10145 1 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 3 SANTA MARIA BRANCH; COOK STREET DIVISION 4 DEPARTMENT SM-2 HON. RODNEY S. MELVILLE, JUDGE 5 6 7 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ) 8 CALIFORNIA, ) 9 Plaintiff, ) 10 -vs- ) No. 1133603 11 MICHAEL JOE JACKSON, ) 12 Defendant. ) 13 14 15 16 17 REPORTER’S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 18 19 FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2005 20 21 8:30 A.M. 22 23 (PAGES 10145 THROUGH 10188) 24 25 26 27 REPORTED MICHELE MATTSON McNEIL, RPR, CRR, CSR #3304 28 BY: Official Court Reporter 10145 1 APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL: 2 3 For Plaintiff: THOMAS W. SNEDDON, JR., 4 District Attorney -and- 5 RONALD J. ZONEN, Sr. Deputy District Attorney 6 -and- GORDON AUCHINCLOSS, 7 Sr. Deputy District Attorney 1112 Santa Barbara Street 8 Santa Barbara, California 93101 9 10 11 For Defendant: COLLINS, MESEREAU, REDDOCK & YU BY: THOMAS A. MESEREAU, JR., ESQ. 12 -and- SUSAN C. YU, ESQ. 13 1875 Century Park East, Suite 700 Los Angeles, California 90067 14 -and- 15 SANGER & SWYSEN 16 BY: ROBERT M. SANGER, ESQ. 233 East Carrillo Street, Suite C 17 Santa Barbara, California 93101 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 10146 1 I N D E X 2 3 Note: Mr. Sneddon is listed as “SN” on index. 4 Mr. Zonen is listed as “Z” on index. Mr. Auchincloss is listed as “A” on index. 5 Mr. Mesereau is listed as “M” on index. Ms. Yu is listed as “Y” on index. 6 Mr. Sanger is listed as “SA” on index. 7 8 9 DEFENDANT’S 10 WITNESSES DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS 11 LEGRAND, David G. 10150-A 12 (Contd.) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 10147 1 E X H I B I T S 2 FOR IN PLAINTIFF’S NO. DESCRIPTION I.D. EVID. 3 4 263 MJJ Productions office records 10184 10185 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 10148 1 Santa Maria, California 2 Friday, May 13, 2005 3 8:30 a.m. 4 5 THE COURT: Good morning, everyone. 6 COUNSEL AT COUNSEL TABLE: (In unison) 7 Good morning, Your Honor. 8 THE COURT: (To the jury) How was it? 9 A JUROR: What? 10 THE COURT: The breakfast. 11 THE JURY: (In unison) We didn’t have a 12 breakfast. 13 JUROR NO. 7: It’s lunch. 14 THE COURT: Oh, you’re getting lunch? That’s 15 what they promised. 16 JUROR NO. 4: My cereal was okay. 17 THE COURT: I had information that you were 18 going to get breakfast. So you’re getting lunch. 19 A JUROR: We got presents. We got cups. 20 THE COURT: All right. Let me just say 21 don’t eat too much at lunch. 22 Okay. Counsel, are you ready to proceed? 23 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I am, Your Honor. But, 24 I’m sorry, with the Court’s permission, I’d like to 25 have a brief sidebar to discuss a matter that I 26 don’t want to go into without your permission. 27 THE COURT: All right. 28 (Discussion held off the record at sidebar.) 10149 1 THE COURT: All right. 2 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Thank you, Your Honor. 3 4 DAVID G. LEGRAND 5 Having been previously sworn, resumed the 6 stand and testified further as follows: 7 8 CROSS-EXAMINATION (Continued) 9 BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: 10 Q. Good morning, Mr. LeGrand. 11 A. Good morning. 12 Q. Yesterday we talked about the LLC Fire 13 Mountain, and you indicated that that LLC, that 14 limited liability corporation, was formed to act as 15 the corporation under which the proceeds from the 16 FOX special, “The Footage You Were Never Meant To 17 See” or what we’ve been calling the “Take 2” video, 18 to basically funnel those assets or those -- the 19 cash that was produced from that program and then 20 disburse to various parties. Is that correct? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Okay. And I asked you -- I’m not sure if we 23 ever got the answer, but I asked you, and I’m asking 24 you now, was that corporation formed to conceal 25 assets from Mr. Jackson’s creditors? 26 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 27 relevance. 28 THE COURT: Overruled. 10150 1 You may answer. 2 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: In any way. 3 A. There were multiple concerns with regard to 4 the “Take 2” video at the inception of the process. 5 There was a letter from Granada basically demanding 6 that no footage of Martin Bashir be utilized without 7 Granada’s permission, so we had significant concerns 8 about potential liabilities associated with Fire 9 Mountain. 10 There were also concerns, not so much about 11 trade creditors in general, but, rather, that the 12 mounting financial demands of the lawyers, the 13 accountants, the production people be met, and we 14 had not yet -- there was -- we had not yet 15 accomplished a complete transition of money 16 management affairs and open -- 17 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’m going to object at this 18 time as nonresponsive. 19 THE WITNESS: Okay. 20 THE COURT: The objection is overruled. 21 I’ll allow him to complete his answer. 22 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. 23 THE WITNESS: I opened a dialogue with Bank 24 of America and discussed with the bank 25 representatives the relationship of Fire Mountain 26 with FOX, and to my knowledge, there was never a 27 demand of default made by Bank of America with 28 respect to any of their credit protection 10151 1 provisions. 2 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: My question was, was 3 that Fire Mountain, Limited Liability Corporation, 4 formed in any way to conceal assets from Mr. 5 Jackson’s creditors? And my question goes beyond 6 the Bank of America. 7 MR. MESEREAU: Same objection. 8 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And do you understand 9 the question? 10 A. Yeah. It was not my intent to conceal. It 11 was my intent to protect the cash flows being 12 received in order to address the financial needs of 13 my client, Mr. Jackson. 14 Q. All right. Well, you testified that Mr. 15 Jackson had creditors with outstanding bills in 16 excess of ten million dollars, true? Yes? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And some of those creditors had initiated 19 lawsuits; isn’t that true? 20 A. I don’t know that creditors had initiated 21 lawsuits. The two primary lawsuits that were 22 pending that I had knowledge of early on were the 23 Avram case and the Myung Ho Lee case. 24 Q. All right. 25 A. I don’t know that those gentlemen were 26 creditors at that time, because I don’t remember 27 seeing them listed in the payables listings. There 28 was a subsequent lawsuit -- I mean, there was a 10152 1 lawsuit filed somewhere, hmm, I’m not sure if it was 2 late February or early March, filed by an auction 3 house in New York with respect to a painting. 4 Q. Would that be Sotheby’s? 5 A. Yes. Yes, that was Sotheby’s. 6 Q. And that dealt with a painting Mr. Jackson 7 purchased but never paid for; is that correct? 8 A. Yes. 9 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; relevance. 10 THE COURT: Sustained. 11 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. But in 12 effect, the Fire Mountain corporation would prevent 13 any of these creditors from getting their hands on 14 the money, the proceedings from the FOX production; 15 true? I’d like a “yes” or “no” question -- answer 16 to that question. 17 A. I don’t know -- 18 Q. If you know. 19 A. I don’t know how it would prevent creditors 20 from getting to it. I mean, if a creditor took a 21 judgment debtor exam of someone and found that this 22 subsidiary of MJJ had these funds, the question is 23 creditor of whom, I guess? I mean, the goal of Fire 24 Mountain was to serve as a subsidiary to MJJ 25 Productions. 26 Q. Who is Marcel Avram? You just mentioned 27 that. Who is that? 28 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; relevance. 10153 1 THE COURT: Overruled. 2 You may answer. 3 THE WITNESS: What I’ve read is that he was 4 a promoter who had entered into some agreements 5 with -- and I’m not sure who with, but with Mr. 6 Jackson or entities affiliated with Mr. Jackson. 7 I’m not even sure who the parties were in that 8 litigation. 9 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And that was a 10 multimillion-dollar lawsuit? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And that was here in Santa Maria? 13 A. I don’t know where it was. 14 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; relevance. 15 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: My question -- I’m sorry. 16 THE COURT: Next question. Overruled. 17 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And that lawsuit was 18 going on during February of 2003? 19 A. I think so, yes. 20 Q. And -- 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. If that lawsuit went bad, wasn’t it your 23 opinion that bankruptcy was assured for Mr. Jackson? 24 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 25 misstates the evidence. 26 THE COURT: Foundation sustained. 27 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Did you ever send an 28 e-mail to the effect that bankruptcy was assured if 10154 1 the Marcel Avram lawsuit went bad for Mr. Jackson? 2 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 3 leading; relevance. 4 THE COURT: Overruled. 5 You may answer. 6 THE WITNESS: I don’t recall such a specific 7 e-mail. It’s possible. But I don’t recall. 8 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: If I could have a moment, 9 Your Honor. 10 THE COURT: You may. 11 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Let me just ask a 12 follow-up question. Was that your opinion? 13 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Relevance; 14 foundation. 15 THE COURT: Sustained. 16 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’ll come back to that. 17 Q. Mr. LeGrand, did you talk to anybody after 18 you left the stand here today (sic) about your 19 testimony in this case? 20 A. I did not speak about my testimony in this 21 case. I did speak to several people last night. 22 Q. Who did you talk to? 23 A. Talked to my wife. 24 Q. Did you talk to anybody that was involved in 25 this case in any fashion? 26 A. I don’t know whether “involved” or not. I 27 did call Al Malnik. 28 Q. Why did you call Mr. Malnik? 10155 1 A. He’s -- his wife is expecting a child. It’s 2 been any day for the last couple of weeks. And I 3 called to inquire as to his wife’s health and the 4 prospect of delivery. 5 Q. Do you work for Mr. Malnik? