Judge Peeved At Jackson Attorney

The judge in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial said Friday he may sanction lead defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. for misrepresenting the terms under which Jackson waived his privilege of confidentiality with former lawyer Mark Geragos.

"I feel deceived by Mr. Mesereau and I am considering ... sanctions of some sort against Mr. Mesereau," Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville said in a hearing before Geragos resumed testifying.

Originally the defense gave Geragos a complete waiver of attorney-client privilege, reports CBS News Correspondent Steve Futterman. Then, in the middle of testimony, Jackson's attorneys changed it to a limited waiver.

The prosecution and the judge were surprised by the limitation, and at the time Mesereau apologized, saying he had not thought the period after arrest was relevant.

Defense attorney Robert Sanger argued Friday that he had given a copy of the waiver to the district attorney and the judge's clerk, but it apparently hadn't been read.

The judge said that was not relevant because he considered Mesereau to have misrepresented the waiver in his statements in open court.

Prosecutors argued that Geragos should be required to testify about the period after the arrest because of the misrepresentation, but the judge ruled that Geragos would only have to testify about the period allowed by the waiver.

The judge said he could have stricken Geragos' testimony from the record but didn't think that was viable because jurors had already heard it and were likely to remember it during deliberations.

Most court observers expect the sanctions to include a fine.

"Whatever the judge decides to do with Mesereau, it won't make a bit of difference to the ultimate outcome of the case against Jackson. The only thing it will do, and already has done, is make the judge a little more wary of what the defense says in court," says CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen.

In a victory for Michael Jackson's defense, jurors in his child molestation case were allowed Thursday to see a video tour of the singer's Neverland ranch that a prosecutor condemned as propaganda.

Jurors saw idyllic scenes of amusement park rides, cheerful workers, zoo animals, blooming flowers and statues of boys and girls at play.
One of the scenes shows a chalkboard, reports Futterman, and on the chalkboard is written 'I love daddy,' apparently written there by one of Jackson's children. Also prominently displayed in the video are two paintings featuring Jackson in almost a savior-like pose, surrounded by children.

The video also showed numerous clocks, apparently countering testimony by family members of Jackson's accuser that they were unable to keep track of time while allegedly being held captive at the ranch.

Melville permitted the viewing over the vehement opposition of District Attorney Tom Sneddon.

Sneddon said the tape, made this year, showed a ranch that was somewhat different from its state on February and March 2003, when the accuser's family allegedly was held captive.

Sneddon, calling the video "propaganda," argued that it was designed to make Jackson look good.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a boy and plying him with wine. He also is accused of conspiring to hold the boy's family captive. Prosecutors said he wanted them to rebut a TV documentary in which Jackson said he let children sleep in his bed, although he contended it was non-sexual.

The Jackson defense team didn't get its wish with a star witness: Melville ruled that planned testimony by talk show host Larry King would be irrelevant.

King was going to testify that the lawyer for Jackson's accuser, Larry Feldman, told him he didn't believe the sex abuse allegations, called the accuser's mother "a wacko" and said he thought she was in it just for the money, reports CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales.

"The prosecution dodged a huge bullet today and they've got to be breathing a huge sigh of relief," said CBS News Legal Analyst Trent Copeland after the ruling.
In other testimony Thursday, a witness said the accuser's mother told her the family was being kept away from Jackson during a time when prosecutors claim molestation took place.

Azja Pryor, a Hollywood casting assistant and girlfriend of movie star Chris Tucker, said the woman complained in March 2003 about two Jackson associates who were rude to her.

"I asked, 'Does Michael know anything about this?' She said, 'They won't let us around him because they know the children tug at his heart strings,'" Pryor testified.

The time period Pryor cited is significant because prosecutors allege Jackson molested the then-13-year-old boy between Feb. 20 and March 12, 2003.

Pryor testified that she and the boy's mother talked for hours on the phone and the woman never complained to her about Jackson.

"She's pretty much as close as you can get to the perfect witness," said courtroom observer and former prosecutor Susan Filan. "If you were to believe her, she pretty much decimates everything the victim's mother has said to date."

Pryor said she and Tucker met the family at a Hollywood comedy club in 2001. At the time, the accuser was battling cancer and the club owner and comedians were raising money for his family.

The defense contends that the accuser's mother tried to bilk celebrities by exploiting her son's cancer fight.

Pryor said she gave the family money and that the accuser's mother and sister tried to pressure her to give them a car.