Defense Tries to Cast Jackson As Victim
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) -- A former lawyer for Michael Jackson testified Thursday in the singer's child molestation trial that men who took over Jackson's management diverted nearly $1 million of the pop star's money, and he believed it was for their own benefit.
David LeGrand was called in a defense effort to portray Jackson as a victim of a conspiracy by his associates - the same men the prosecution claims he conspired with to hold his accuser's family captive to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary. The defense has tried to show that there was no captivity conspiracy and that the associates' actions were for their own financial gain.
"I became suspicious of everybody," LeGrand said of Jackson's associates. "It seemed everybody wanted to benefit from Michael Jackson in one way or another."
The testimony was followed by a courtroom flap in which Judge Rodney S. Melville sternly issued a warning that former Jackson lawyer Mark Geragos must obey a defense subpoena and take the stand Friday morning.
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