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Have you been employed with Mr. -- by Mr. 8 Malnik in the past? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Mr. Malnik has never paid you for any 11 services -- 12 A. No. 13 Q. -- is that your testimony? 14 A. That’s my testimony. 15 Q. Have you ever taken any directives from Mr. 16 Malnik concerning legal matters regarding Mr. 17 Jackson? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. Why did you take directives from Mr. Malnik 20 concerning Mr. Jackson’s affairs? 21 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; relevance. 22 THE COURT: Overruled. 23 You may answer. 24 THE WITNESS: I was instructed by Mr. 25 Jackson to do so. 26 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And did Mr. Malnik work 27 for Mr. Jackson, as far as you knew? 28 A. As far as I knew. 10156 1 Q. What was his relationship with Mr. Jackson? 2 A. I believe he was a friend and I believe he 3 was an attorney. 4 Q. Do you know if Mr. Malnik was retained by 5 Mr. Jackson as an attorney? 6 A. I did not see an engagement letter. I was 7 instructed by Mr. Jackson to submit all documents 8 that were to be signed by Mr. Jackson, they were to 9 be reviewed by Mr. Malnik before presentation to Mr. 10 Jackson. That instruction was given to Ronald 11 Konitzer and Dieter Weizner as well. 12 Q. Have you attended meetings with Mr. Malnik 13 and Mr. Jackson? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. On how many occasions? 16 A. Once for sure. There may have been a second 17 meeting during that same weekend, but I’m not sure. 18 But I know of one in particular. It was mid to late 19 March. Mr. Fishman and I flew to Florida. I think 20 that’s when. I’m not sure of the dates, though. 21 Q. And did Mr. Konitzer attend that meeting? 22 A. There were several meetings and Mr. -- there 23 were several meetings with myself and Mr. Malnik and 24 Mr. Konitzer attended one of those meetings. 25 Q. Was Mr. Jackson present? 26 A. I think so. 27 Q. Was Mr. Weizner present? 28 A. You know, I think Dieter was there, but I’m 10157 1 honestly not sure today. 2 Q. Do you know what time in March that was? 3 A. Well, it was before the 28th. I think it 4 was a week to ten days before the 28th of March, but 5 I’m not sure exactly. 6 Q. Was it before your services were terminated 7 as Mr. Jackson’s attorney? 8 A. Yes. That’s why I know it’s before the 9 28th. 10 Q. And the purpose of that meeting was what? 11 A. To discuss the overall positions, to discuss 12 the -- to discuss how or whether we would continue 13 the various relationships, because Ronald was upset 14 with me for having pointed the finger at him with 15 respect to the $965,000. 16 We were attempting in that meeting to 17 construct a framework under which we would -- you 18 know, Ronald and Dieter would remain involved in -- 19 as, you know, consultants, advisors to Mr. Jackson. 20 But Mr. Malnik essentially emerged, in my opinion, 21 as the primary person with Michael Jackson’s trust 22 and confidence for business decisions. 23 Q. Mr. Malnik was one of the people you had 24 investigated? 25 A. Yes, he is. 26 Q. So you were suspicious of him, too? 27 A. Yes. 28 Q. And you voiced those suspicions to Mr. 10158 1 Jackson, didn’t you? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. You voiced those suspicions to Mr. Jackson 4 about Mr. Konitzer? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And Mr. Weizner? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. And you were suspicious about Mr. Jackson’s 9 personal assistant, Evvy? 10 A. Yes. Primarily because Mr. Konitzer -- 11 Q. There’s no question pending. 12 A. Oh. Sorry. 13 Q. And you were suspicious about Mr. Geragos? 14 A. Yes, I was. 15 Q. And you were suspicious about Mr. Jackson’s 16 attorney, Mr. Cochran’s associate, Zia Modabber? 17 A. Less so, but yes. 18 Q. Well, you had him investigated? 19 A. Less so, but yes. 20 Q. And you were suspicious about Mr. Gross, who 21 worked for Fred Haber, the foreign rights people, 22 Edgar Gross? Maybe I’m misstating that. Did you 23 have Edgar Gross investigated? 24 A. I don’t remember that name. Was it -- do 25 you mean -- I’m sorry, I don’t recall. 26 Q. You were suspicious about a Dr. Armen 27 Kazanchian? 28 A. Yes, I was. 10159 1 Q. You were suspicious about Mr. Jackson’s 2 long-standing business manager, Trudi Green? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. These people had really very little 5 connection with one another, did they? I mean, you 6 tell me. Did they have connection with one another? 7 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; foundation. 8 THE COURT: Sustained. 9 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: In effect, you had 10 investigated everybody who was within Michael 11 Jackson’s inner circle; isn’t that true? 12 A. I don’t know, because I don’t know your 13 definition of “inner circle.” I investigated 14 people that I viewed as being close to Michael or 15 having the potential to do harm to Michael as I saw 16 it at the time. 17 Q. And you were suspicious of them all, 18 correct? 19 A. Um, I was -- I was cautious. I was becoming 20 more cautious as time went on. 21 Q. Well, didn’t you testify that you had 22 everybody investigated that you found suspicious? 23 A. I’m not sure those were my exact words, sir. 24 Q. Well, was that true or not? 25 A. No. I did not have everybody investigated 26 whom I found suspicious. There were certainly 27 people who I had concerns about, but who did not 28 have a position such that I was overly -- 10160 1 sufficiently concerned to spend money. 2 Q. But you had concerns about all these people. 3 Will you go that far? 4 A. Concerns about a lot of people. 5 Q. Okay. And as far as this $900,000, you 6 don’t know what that money was for, do you? 7 A. No. 8 Q. You don’t know if that money was owed to 9 Dieter and Ronald, do you? 10 A. No, I don’t. I never saw -- I never saw 11 evidence it was. 12 Q. Right. But you never saw any evidence 13 whatsoever about what that $900,000 was for, did 14 you? 15 A. No, I never saw evidence of it. 16 Q. You don’t know if Mr. Jackson knew about 17 that at the time or didn’t know about it at the 18 time, do you, at the time it was disbursed? 19 A. No, I didn’t. 20 Q. So you just pointed the finger with 21 virtually no evidence against these people because 22 of your suspicions; isn’t that fair to say? 23 A. I discussed the matter with Mr. Malnik, and 24 at his direction prepared the letter. He reviewed 25 the letter. So this was not my independent action. 26 Q. Well, if this was an embezzlement, wouldn’t 27 it be an incredibly lame attempt to embezzle money 28 from a trust account of an attorney with a paper 10161 1 trail one inch long leading directly to the 2 embezzlers? 3 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; argumentative. 4 THE COURT: Sustained. 5 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Would you agree with me 6 that it would be a very poor plan to embezzle money? 7 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. 8 THE COURT: Sustained. 9 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Would you agree with me 10 that there was never any attempt to conceal that 11 that money went from the trust account to Mr. 12 Weizner and Mr. Konitzer? 13 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 14 evidence and foundation. 15 THE COURT: Overruled. 16 You may answer. Do you want that question 17 read back? 18 THE WITNESS: I believe that -- 19 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’m going to -- 20 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. He’s cutting off 21 the witness, Your Honor. 22 THE COURT: Sustained. Let the witness 23 answer the question. 24 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. 25 THE WITNESS: I believe that Mr. Konitzer 26 was unhappy that Mr. Finkelstein gave me that 27 accounting. 28 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Would you agree that 10162 1 there was never any attempt to conceal that those 2 moneys went from that trust account to Mr. Weizner 3 and Mr. Konitzer; yes or no? 4 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation and 5 misstates the evidence. 6 THE COURT: Overruled. 7 You may answer. 8 THE WITNESS: I do not know -- I do not have 9 actual knowledge of an attempt to conceal those 10 disbursements. 11 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Michael Jackson 12 Universe, MJ Universe, that was the plan that Ronald 13 and Dieter were working on with Mr. Jackson to 14 remake his image and career, correct? 15 A. I’m -- I’m not sure I agree with the 16 characterization, “remake his image and career.” It 17 was the business plan that Ronald and Dieter had put 18 forth. 19 Q. It was a promotional plan for Michael 20 Jackson, correct? 21 A. It involved elements of using Michael 22 Jackson’s trademarks, image and likeness to gain 23 revenue. 24 Q. Wouldn’t that be a promotional plan? 25 A. I’m not trying to be difficult. I just 26 don’t know what you mean by “a promotional plan.” I 27 mean, that’s all. 28 Q. What I mean by “promotional plan” is a plan 10163 1 that promotes Mr. Jackson. Was it designed to 2 promote Mr. Jackson’s image and likeness, his name, 3 to sell products to make profit? 4 A. I certainly agree it was part of the plan to 5 use his image and likeness to sell products and make 6 profit. 7 Q. Was it also the idea of this plan, this new 8 enterprise, MJ Universe, to save Mr. Jackson from 9 impending financial ruin? Yes or no. 10 A. When the plan was first -- the first 11 development of the plan, none of us had knowledge of 12 Mr. Jackson’s financial affairs. So the plan was 13 developed in a context where we, that is, Mr. 14 Konitzer, and he expressed to me his belief that Mr. 15 Jackson had significant financial resources to call 16 upon. So the original plan was not about financial 17 ruin. It was developed before any of us knew of the 18 financial circumstances that ultimately were 19 disclosed to me in February of 2003. 20 Q. Is it true that the plan was designed to 21 make everyone, including Michael Jackson and 22 yourself, a lot of money? 23 A. The intent of the plan was to make money, 24 yes. 25 Q. One of the mechanisms for this plan was to 26 use the Internet as a platform; is that true? 27 A. Yes. There was a portion of the plan 28 devoted to Internet. 