Judge Orders Arrest of Michael Jackson

[Thiebear]

Judge Orders Arrest of Michael Jackson


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Mar 10, 11:55 AM (ET)

By TIM MOLLOY

(AP) Michael Jackson waves to fans while departing the Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Wednesday,...
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - An angry judge issued an arrest warrant for Michael Jackson on Thursday after he failed to show up for his child molestation trial on time and his attorney announced the singer was being treated for a serious back problem.

Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville said he would also revoke Jackson's $3 million bail unless he appeared in court within one hour.

The announcement came after a few minutes after court was to have begun. Jackson's accuser was expected to begin a second day of testimony against the singer.

The jury was not yet in the courtroom when the judge entered.

Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr., said, "Mr. Jackson is at Cottage Hospital in Santa Ynez with a serious back problem. He does plan to come in."

The judge, obviously angry, declared, "I'm issuing a warrant for his arrest. I'm forfeiting his bail. I will hold the order for one hour."

Mesereau had been observed talking urgently on his cell phone for about a half-hour before the session was to begin.

Jackson has had health problems that previously interrupted the proceedings. During the first week of jury selection he went to a hospital with flu symptoms. But he has been on time or early since then.

[SkinsNut73]

Excellent!

First the flu...now a back problem...ugh!

[Sarge]

Maybe the cops will "Rodney King" him on the way to court.

[Thiebear]

5:03pm? trying to find this rascally rabbit board...

Belfast Thu 5:07 PM ?
Cardiff Thu 5:07 PM ?
London Thu 5:07 PM ?

[Monte51Coleman]

More than likely being treated for a guilty conscience.

[BIGGS_DADDY]

Is Bubbles okay?

[TC4]

Well, I'm watching this unfold on Fox News and it's 9:15 AM there in California now

He better hall some serious ass to the courtroom, or he is gonna be tossed in the pokey

[Zen-like Todd]

Originally posted by TC4
Well, I'm watching this unfold on Fox News and it's 9:15 AM there in California now

He better hall some serious ass to the courtroom, or he is gonna be tossed in the pokey

People being "tossed in the pokey" is exactly what got Jackson in court in the first place.

[cfujskins]

oh sh*t! MICHAEL!!!!!!!!!

[jrfriedm]

If he gets put in jail....that man is going to feel like someone laid train tracks up his @$$ because he's going to be done by a train.

[cfujskins]

Poor guy

[sith lord]

I don't know what he's thinking.He's making himself look bad.

[China]

I guess pedophilia is hard on your back.

Jackson Trial Resumes After Arrest Threat

1 hour, 21 minutes ago Top Stories - AP

By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A pajama-clad Michael Jackson (news) arrived more than an hour late to his child molestation trial Thursday, but the judge who had threatened to arrest him resumed the case without taking any action against the singer in open court.

The singer's young accuser returned to the stand for a second day, saying Jackson gave him wine and called it "Jesus juice."

Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville had issued an arrest warrant when Jackson failed to arrive on time, but told defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. he would hold it for one hour. The judge, obviously angry, had also threatened to revoke his $3 million bail.

Mesereau, who told the judge Jackson was being treated for a severe back problem, paced outside court and talked on his cell phone until the singer arrived, a few minutes past the judge's deadline.

Jackson walked in gingerly, dressed in a jacket over pajamas and looked distressed.

Attorneys met with the judge in chambers before court resumed and Melville addressed the jurors, telling them not to draw any negative inferences from the developments.

"Mr. Jackson had a medical problem and it was necessary for me to order his appearance," Melville said.

Hospital spokeswoman Janet O'Neill had said Jackson left Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital — which is about 35 miles from the courthouse — shortly after the judge issued his order, but would not comment on Jackson's condition.

Jackson's own spokeswoman, Raymone K. Bain said outside court that the singer's back "gave out on him" after he woke up and he was rushed to an emergency room around 5:45 a.m.

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

When Jackson was arraigned in January 2004, the judge admonished him for arriving late and requesting a bathroom break. Last month, during the first week of jury selection, Jackson went to a hospital with flu symptoms, delaying the proceedings for a week and prompting the judge to tell jury prospects that "he really did have the flu." Jackson had been on time or early since then.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to rebut a damaging TV documentary in which Jackson said he allowed children to sleep in his bedroom. Jackson's defense contends the family has a history of filing false claims to get money.

On Wednesday, Jackson's young accuser faced the singer for the first time since March 2003, and described viewing sexually explicit images with the singer in his bedroom. The boy, now 15, followed to the stand his 14-year-old brother, who testified he saw Jackson fondle his sibling.

The accuser returned to the stand when the proceedings finally got under way again Thursday.

He described several private meetings with Jackson in Miami on the day the documentary aired, including one in which he did an "audition" for the singer in which he pretended to be a student in trouble and Jackson played his principal.

He also said Jackson gave him wine in a Diet Coke can, saying it would help him relax amid all the media reports about the documentary.

"He told me if I had ever heard of Jesus juice. He told me, 'Like you know how Jesus drank wine? We call it Jesus juice,'" he said.

"I drank a little bit of it and I told him it tasted ugly. ... He said he knew I was stressed out from all the media stuff going on and the Jesus juice would relax me."

The boy said he had previously sipped wine in church.

The boy was not asked about the molestation allegations before court ended Wednesday, but described viewing adult Internet sites with Jackson and others.

The accuser, who was a cancer patient when he met Jackson, talked about attending a Los Angeles comedy camp hosted by club owner Jamie Masada, whom he would later ask to put him in touch with Jackson.

[SkinsNut73]

Guess his back hurts so bad he couldn't even change out of his pajamas....

[SKINtil8tin]

Originally posted by SkinsNut73


Guess his back hurts so bad he couldn't even change out of his pajamas....

A train wreck that just gets worse and worse.