said, any other person would have spent the rest of the trial in prison for pulling what he has.

And yeah, I just don't understand why he's being so stupid. I personally think he is guilty, but regardless, his defense is apparantly doing very well. Why screw it all up by showing up late and being disrespectful? It's not helping him at all. It just makes it look like this whole trial is a joke to him.

**Mio** · 03-10-2005, 05:50 PM

I'm tired of him thinking that because he's a celebrity he can just stay at home.

Semmer · 03-10-2005, 11:36 PM

Oh man. It's good to know he's taking this so seiously. What do they need to do to get him to come to trial.......balloons, cupcakes, party games. You would think considering this is the second time he's had to deal with this thing that he would take this a little more seriously. But whatever. I hope his bail with be provoked.

DDD · 03-11-2005, 12:58 AM

Personally I think Jackson is a loon and a half, but this is a whole lot of nothing here. Every judge is different anyway. You can't compare him and an average person because we would not know what a jugde did bacause it wouldn't be on T.V. His bail was more than 3 million dollars. A judge should not be revoking that much bail money at the drop of a hat for a few mintues. He was in a hospital not watching the Price is Right. Bail is revoked for tryng to jump it not getting hurt or sick a being a mintue or two late that would be crocked. That said, it was very stupid on his part.

*Lauren · 03-11-2005, 02:08 AM

First off, it wasn't a couple of minutes. It was over an hour.

Secondly, this is his second "hospital visit" How many more are we going to see? He's going to keep pulling **** like this, until (hopefully) he's jailed for it.

TokyoNiGHTS · 03-11-2005, 03:08 AM

Prosecuters were pointing out today that people are always alte and don't get arrested for it. Its weird and he definetly shouldn't keep doing it. But it's not like he was trying to skip out, he really was in the hospital.

He doesn't want to give the people on the jury a bad impression of him though. His team really is beating the prosecution down, so he needs to follow all the rules and get in on time everytime.

Ambular · 03-11-2005, 07:13 AM

Just because he went to the hospital doesn't mean he was legitimately ill. How many of us have called out of work simply because we didn't feel like going, and had our doctor write us a note anyway to excuse it?

I might take it more seriously if
a.) this wasn't just the third time he has failed to appear or come in late...
b.) this wasn't yet another "illness" .. I forget the first reason, but then he had the flu, and now his back...
c.) he didn't already show disrespect or failure to acknowledge the seriousness of the trial by showing up late, and also by grinning and waving to people outside the court...
d.) he fails to appear - coincidentally? - on the same day that the accuser was going to reveal lucrative information on the alleged abuse in court.
e.) he - or his lawyer or anyone else - didn't call ahead of time to inform the judge that he was 'ill' and would not be able to appear in court ... he just didn't show up, and only came in an hour late at all because the judge threatened to revoke bail.

LittleMilkJug · 03-11-2005, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ambular

Just because he went to the hospital doesn't mean he was legitimately ill. How many of us have called out of work simply because we didn't feel like going, and had our doctor write us a note anyway to excuse it?

I might take it more seriously if
a.) this wasn't just the third time he has failed to appear or come in late...
b.) this wasn't yet another "illness" .. I forget the first reason, but then he had the flu, and now his back...
c.) he didn't already show disrespect or failure to acknowledge the seriousness of the trial by showing up late, and also by grinning and waving to people outside the court...
d.) he fails to appear - coincidentally? - on the same day that the accuser was going to reveal lucrative information on the alleged abuse in court.
e.) he - or his lawyer or anyone else - didn't call ahead of time to inform the judge that he was 'ill' and would not be able to appear in court ... he just didn't show up, and only came in an hour late at all because the judge threatened to revoke bail.

last beautiful girl · 03-11-2005, 11:43 AM

He's done it three times before? The prosecution should just go play golf or something. If he's not going to take it seriously, why should they?

Quote:

He was dressed in what appeared to be pyjamas and sandals

Show some respect, man. At least wear actual clothes. And he shows up late on the day the accuser is supposed to give testimony? Real subtle. Not.

Ambular · 03-11-2005, 12:03 PM

Apparantly he's done this even in other trials he has been involved in.

This one dates back to 2002 ..

Quote:

Michael Jackson returned to the Santa Maria courthouse today to testify in the Marcel Avram Millenium concerts lawsuit, still limping from a spider bite and sporting a silky blue armband he told reporters symbolizes "power."

Reporters peppered the King of Pop with questions but he only answered them with a "Merry Christmas" as he entered the courthouse for what is expected to be his last day of testimony.

Quote:

Michael Jackson was absent from court on Thursday 6th December, for medical reasons.

In protest at Michael's absence, Louis Miller, Mr. Avram's attorney said: "This is the third time he has either not shown up or been late (for cross-examination)."

Quote:

Michael Jackson missed a second day of court on Friday 6th December for medical reasons.

Mr. Miller later told reporters that the judge seems to think it is a spider bite, as Michael had previously said. Meanwhile, Mr. Cochran said he was not at liberty to speak about Michael's medical condition, but that there were "bona fide reasons he could not be in court."

So evidently he has never taken any of these legal proceedings seriously. I remember reading that after this, he had the flu and couldn't come. And now his back. One excuse after another.


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