10164 1 Q. You testified yesterday that it seemed like 2 everybody around Michael Jackson was interested in 3 profiting; is that accurate? That was your opinion? 4 A. Many people, yes. 5 Q. Did you see something wrong with that, with 6 people profiting who worked for Michael Jackson? 7 A. I see nothing wrong with people earning 8 appropriate income from providing services. 9 Q. And Michael Jackson Universe -- 10 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. I don’t think the 11 witness has completed his response, Your Honor. 12 THE WITNESS: I got concerned about where it 13 appeared people wanted to have excessive amounts of 14 money in relation to their contribution. 15 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Okay. And this is 16 where some of your suspicions took off? 17 A. That’s where they were derived, yes. 18 Q. But as it turned out, you really didn’t know 19 where those funds were going, you’ve testified, 20 correct? 21 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation and 22 misstates the evidence. 23 THE COURT: Vague; sustained. 24 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: As far as this plan, 25 the idea or hope was to make hundreds of millions of 26 dollars, true? 27 A. That was the hope. 28 Q. And that was a hope that Mr. Jackson had, or 10165 1 shared with Mr. Konitzer, true? 2 A. Yes. 3 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; foundation. 4 THE WITNESS: Whoops. 5 THE COURT: Overruled. The answer was, 6 “Yes.” 7 THE WITNESS: Yes. 8 THE COURT: Next question. 9 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And Mr. Konitzer, from 10 your point of view, had a genuine interest in the 11 success of Michael Jackson, both for his own benefit 12 and for the benefit of Mr. Jackson; isn’t that fair 13 to say? 14 A. Yes. That’s -- I mean, that’s true. Mr. 15 Konitzer, I believe, was quite sincere in many 16 respects and there was no question that he saw the 17 opportunity for significant financial gain and that 18 that gain would -- the largest gain would come if 19 Mr. Jackson also realized a significant financial 20 benefit. 21 Q. If this plan took off, Mr. Konitzer had a 22 very legitimate hope of earning millions and 23 millions of dollars, true? 24 A. Yes. But I’ll also tell you that both Mr. 25 Malnik and I were very skeptical about Mr. 26 Konitzer’s plan. 27 Q. I understand that, but that’s not a question 28 I asked you. 10166 1 But that was the hope. That was the idea 2 between you, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Konitzer, that was the 3 reason for Michael Jackson Universe, correct? 4 A. The reason was to create profit, yes. 5 Q. So would you agree it doesn’t make much 6 sense for Mr. Konitzer to attempt to steal a few 7 hundred thousand dollars at the very beginning of 8 his relationship with Mr. Jackson? 9 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Argumentative; 10 foundation. 11 THE COURT: Sustained. 12 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. 13 Q. Your investigation of these various people 14 was designed to clean house again, wasn’t it? Do 15 you understand that question? Maybe I should start 16 over again. 17 You’re aware that Mr. Jackson had just 18 cleaned house, he just fired all the people he had 19 been working with for years, including some he 20 hadn’t worked with for very long? 21 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation and 22 misstates the evidence. 23 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’ll simplify the 24 question. 25 THE COURT: Okay. 26 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: You’re aware Mr. 27 Jackson had just cleaned house by firing a number of 28 his associates and close employees, correct, you’ve 10167 1 testified to that? 2 A. No, I don’t think I did. What employees 3 were terminated? 4 Q. Well, people that worked for Mr. Jackson. I 5 don’t mean to quibble about semantics. 6 Mr. Branca was fired, correct? 7 A. I’m not aware he was ever an employee of Mr. 8 Jackson. I believe he’s an attorney who was 9 providing services to Mr. Jackson. Yes, his 10 services were terminated during this process. 11 Q. Are you saying that Mr. Branca was never 12 employed by Mr. Jackson in any fashion? 13 A. No, I’m saying he was not a W-2 statutory 14 employee, which is the sense in which I’m used to 15 using the term. I don’t mean to be difficult, but, 16 you know, this is -- my background is corporate law, 17 and “employee” means something very specific to me. 18 Q. Okay. When I’m asking questions, just so 19 you know, I’ll be asking them in the common lay 20 term, not in any technical sense. When I say 21 “employee,” I mean he worked for him, he was paid by 22 him. 23 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Argumentative and 24 vague. Object to the colloquy. 25 THE COURT: Counsel, I don’t think you can 26 ask this person to accept your definitions. You 27 need to know how he defines various corporate terms. 28 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And I appreciate that. 10168 1 I’m just trying to clarify it. 2 THE COURT: And that be helpful to the jury, 3 I’m sure, if they knew that too. But you -- just as 4 an instruction from me -- 5 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Sure. 6 THE COURT: -- you need to find out how he 7 defines them, not tell him how to define them. 8 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Okay. 9 Q. All right. So you would agree with me that 10 Mr. Branca worked for Mr. Jackson, was paid for by 11 Mr. Jackson, correct? He received money from Mr. 12 Jackson for services, true? 13 A. I believe the Ziffren law firm received 14 compensation from Mr. Jackson for legal services, 15 yes. 16 Q. Do you think Mr. Branca ever received any of 17 those moneys for work that he performed? 18 A. I believe Mr. Branca was paid by his firm, 19 yes. 20 Q. All right. And Mr. Jackson (sic) was one of 21 the people he fired when he was cleaning house, 22 true? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. As was Trudi Green? 25 A. Yes. 26 Q. Okay. So we went through the list. I don’t 27 need to go through it again. 28 But wasn’t it your desire, in preparing this 10169 1 investigative report or ordering this investigative 2 report on Mr. Jackson’s inner circle, to become a 3 trusted associate of Mr. Jackson to the exclusion of 4 the people that you were having investigated? 5 A. I don’t believe that was my intent. It was 6 my intent to gain knowledge about the people who 7 were involved. For example, with respect to Mr. 8 Malnik, I had no intent to eliminate him from Mr. 9 Jackson’s circle. 10 I had much greater concerns about Mr. 11 Konitzer and Mr. Weizner than, say, for example, Mr. 12 Malnik. But at the same time, I felt it 13 appropriate, granted the history, to have greater 14 knowledge about these people. You know, there’s an 15 aphorism, knowledge is power. And I felt it 16 appropriate, and my colleagues, Mr. Joss, my 17 partner, Mr. Gibson, concurred in those iterations. 18 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; nonresponsive. 19 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. He cut off the 20 witness. 21 THE COURT: Sustained. I’ll allow him to 22 complete the answer. 23 Do you want part of your answer read back, 24 so you know where you were, or -- 25 THE WITNESS: Well, I’d just like to say 26 that I and my partner called for those 27 investigations. It was not simply my intent that 28 was ruling. I was consistently, daily communicating 10170 1 with a number of lawyers who, as a group, were 2 providing services to Mr. Jackson. And the decision 3 to have those investigations done was not my 4 unilateral decision. 5 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: You said, “knowledge is 6 power.” Wasn’t this an effort to obtain more power? 7 A. Absolutely, for Mr. Jackson to be empowered. 8 Q. Okay. Let’s -- let me ask you a couple of 9 questions, a couple of background questions. I 10 don’t think I finished inquiring about people you 11 may have talked to last night. 12 Did you talk to Mr. Mesereau at all between 13 the time that you took the stand today and the time 14 that you left the stand yesterday? 15 A. I’m not sure if -- he might have come in the 16 room and left, you know, 30 seconds. I’m -- I’m 17 sorry, I was upstairs in the room for a little bit. 18 I don’t remember. I don’t have -- I didn’t have any 19 substantive conversations if I did see him at that 20 time. 21 Q. Have you met Mr. Mesereau before? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. On how many occasions? 24 A. Three, I think. Maybe four. 25 Q. Did you talk to him about your testimony in 26 this case? 27 A. We did not discuss my testimony in this 28 case. 10171 1 Q. Did you talk to him about the facts of this 2 case? 3 A. I met with Mr. Mesereau, Mr. Cochran, a 4 number of lawyers when I was delivering files and 5 reviewed with them some of the contents of the boxes 6 of files. 7 Q. When did you deliver those files? 8 A. I’m sorry, I don’t know. 9 Q. Can you tell me -- 10 A. It was 2004. 11 Q. Okay. 2004. Can you tell me if it was in 12 the beginning or towards the end of 2004? 13 A. It was by -- I know it was by mid-September, 14 by Labor Day weekend, that I had delivered the bulk 15 of the files. There’s been some bits and pieces 16 that have just -- you know, either were delivered to 17 me or were found, you know, in another file, because 18 I had people in Reno working that were delivered 19 later. But I’m pretty sure 90 percent of it was 20 delivered by Labor Day of 2004. 21 Q. Did you go through these files with Mr. 22 Mesereau and Mr. Cochran in any fashion? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Was an investigator present? 25 A. I think so. 26 Q. Do you know Scott Ross? 27 A. Yes. 28 Q. Was he present? 10172 1 A. I don’t think so. But I’m really not sure. 2 There was an investigator, but I thought it was 3 somebody different. I don’t know that I met Scott 4 before arriving here. 5 Q. Mr. Mason, perhaps? 6 A. Mason. That name’s familiar. I honestly 7 didn’t pay a lot of attention to the investigator. 8 Q. Okay. But there was an investigator there? 9 A. Yeah. 10 Q. And have you talked to any investigators 11 between the time you left the stand and the time you 12 took the stand this morning? 13 A. Yeah. Scott Ross took me back to my hotel 14 last night, and then took me to drop me off at the 15 mall so I could go get something to eat. 16 Q. And did you talk to Mr. Ross about anything 17 to do with this case? 18 A. We really didn’t discuss the case. We were 19 quite conscious that we -- or I was conscious that I 20 didn’t feel that was really appropriate. 21 Q. Okay. So that’s a “no,” you did not talk to 22 Scott Ross about anything about this case? 23 A. We didn’t talk about this case. 24 Q. All right. How about Mr. Castillo, did you 25 talk to him about this case at all? 26 A. Who? 27 Q. Jesus Castillo? 28 A. I don’t know who that is. 10173 1 Q. Well, all right. Now, you mentioned 2 yesterday that you were aware of the “Home Movies” 3 production, the “Michael Jackson Home Movies” 4 production. True? 5 A. Is that the program that involved Chris 6 Tucker that was produced with FOX? 7 Q. I can’t answer questions. 8 A. I’m sorry, I’m not sure what -- 9 Q. Weren’t there -- I’m sorry, go ahead. 10 A. I’m not sure what you mean by “Home Videos” 11 productions. 12 Q. Well, weren’t there documents in your files 13 regarding the “Home Movies” production involving 14 Michael Jackson? 15 A. I think so, yes. We had started -- we had 16 started a negotiation with FOX for some additional 17 production. 18 Q. And that production was also going to be run 19 through Fire Mountain; that was the plan, correct? 20 A. Yes, I think so. 21 Q. And was Mr. Schaffel going to work on that 22 one as well; do you know? 23 A. It was my goal to minimize the involvement 24 of Mr. Schaffel as much as possible. And I do not 25 know what I was -- I was terminated before that 26 really got rolling. That’s my recollection. 27 Q. Was your concern about Mr. Schaffel related 28 to his connections in the adult sex videos industry? 10174 1 A. That was certainly part of the concern, yes. 2 Q. Did you ever express a concern to Mr. 3 Jackson about Mr. Schaffel being associated with the 4 rebuttal video or the “Take 2” video because of his 5 background? 6 A. I’m not sure that I had a direct 7 conversation with Mr. Jackson about that or not. I 8 don’t know. 9 Q. And he was also one of the people that you 10 had investigated, true? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Now, as far as money goes, profiting 13 involving Mr. Jackson, isn’t it fair to say that 14 that was one of your goals here too, to make money 15 by being associated with Mr. Jackson? 16 A. My goal was to get paid for providing legal 17 services. 18 Q. Weren’t you very excited about becoming 19 Michael Jackson’s attorney? 20 A. It was exciting. 21 Q. You perceived it to be a means to make a 22 great deal of money, didn’t you, Mr. LeGrand? 23 A. Actually, I really didn’t know what it was 24 going to involve. 25 Q. But you had hopes that it would result in 26 something very good for David LeGrand, true? 27 A. I saw it as an opportunity to work in a 28 unique and different environment that was 10175 1 interesting, that had great potential. It was -- it 2 was exciting. 3 Q. Potential for wealth, true? 4 A. I don’t know about wealth. But certainly 5 gain. 6 Q. You won’t admit that it’s -- that there was 7 financial gain, that was one of your motives in 8 becoming Michael Jackson’s attorney? You disagree 9 with that? 10 A. All I wanted was to be paid for my hourly 11 work. 12 Q. And you wanted to do a lot of hourly work 13 for Michael Jackson, didn’t you? 14 A. As it turned out, I didn’t have much choice. 15 At least for a while. 16 Q. Would you answer my last question? 17 A. The hours ended up being considerable. 18 Q. And you wanted to do a lot of hourly 19 business with Michael Jackson, true? Can you answer 20 that “yes” or “no” for me, sir? 21 A. It’s very hard to answer “yes” or “no,” 22 because it really wasn’t formulated in my mind that 23 way. 24 Q. Mr. LeGrand, didn’t you communicate to Mr. 25 Konitzer that you were worried about getting paid 26 for your services and being first in line for money? 27 A. I was concerned about that, yes. 28 Q. And as early as February 11th, you had 10176 1 expressed that concern to Mr. Konitzer that you 2 wanted to be paid? 3 A. Yes. And when we say “I,” my firm. 4 Q. Your firm. 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. That’s fair. And Mr. Konitzer asked you to 7 calm down about that, didn’t he? 8 A. Yes, he did. 9 Q. And he said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be first 10 in line,” true? 11 A. Yes, he did. 12 Q. And he did that through e-mail, correct? 13 A. He also said it to me. 14 Q. And you did a considerable amount of 15 communication with Mr. Konitzer through e-mail, 16 e-mails, true? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And if your file is complete, then all of 19 those e-mails should be in it, shouldn’t they? 20 A. If you mean that a file comprising the 21 totality of my work involving Mr. Jackson would 22 include the e-mails to Ronald Konitzer, the answer 23 is yes. 24 Q. And my last question was, if your file that 25 you turned over did not include e-mails such as 26 that, it would not be complete, true? 27 A. I -- I think that follows logically. 28 Q. All right. Did you remove any e-mails from 10177 1 your file prior to turning it over to Mr. Mesereau 2 and Mr. Cochran? 3 A. I don’t remember removing any e-mails. I 4 don’t remember removing any documents from the 5 files. 6 Q. You can conceive of it, though? 7 A. No, I really didn’t even personally prepare 8 the files. Staff did. I -- I really wasn’t 9 directly involved in the file production process. 10 Q. Is (702) 222-2520 the direct line to your 11 office at Hale Lane? 12 A. Yes, it was. 13 Q. Did you have a cell phone at that time? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. And what was that number? 16 A. (702) 218-6736. 17 Q. At some point in time, Mr. Geragos came into 18 the picture. Do you remember when that was? 19 A. First week of February 2003. 20 Q. Is that when you first met Mark Geragos? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. And Mr. Geragos is a criminal attorney? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. And who introduced you to Mr. Geragos? 25 A. I believe it was Ronald Konitzer who 26 selected Mr. Geragos to be interviewed. 27 Q. Was there an interviewing process going on 28 to find a criminal attorney at that time? 10178 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. And can you explain why -- well, let me back 3 up. 4 Was it perceived that some criminal conduct 5 might be alleged against Michael Jackson at that 6 time, and therefore a criminal attorney should be 7 retained? 8 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 9 relevance. 10 THE COURT: Overruled. 11 THE WITNESS: I’m sorry, what was the 12 question? 13 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’ll ask to have it read 14 back. 15 THE COURT: I’ll have the court reporter 16 read it. 17 (Record read.) 18 THE WITNESS: The press outcry was such 19 that -- and the calls for investigation, calls for 20 removal of his children were such that I and the 21 other lawyers agreed it was appropriate to have a 22 criminal attorney in California to address any 23 possibilities of that kind. 24 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Okay. So the answer to 25 that question would be “yes”? 26 A. I think I’ve answered it. 27 Q. My question is, so the answer to that 28 question would be “yes”? 10179 1 A. Yes, we were concerned about possible 2 criminal investigation resulting from the video, the 3 Bashir video. There were people, you know, calling 4 for investigation. 5 Q. Who -- well, let me phrase that differently. 6 Who was in charge in terms of the legal 7 advice provided to Mr. Jackson at that time? We’re 8 talking about the beginning of February. You? 9 Mr. Geragos? Who was running the show there? 10 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; foundation. 11 THE COURT: Sustained. 12 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Okay. 13 Q. What exactly was Mr. Geragos -- do you know 14 what Mr. Geragos was tasked with at the time he was 15 retained, what he was asked to do? 16 A. I know that we asked him to attempt to 17 ascertain if any criminal investigation had been 18 commenced, and if there was any child custody 19 removal efforts being commenced. 20 Q. That would be a family law matter, wouldn’t 21 it? 22 A. I guess it’s more family than criminal, yes. 23 Q. Do you know who Brad Miller is? 24 A. I believe he’s an investigator that works or 25 worked -- was engaged by Mr. Geragos’s firm. 26 Q. Did you ever meet Brad Miller? 27 A. You know, I don’t know. I might have. 28 Q. Where might you have met Brad Miller? 10180 1 A. Mr. Geragos’s office. 2 Q. Did you meet with Mr. Geragos in his office? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. More than once? 5 A. I think so, yes. 6 Q. How many times did you meet with Mr. 7 Geragos, either in his office or elsewhere? 8 A. Maybe four or five times. 9 Q. Four or five times? 10 A. I think so. 11 Q. Did you ever communicate with Mr. Geragos by 12 e-mail? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Do you know where those e-mails are? 15 A. Not specifically, no. 16 Q. Did you give those e-mails to Mr. Mesereau 17 and Mr. Cochran? 18 A. I think so. 19 Q. Did you ever talk to Brad Miller on the 20 phone? 21 A. I don’t know. It’s possible. 22 Q. Do you know what Brad Miller was retained by 23 Mr. Geragos to do? 24 A. Not really. I know that it had to do with 25 the Arvizos, but I really don’t know in detail what 26 Brad Miller was asked to do. 27 Q. Do you know who Asaf Vilchic is? 28 A. Who? 10181 1 Q. Asaf Vilchic? 2 A. I don’t think I’ve heard that name before. 3 Q. I’m going to have trouble with this next 4 one. Can you tell me if you’ve heard of the name 5 Johnny Majetich, something of that nature? 6 A. That name does not ring any bells, sir. 7 Q. Have you ever heard of a private 8 investigator referred to as “Johnny in the Sky”? 9 A. No, sir. I don’t think so. It’s the sort 10 of thing one might remember, but I don’t have a 11 recollection of that one. 12 Q. Okay. Now, I want to come back to this 13 rebuttal film or the “Take 2” video. 14 You participated in getting or I should say 15 preparing releases for the entire Arvizo family, 16 correct? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And who asked you to do that? Maybe I’m 19 making an assumption there. Did you do that on your 20 own or did somebody else ask you to do it? 21 A. I don’t really know. I know it needed to be 22 done, but I’m not sure whether it was, you know, 23 Lachman Productions, Marc Schaffel, or who it was. 24 The consents and releases started with Debbie Rowe, 25 and then we just started thinking, “Oh, well, we 26 need releases for everybody that might be in this 27 video.” I prepared a release for Hamid as well. 28 Q. All right. The one for Hamid, was that 10182 1 under a Brad Lachman letterhead; do you know? 2 A. I don’t know. 3 Q. Okay. But you knew that the plan was to 4 have the Arvizo family filmed for the “Take 2” 5 video, correct? 6 A. I knew there was a desire to have some 7 footage of the Arvizo family for possible inclusion 8 in the “Take 2” video, yes. 9 Q. And that was the reason why these consent 10 forms were prepared? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And you sent those consent forms to Ann 13 Gabriel, true? 14 A. I don’t know. I might have. 15 Q. Did you send a consent form to Ann Gabriel 16 and ask her to put “Gabriel Media” on the top of it? 17 A. I don’t -- I don’t remember. It’s possible, 18 but I don’t remember that. 19 Q. If it’s possible, can you tell me why that 20 would have happened? 21 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; unintelligible. 22 THE COURT: Sustained. 23 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Well, you admit it’s 24 possible. 25 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; calls for 26 speculation. 27 THE COURT: Overruled. 28 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Yes? 10183 1 A. I really can’t say. I don’t know. 2 Q. Okay. Can you tell me if you can envision a 3 reason why you would send a consent form to Ann 4 Gabriel and ask her to put “Gabriel Media” on the 5 top of it? 6 A. I really don’t know today. We were moving 7 quick on a lot of things, and it, you know, if it 8 happened, may have seemed like a good idea at the 9 time, but I really don’t know why in retrospect. It 10 could have been that I was trying to give Ann, you 11 know, a bit of a role. It -- 12 Q. Did you send consent forms to Neverland 13 Valley Ranch by way of fax for the Arvizo family? 14 A. I think so, yes. 15 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: If I may approach, Your 16 Honor. 17 Q. Mr. LeGrand, I show you People’s Exhibit No. 18 263. It appears to be one, two, three -- five, six, 19 seven, eight -- nine separate pages. Would you look 20 at that for me, please, and identify it if you can. 21 A. This appears to be a fax from Hale Lane to 22 Joe Marcus at Neverland Valley Ranch containing 23 appearance consents and releases for various members 24 of the Arvizo family. 25 Q. Did you prepare those consent and release 26 forms? 27 A. I think my associate, Ann-Marie Levy, did. 28 Q. At your direction? 10184 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Is that the consent and release form that 3 you wrote or prepared? 4 A. Well, I directed the preparation. It 5 appears -- the language looks familiar. 6 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Your Honor, at this time 7 I’d move into evidence People’s Exhibit 263. I’ll 8 show it to counsel. 9 MR. MESEREAU: No objection. 10 THE COURT: It’s admitted. 11 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Mr. LeGrand, at the top 12 of those consent and release forms is the logo for 13 MJJ Productions, correct? 14 A. On some of them, yes. 15 Q. Did you place that logo there? Did you 16 direct, I should say, the placement of that logo at 17 the top of those appearance consent and release 18 forms? 19 A. I don’t believe I did. I have no 20 recollection of so instructing. 21 Q. And then at the back, a couple of pages, 22 that logo appears to have been removed. Did you 23 direct that appearance consent and release forms for 24 the Arvizos be provided without the MJJ Productions 25 logo? 26 A. I don’t recall instructing that they be 27 presented in one form or the other. 28 Q. If your file was complete, Mr. LeGrand, then 10185 1 it should have had that fax and those releases in 2 it, true? 3 A. If the files of my firm were complete, it 4 should be in there. 5 Q. And if it wasn’t in your file, can you 6 explain that? 7 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; calls 8 for speculation. 9 THE COURT: Overruled. 10 You may answer. 11 THE WITNESS: No, I can’t explain it. That 12 portion of the file was kept by Ann-Marie Levy. She 13 was subsequently -- her services at my firm were 14 later terminated. 15 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Is there any reason why 16 Ann-Marie Levy would go through the files and remove 17 those documents, as far as you know? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Did you also send the same consent forms to 20 Hamid Moslehi? 21 A. I don’t know. I’m pretty sure that my firm 22 sent appearance and consent forms to Hamid Moslehi, 23 but I don’t know exactly when or if they were 24 absolutely identical. But -- because I’m not sure 25 we knew where the Arvizos were in order to get the 26 documents executed, and since Hamid was supposed to 27 do the videography, it would not surprise me that we 28 sent them to Hamid. 10186 1 Q. Well, that’s a good point. They were 2 different, weren’t they? They weren’t the same as 3 the ones you sent to Neverland, correct? 4 A. I don’t know. 5 Q. But you agree that your associate sent those 6 to Hamid at your direction? 7 A. I don’t recall making that instruction 8 today. 9 Q. Would you agree that your associate would 10 not send those to Hamid on her own without some 11 direction from you? 12 A. I -- it’s certainly possible that she would 13 have. I mean, she can have been instructed by Mr. 14 Konitzer directly to do so. It’s possible she would 15 have sent them or that she would have interpreted my 16 instruction to prepare and get the consents out as, 17 you know, a broad mandate. 18 THE COURT: Let’s take a break. 19 (Recess taken.) 20 --o0o-- 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 10187 1 REPORTER’S CERTIFICATE 2 3 4 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) 5 OF CALIFORNIA, ) 6 Plaintiff, ) 7 -vs- ) No. 1133603 8 MICHAEL JOE JACKSON, ) 9 Defendant. ) 10 11 12 I, MICHELE MATTSON McNEIL, RPR, CRR, 13 CSR #3304, Official Court Reporter, do hereby 14 certify: 15 That the foregoing pages 10149 through 10187 16 contain a true and correct transcript of the 17 proceedings had in the within and above-entitled 18 matter as by me taken down in shorthand writing at 19 said proceedings on May 13, 2005, and thereafter 20 reduced to typewriting by computer-aided 21 transcription under my direction. 22 DATED: Santa Maria, California, 23 May 13, 2005. 24 25 26 27 MICHELE MATTSON McNEIL, RPR, CRR, CSR #3304 28 10188 1 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 3 SANTA MARIA BRANCH; COOK STREET DIVISION 4 DEPARTMENT SM-2 HON. RODNEY S. MELVILLE, JUDGE 5 6 7 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ) 8 CALIFORNIA, ) 9 Plaintiff, ) 10 -vs- ) No. 1133603 11 MICHAEL JOE JACKSON, ) 12 Defendant. ) 13 14 15 16 17 REPORTER’S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 18 19 FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2005 20 21 8:30 A.M. 22 23 (PAGES 10189 THROUGH 10362) 24 25 26 27 REPORTED MICHELE MATTSON McNEIL, RPR, CRR, CSR #3304 28 BY: Official Court Reporter 10189 1 APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL: 2 3 For Plaintiff: THOMAS W. SNEDDON, JR., 4 District Attorney -and- 5 RONALD J. ZONEN, Sr. Deputy District Attorney 6 -and- GORDON AUCHINCLOSS, 7 Sr. Deputy District Attorney 1112 Santa Barbara Street 8 Santa Barbara, California 93101 9 10 11 For Defendant: COLLINS, MESEREAU, REDDOCK & YU BY: THOMAS A. MESEREAU, JR., ESQ. 12 -and- SUSAN C. YU, ESQ. 13 1875 Century Park East, Suite 700 Los Angeles, California 90067 14 -and- 15 SANGER & SWYSEN 16 BY: ROBERT M. SANGER, ESQ. 233 East Carrillo Street, Suite C 17 Santa Barbara, California 93101 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 10190 1 I N D E X 2 3 Note: Mr. Sneddon is listed as “SN” on index. 4 Mr. Zonen is listed as “Z” on index. Mr. Auchincloss is listed as “A” on index. 5 Mr. Mesereau is listed as “M” on index. Ms. Yu is listed as “Y” on index. 6 Mr. Sanger is listed as “SA” on index. 7 8 9 DEFENDANT’S 10 WITNESSES DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS 11 LEGRAND, David G. 10207-M 10232-A 12 13 10240-M 10241-A (Further) (Further) 14 15 10242-M (Further) 16 17 GERAGOS, Mark 10248-M 10288-Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 10191 1 E X H I B I T S 2 FOR IN PLAINTIFF’S NO. DESCRIPTION I.D. EVID. 3 4 899 Letter from David LeGrand to Barry Siegel 10193 10194 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Thank you, Your Honor. 28 Q. I’d like to show you a few documents. We’re 10192 1 in the home stretch here, so I’ll be finished in a 2 short period. 3 If I may approach, Your Honor. 4 THE COURT: You may. 5 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. First of 6 all, Mr. LeGrand, I show you People’s Exhibit No. 7 899. Can you identify that for me, please? 8 A. Yes. This is a letter I prepared for Mr. 9 Jackson’s signature directed to Barry Siegel. 10 Q. Okay. And that was a letter turning over 11 the financial reins to you for Mr. Jackson’s 12 concerns involving Provident Financial Management; 13 is that correct? 14 A. I believe the document speaks for itself. 15 It states in one relevant paragraph that, “Mr. 16 LeGrand is engaging a new management company to 17 serve my interests, and you are specifically 18 authorized and instructed to transfer any available 19 funds you are holding on my behalf or for any of my 20 businesses to such management company or Mr. 21 LeGrand’s trust account pursuant to Mr. LeGrand and 22 Miss Brandt’s instructions.” 23 Q. Okay. Is that Michael Jackson’s signature 24 at the bottom of that document? 25 A. Yes, it is. 26 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Move to admit People’s 27 Exhibit No. 899 into evidence. 28 MR. MESEREAU: No objection. 10193 1 THE COURT: It’s admitted. 2 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. Showing you 3 the People’s Exhibit -- the 400 series. Didn’t mean 4 to scare you. 5 Okay. Beginning with Exhibit No. 406, it 6 appears to be a Hale Lane fax transmittal sheet on 7 the front page. Can you identify that document for 8 me, please? 9 A. This appears to be the transmittal between 10 myself and Marisa Fermin of the final agreement for 11 the “Take 2.” 12 Q. And that agreement calls for Fire Mountain 13 to receive three million dollars on behalf of Mr. 14 Jackson; is that correct? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. And did you send that document to Miss 17 Fermin at FOX? 18 A. Yes. 19 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. Move to admit 20 People’s Exhibit 406 into evidence at this time. 21 MR. MESEREAU: No objection. 22 THE COURT: It’s admitted. 23 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Showing you People’s 24 Exhibit 412, can you identify that for me, please? 25 A. This appears to be a transmittal from Hale 26 Lane to Hamid Moslehi containing some appearance 27 consents and a -- yeah. Containing appearance 28 consents and an additional consent for MJJ 10194 1 Productions for the Michael Jackson special. 2 Q. Did you send that fax transmittal with 3 accompanying documents to Hamid at (818) 224-4664 4 on -- I’m sorry -- February 10th, 2003? 5 A. Based on these documents, yes. 6 Q. And the first document that appears in that 7 group after the fax sheet is entitled “Gabriel 8 Media, Incorporated. Appearance Consent and 9 Release.” Did you send that document to Hamid 10 Moslehi? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Can you explain to me why the document is 13 entitled “Gabriel Media, Incorporated”? 14 A. Not today, no. I don’t remember. 15 And the second document has that whited out, 16 and it has a -- 17 Q. There’s no question pending. 18 A. Oh. Sorry. 19 Q. I’m just asking about the first document. 20 A. No. I don’t know why. 21 Q. But you admit that you did send that to 22 Mr. Moslehi? 23 A. Yes, I did. 24 Q. And Gabriel Media had nothing to do with 25 this production, did they? 26 A. I’m not sure I can say “nothing” to do with 27 this production. At the time, I believe Miss 28 Gabriel was still a consultant on PR-related 10195 1 matters. 2 Q. But can you -- go ahead. 3 A. I really don’t remember today why this 4 document had her company’s title on it. 5 Q. There’s no reason for that, is there? 6 A. I -- I don’t know of the reason for it. I 7 don’t remember. I’m sure there was at the time, but 8 I don’t remember it today. 9 Q. Was the reason “Gabriel Media, Incorporated” 10 appears on that appearance consent and release form 11 intended to distance you and Michael Jackson from 12 these consent and release forms? 13 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Argumentative; no 14 foundation. 15 THE COURT: Overruled. 16 You may answer. 17 THE WITNESS: I don’t remember what the 18 intent was. 19 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: All right. Let’s move on. 20 THE COURT: I want to ask a question. 21 The Exhibit 406, previously I admitted a 22 portion and not admitted a portion, and then he 23 offered it a minute ago and there was no objection. 24 But I just wanted to bring your attention to my 25 previous ruling. 26 MR. SANGER: Can we have just a moment? 27 THE COURT: Yes. 28 (Off-the-record discussion held at counsel 10196 1 table.) 2 MR. MESEREAU: Your Honor, I thought they 3 were complete documents, the ones I saw. Could we 4 hold off a ruling and discuss them? 5 THE COURT: All right. 6 MR. MESEREAU: Thank you. 7 THE COURT: All right. I’ll hold off on 8 that. 9 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Showing you page seven 10 of Exhibit No. 413, it also appears to be a Hale 11 Lane facsimile transmittal sheet. Can you identify 12 that for me, please? 13 MR. SANGER: Your Honor, I’m sorry, could we 14 just have that back? Page seven of what exhibit? 15 THE COURT: 4-1-3. 16 MR. SANGER: Thank you. 17 THE WITNESS: This is a fax from Hale Lane 18 to Vincent at MJJ Productions of some model releases 19 for the Arvizos; for Gavin, Star, and Janet. 20 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Did you send a fax 21 transmittal to -- and we should say, for the record, 22 that you’re looking through -- you’ve removed the 23 document from its sleeve and there appears to be 24 several appearance and consent release forms that 25 are paper-clipped together. 26 A. I’m sorry, these are different documents 27 with different dates. The paper-clipped transmittal 28 of February 17th appears to be substantially the 10197 1 same as the fax transmittal that we identified 2 earlier to Neverland. 3 Q. Okay. 4 A. Whereas these documents that are attached -- 5 that are in this folder that I just referenced are 6 dated February 21. And I don’t know when they were 7 sent or how. 8 Q. Okay. Let’s talk about that. And why don’t 9 we keep this out for a moment. 10 A. Oh. Sure. 11 Q. The first document is dated February 17th, 12 2003, correct? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And it indicates a number of pages with 15 cover of nine; is that true? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. But there’s only one, two, three, four, 18 five -- six pages paper-clipped together with this. 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. All right. Now, did you direct that this 21 document, either with or without nine pages, was to 22 be sent to Vincent at MJJ Productions at (818) 23 224-4664 on February 17th, 2003? 24 A. Yes, I did so direct. 25 Q. Who is Vincent? 26 A. I think his name is Vincent Amen. 27 Q. Have you ever talked to him? 28 A. I think so, but I don’t have a specific 10198 1 recollection of talking to him. 2 Q. Have you ever met Mr. Amen? 3 A. I don’t recall. 4 Q. And was your intent to send those forms to 5 Mr. Amen at that number so that he could get the 6 Arvizos to sign consent and release forms for the 7 “Take 2” video? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Now, moving on to the next form, page, I 10 guess what we would consider page eight of that same 11 exhibit number, 403. Let me double-check that. 12 413, I’m sorry. 13 Calling your attention to page eight, is the 14 language of that model release language that you 15 cleared for use in that consent form? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Did you have a discussion with Vincent Amen 18 at 12 -- looks like 12:57 a.m. in the early morning 19 hours of February 21, ‘03? 20 A. I think so. I just don’t remember if it was 21 Vincent Amen. But I had -- I think I mentioned in 22 my testimony yesterday that I had one evening a -- 23 late in the evening I had a conversation about the 24 Arvizo releases. 25 Q. Okay. I’ll come back to that in a moment. 26 I’m showing you People’s Exhibit 807. Have 27 you ever seen that exhibit before? 28 A. Yes. 10199 1 Q. What is it, please? 2 A. This is a document authorizing Theodore 3 Goddard to file, it says, “...this complaint on 4 behalf of my son Gavin Arvizo.” 5 Q. Was that a document that you had in your 6 file at Hale Lane for Michael Jackson? 7 A. I don’t know. 8 Q. Where have you seen that document before? 9 A. It was filed with the -- well, I don’t know. 10 I’m sorry, let me back up. 11 It was submitted to the law firm in the UK 12 of Theodore Goddard as support for their 13 authorization to file the complaint I referenced 14 with the British Broadcasting Standards Board. 15 Q. Based on your training and experience, does 16 that document look like it was prepared by an 17 attorney? 18 A. Well, it looks like it was prepared by 19 somebody who had legal knowledge. 20 Q. Is that the type of document you would 21 prepare for a release of that nature? 22 A. I don’t know if I prepared this or not. I 23 remember discussing this matter, and I remember 24 talking to, I believe it’s Ronald Konitzer, who was 25 in Florida at the time, regarding the need to have 26 the authorization for the Broadcasting Standards 27 Board complaint. 28 Q. Are you aware that Janet Arvizo’s attorney 10200 1 complained that that document was forged around her 2 signature? 3 A. Yes, I am aware that Mr. Dickerman made that 4 statement. 5 Q. And were you present when this document was 6 signed? 7 A. I don’t believe so, no. 8 Q. And where did you get this document from, or 9 a copy of it from? 10 A. I’m not sure. I believe Mr. Konitzer 11 delivered this document to me. But I -- but I’m not 12 sure. 13 Q. I’m showing you People’s Exhibit 811. It 14 appears to be four pages, if you’d leaf through it. 15 Have you ever seen Exhibit 811 before? 16 A. Well, Exhibit 811 is a signed version of 17 these other documents that are -- have the February 18 21, ‘03, date on them that were faxed under the -- 19 well, I’m not sure they were faxed or not under 20 that. But anyway, yes, I’ve seen these before, but 21 I don’t remember particularly seeing the signed 22 ones. 23 Q. Okay. Did you have copies of these signed 24 model releases in your file for Michael Jackson? 25 A. I don’t know if I did or didn’t. I 26 really -- Ann-Marie was responsible for the release 27 forms. 28 Q. All right. Going back to the consent forms 10201 1 that were signed ultimately by the Arvizos, the 2 first consent forms were sent by you to Neverland 3 Valley Ranch to have the Arvizos sign them, correct? 4 That was the first time that you attempted 5 to get consent forms signed by the Arvizos, true? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And they didn’t sign them, did they? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Were you informed of why the Arvizos did not 10 sign those consent forms to be sent to Neverland 11 Valley Ranch? 12 A. The conversation I had, which -- based on 13 what you’ve presented, I believe -- 14 Q. I’m sorry. That’s a “yes” or “no” question 15 first. 16 A. I’m sorry, what was the question? 17 Q. I just want to know if you were informed of 18 why those consent forms were not signed. 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Who did you receive that information from? 21 A. Based on what you’ve just reviewed with me, 22 I think it was Vincent Amen. 23 Q. All right. And what did Vincent Amen tell 24 you about that? 25 Well, let me back up. Did Vincent Amen tell 26 you that the Arvizos did not want to sign those 27 forms? 28 A. Yes. 10202 1 Q. The next forms you sent were to Hamid 2 Moslehi, identical forms, except for some minor 3 changes. I think the “MJJ Productions” is removed. 4 Is that fair to say? 5 A. The body of the consents are the same. I’m 6 not sure -- we’ve looked at a number of these now. 7 I’m not sure -- did we send -- I’m not sure whether 8 the ones that went to Hamid were particularly for 9 the Arvizos or whether they were general forms. 10 Q. Would you like to see them again? 11 A. Yeah, if I could. I’m getting a little 12 confused. 13 Q. Again, I’m just showing you People’s Exhibit 14 412. 15 A. Yeah, these do not have the names of 16 individual people typed in to the body of the 17 document, so they are similar in form and substance, 18 but they are different. 19 Q. Okay. And was it your intent to have Hamid 20 obtain signatures from the Arvizo family on those 21 forms? 22 A. I don’t recall that I had any specific 23 intent with respect to the Arvizos in transmitting 24 those to Hamid. It was certainly my intent to have 25 Hamid further assure that we had consents from 26 anybody appearing in the video. 27 Q. All right. And then is the exhibit that I 28 showed you marked as -- let me check one more thing. 10203 1 I’m sorry. 2 A. I’m sorry, I have not been well. 3 Q. This is the exhibit that was removed from 4 the sleeve. I’ll put it back in. That will 5 necessitate me finding the missing sleeve. 6 Okay. Here it is. Well, I’ll ask my friend 7 Mr. Zonen to find the sleeve for that. 8 Q. The exhibit that was to Vincent at MJJ 9 Productions dated February 17th, 2003, that one was 10 specifically sent to have the Arvizos sign, correct? 11 A. Yes. The body of the document included 12 names of the individual members of the Arvizo 13 family. 14 Q. And the Arvizos did not sign those forms 15 either, did they? 16 A. No. 17 Q. And in the early morning hours, you received 18 a phone call several days later that the Arvizos 19 were still refusing to sign these consent forms, did 20 you not? 21 A. Correct. 22 Q. From whom? 23 A. Again, based on what you’ve presented, I 24 believe it was Vincent Amen. 25 Q. And you revised the release form to the 26 state that we find in People’s Exhibit 811, which 27 has signatures on it; is that correct? 28 A. Yes. 10204 1 Q. Mr. LeGrand, did you conceal any documents 2 from your files on Michael Jackson? 3 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 4 relevance. 5 THE COURT: Overruled. 6 You may answer. 7 THE WITNESS: I don’t think so. 8 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Can you tell me where 9 the e-mails are for that file? 10 A. As far as I know, they’re in the Hale Lane 11 computer system. And to the best of my 12 recollection, there was a CD-rom prepared and 13 delivered to the Katten Muchin law firm. 14 Q. Can you tell me where your personal notes 15 are regarding your communications with Michael 16 Jackson regarding that period of time of 17 representation for Mr. Jackson that should be in 18 that file? 19 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Argumentative; 20 misstates the evidence. 21 THE COURT: Sustained. 22 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Can you tell me where 23 your personal notes of Michael Jackson -- involving 24 communications with Michael Jackson during this 25 period of time, early part of 2003, can you tell me 26 where those are? 27 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 28 misstates the evidence. 10205 1 THE COURT: Overruled. 2 You may answer. 3 THE WITNESS: I’m not sure today. 4 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: You stated that you 5 thought the Martin Bashir film was a hatchet job. 6 Did you ever say in an e-mail that, “Ronald 7 had nothing to do with this. The man did the 8 interview himself. Not good”? Did you ever say 9 that? 10 A. I don’t remember that. It’s certainly 11 possible. 12 Q. If I show you a copy of that e-mail, would 13 that refresh your recollection? 14 A. It might. 15 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: May I approach? 16 THE WITNESS: Yeah, I did say that. 17 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Mr. LeGrand, concerning 18 your files in this case, did you ever indicate that 19 you would, “Walk away as soon as I plug a few 20 document holes”? 21 A. I may have. There were some corporate 22 paperwork pieces that needed to get finished that I 23 had -- you know, that I had the knowledge of that we 24 just hadn’t had time to finish everything that 25 needed -- that should have been done, in my opinion, 26 so I wanted to complete some of that paperwork. 27 Q. Did you ever say, “I am cleaning up 28 documents over the next few days which should help 10206 1 build a strong position for defending our actions if 2 they ever need to be defended”? 3 A. Could be. Again, there were resolutions, 4 there was some corporate paperwork that was no way a 5 fabrication that would reflect the events as they 6 occurred that, you know, should have been done. 7 Q. Did “cleaning up the documents” in this case 8 include destruction of documents, Mr. LeGrand? 9 A. No. 10 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I have no further 11 questions. 12 THE COURT: Mr. Mesereau? 13 14 REDIRECT EXAMINATION 15 BY MR. MESEREAU: 16 Q. Mr. LeGrand, do you have the exhibit book in 17 front of you that you had yesterday? 18 A. No, sir. 19 MR. MESEREAU: May I approach, Your Honor, 20 and -- 21 THE COURT: Yes. 22 MR. MESEREAU: Oh. Thank you. 23 Q. Mr. LeGrand, isn’t it true the District 24 Attorney’s Office never subpoenaed documents from 25 you? 26 A. That’s correct. 27 Q. Isn’t it true that Prosecutor Auchincloss 28 never once called you and asked you to give him any 10207 1 documents in your files? 2 A. That’s correct. 3 Q. Isn’t it true that Prosecutor Sneddon never 4 called you at any time and said, “Could we please 5 have your files?” 6 A. That’s correct. 7 Q. Isn’t it true Prosecutor Zonen never called 8 you at any time and said, “Mr. LeGrand, could we 9 just take a look at your files?” 10 A. That’s correct. 11 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; leading. 12 THE COURT: Overruled. 13 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Isn’t it true that no 14 representative of the Santa Barbara sheriffs ever 15 called your office and said, “Mr. LeGrand, please 16 give us your e-mails”? 17 A. That is correct. 18 Q. Nobody associated with the prosecution has 19 ever called you or your firm and said, “Please let 20 us see your files,” right? 21 A. That’s true. 22 Q. Now, Mr. LeGrand, the prosecutor asked you 23 some questions about you and your partners’ efforts 24 to investigate people who were around Michael 25 Jackson, right? 26 A. Yes. 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; leading. 28 THE COURT: Overruled. 10208 1 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And he specifically asked 2 you questions about an attorney named John Branca, 3 right? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. At the time you began an investigation into 6 some of the people around Mr. Jackson that you were 7 concerned about, one of the people you investigated 8 was Mr. Branca, correct? 9 A. Yes. 10 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; leading. 11 THE COURT: Overruled. 12 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And to your knowledge at 13 the time, Mr. Branca had been an attorney in Los 14 Angeles doing music work for Mr. Jackson, right? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. You yourself, as you’ve indicated yesterday, 17 were not a specialist in music law, right? 18 A. That’s right. 19 Q. Mr. Branca purportedly was, right? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. Now, you answered some questions yesterday 22 about the Sony/ATV catalog. Remember that? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. And the Sony/ATV catalog was owned 50/50 by 25 Sony and Michael Jackson, correct? 26 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; leading. 27 THE COURT: Overruled. 28 THE WITNESS: Yes. 10209 1 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And at times Mr. Jackson 2 and Sony would have business discussions about their 3 respective ownership interests in the catalog, 4 right? 5 A. I was never privy to those discussions. It 6 would certainly seem that they would occur, but I 7 don’t have actual knowledge of that. 8 Q. But you were aware that negotiations went on 9 from time to time between representatives of Michael 10 Jackson and representatives of Sony about their 11 respective interests in that music catalog, right? 12 A. Well, absolutely, yes, because I obtained 13 files from the Ziffren law firm evidencing the 14 Ziffren law firm and Mr. Branca’s representing Mr. 15 Jackson in just such discussions over a period of 16 time. 17 Q. And just to clarify, Mr. Branca was a 18 partner at the Ziffren law firm in Los Angeles, 19 correct? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. That firm also represented Sony, correct? 22 A. I believe the answer is correct. Yes. 23 Q. And you were concerned that Mr. Branca and 24 that law firm might not be representing Mr. 25 Jackson’s interests properly because of their 26 connection to Sony, correct? 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; leading. 28 THE COURT: Sustained. 10210 1 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Didn’t you investigate Mr. 2 Branca because you were concerned that he and Sony 3 had set up an offshore account to funnel money to so 4 they could defraud Michael Jackson? 5 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Same objection. 6 THE COURT: Sustained. 7 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Why did you investigate 8 Mr. Branca? 9 A. I requested -- well, let me back up. 10 After consultation with my partner, Mr. 11 Gibson, and discussion with I believe Mr. Joss at 12 Paul Hastings, Mr. Gibson and I instructed the firm 13 Interfor to investigate Mr. Branca, because Mr. 14 Konitzer had indicated in several conversations that 15 he was very concerned about Mr. Branca and that Mr. 16 Jackson had expressed concern about Mr. Branca’s 17 loyalty. 18 Also, there was -- Mr. Schaffel related 19 information that also was negative of Mr. Branca. 20 So we made collectively the decision to ask Interfor 21 to further the background investigation, to conduct 22 investigation into Mr. Branca. 23 Q. But at the time, Konitzer didn’t know that 24 you were also investigating him, right? 25 A. That’s correct. 26 Q. At the time, Schaffel didn’t know you were 27 also investigating Schaffel, right? 28 A. That’s correct. 10211 1 Q. At the time, Weizner didn’t know you were 2 also investigating Weizner, right? 3 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Leading; 4 foundation. 5 THE COURT: Overruled. 6 THE WITNESS: That’s correct. We did not 7 inform them of the scope of -- the full scope of 8 Interfor’s actions at our request. 9 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And you also investigated 10 somebody named Tommy Motolla, correct? 11 A. I’m not sure that’s correct. 12 Q. Do you recall asking Interfor to do some 13 investigation into an offshore bank account? 14 A. It’s kind of the other way around. We asked 15 Interfor to investigate Mr. Branca. They indicated 16 to us that -- 17 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’m going to object based 18 on hearsay. 19 MR. MESEREAU: State of mind, Your Honor. 20 THE COURT: Sustained. 21 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: What was your state of 22 mind when you investigated the possibility that an 23 offshore account had been formed by various people 24 to defraud Michael Jackson? 25 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’m going to object as 26 leading. 27 THE COURT: Sustained. 28 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: What was your state of 10212 1 mind when you investigated the formation of an 2 offshore bank account? 3 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; assumes facts. 4 THE COURT: Sustained. 5 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you investigate the 6 existence of an offshore bank account? 7 A. We requested Interfor to look into that 8 possibility, yes. 9 Q. Why? 10 A. Because there was a -- 11 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’ll object based on 12 hearsay. 13 MR. MESEREAU: State of mind. 14 THE COURT: The objection is overruled. 15 You may complete your answer. 16 THE WITNESS: Because we had -- we, the 17 lawyers, had been given information from a source 18 that appeared to have some credibility that such an 19 account existed. 20 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And why did you want to 21 investigate that account? 22 A. Be -- well, to me, that’s kind of obvious. 23 But if, in fact, there was an offshore account in 24 which money was being deposited for the benefit of 25 Mr. Branca or others, that would indicate very 26 serious violations of Mr. Branca’s responsibilities 27 to Mr. Jackson. 28 Q. Did you think at one point that Sony was 10213 1 paying Mr. Branca money to sell out Mr. Jackson? 2 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Improper 3 opinion; leading. 4 THE COURT: Sustained. 5 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did your investigation 6 involve anyone you thought was involved in 7 transferring money to that bank account? 8 A. The best way I can answer that is to say we 9 asked the investigators to do as complete a job as 10 they could with the financial resources we had 11 available for them. And I didn’t delineate who they 12 should or shouldn’t look into with respect to such 13 an account. 14 Q. But at your direction, they looked into the 15 existence of that account, correct? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And it was your direction that they look 18 into that account because you were concerned that 19 Michael Jackson’s attorney and Sony were putting 20 money in that account so Mr. Jackson’s lawyer would 21 essentially sell him out, right? 22 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Leading; 23 argumentative. 24 THE COURT: Sustained; foundation. 25 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Where was the offshore 26 account, if you know? 27 A. I’m sorry, I don’t recall. I believe it was 28 in the Caribbean. 10214 1 Q. Okay. And did your investigation get far 2 enough to establish that, in fact, this lawyer was a 3 signatory on that account? 4 A. I don’t believe so, no. 5 Q. But the investigation did indicate he was 6 somehow involved in the account, correct? 7 A. The investigator’s report so indicated. 8 Q. And the investigator’s report indicated it 9 appeared that Sony was involved in that account, 10 right? 11 A. The investigator’s report indicated that 12 Sony had transferred money to the account. 13 Q. Sony had transferred money to that account 14 for the benefit of Mr. Jackson’s lawyer, right? 15 A. That’s what was indicated in the report. 16 It -- I need to be very clear here that that 17 was not verified, with a reasonable degree of 18 certainty, that I would have acted upon that 19 information. And Mr. Branca’s a fine lawyer. And, 20 you know, there is no -- I have no proof of these 21 statements. 22 Q. You investigated Mr. Branca because, in your 23 words, you thought he was involved in self-dealing, 24 right? 25 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Improper 26 opinion; no foundation; leading. 27 THE COURT: Overruled. 28 THE WITNESS: Again, you know, I want to be 10215 1 clear. I consulted with my partner and, you know, 2 other lawyers, and we collectively made a decision 3 to -- that it was prudent to have our investigator 4 look into the possibility of such actions being 5 taken by Mr. Branca. 6 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: You were concerned that 7 all of the individuals you investigated were 8 involved in self-dealing, right? 9 A. No. That’s not right. For example, I did 10 not suspect Mr. Malnik of self-dealing in any way. 11 Q. Then why did you have an entirely separate 12 and more comprehensive investigation done of Mr. 13 Malnik? 14 A. I had done an Internet search on Mr. Malnik 15 before I met him. That Internet search indicated 16 that he had ties to organized crime; that he was 17 rumored to be the, you know, quote, heir of Meyer 18 Lansky. 19 There were, you know, sufficient clouds in 20 the public record of Mr. Malnik’s past that, again, 21 we, the lawyers, made a collective decision that it 22 was prudent to further investigate Mr. Malnik. We 23 did not know who he was. And he was becoming a more 24 and more powerful figure in Michael Jackson’s life. 25 Q. Did you at any point determine that Malnik 26 had ties with Sony? 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Foundation; 28 improper opinion; leading. 10216 1 THE COURT: Sustained. 2 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Do you know whether or not 3 Mr. Malnik has ever had a position with the Sony 4 corporation? 5 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Same 6 objection. Add relevancy. 7 THE COURT: Relevancy, sustained. 8 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: When you did your 9 investigation, you and your partner, both former 10 prosecutors, were you concerned about Mr. Malnik’s 11 relationship with Sony? 12 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Same objection. 13 THE COURT: Overruled. 14 THE WITNESS: I really don’t recall that we 15 had any concern over Mr. Malnik’s relationship with 16 Sony. In fact, I’m not aware that he had a 17 significant relationship with Sony. 18 Our concern about Mr. Malnik was simply 19 based upon the, you know, public records indicating 20 these, you know, vague relationships to criminal 21 figures. And those -- you know, those are all long 22 in the past, but still, you know, in the public 23 domain. 24 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And you were concerned 25 that all of these characters were trying to steal 26 money and take advantage of Michael Jackson, right? 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Leading; 28 argumentative. 10217 1 THE COURT: Sustained. 2 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Have you and Prosecutor 3 Auchincloss ever had a discussion about this 4 investigation that you and your partner began? 5 A. No. 6 Q. Has Mr. Auchincloss ever tried to approach 7 you to find out why you were investigating all of 8 these people while you were Mr. Jackson’s lawyer? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Isn’t it true that you were trying to 11 investigate offshore accounts owned by Branca and 12 someone named Tommy Motolla? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Who was Tommy Motolla? 15 A. He was a very powerful figure in the record 16 industry at one time. I believe he was the 17 president of the Sony Entertainment Division in the 18 U.S. I’m not sure of his exact title or position. 19 Q. Were you concerned that Tommy Motolla and 20 Mr. Jackson’s lawyer, John Branca, were working 21 together to defraud Michael Jackson? 22 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Relevancy; 23 assumes facts; leading. 24 THE COURT: You may answer. 25 THE WITNESS: Based on the suspicions that 26 were expressed to me and my partner, we asked 27 Interfor to look into these rumors. 28 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Now, you had known 10218 1 Konitzer for how many years at that point? 2 A. I’m not sure. Six, seven, eight maybe. 3 Q. But you had never investigated Konitzer 4 before you started this investigation, right? 5 A. Right. 6 Q. Even though you knew Konitzer all those 7 years, you had never hired an investigative firm to 8 check out his background, correct? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. You were concerned that Konitzer was engaged 11 in self-dealing at the expense of Michael Jackson, 12 true? 13 A. Yes. 14 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Relevancy; 15 improper opinion. 16 MR. MESEREAU: I think the prosecutor’s gone 17 through all this, Your Honor. 18 THE COURT: The objection is overruled. 19 THE WITNESS: My answer is yes, I was 20 concerned. 21 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: You were also concerned 22 that Dieter Weizner was engaging in self-dealing at 23 the expense of Michael Jackson, correct? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. You were -- you asked for an investigation 26 into Konitzer’s background in Canada, right? 27 A. Canada and Germany, yes. 28 Q. And you also asked for an investigation into 10219 1 Weizner’s background in Germany, right? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Have you ever met Tommy Motolla? 4 A. No. 5 Q. Ever spoken to him? 6 A. No. 7 Q. To your knowledge, did Al Malnik have any 8 relationship with Tommy Motolla? 9 A. Not to my knowledge. 10 Q. Did you ever talk to him about that? 11 A. I don’t believe I ever talked to Al about 12 whether or not he knew or had met Tommy Motolla. 13 Q. Was it your belief when you started this 14 investigation that Al Malnik, Tommy Motolla, John 15 Branca and people at Sony were trying to find a way 16 to get Mr. Jackson’s interest in that music catalog? 17 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Argumentative; 18 leading; relevancy. 19 THE COURT: Overruled. 20 You may answer. 21 THE WITNESS: I’m not sure that I would 22 include Al Malnik in that group, but I certainly was 23 concerned that Branca and Motolla, in particular, 24 had set the stage, so to speak, for Sony to be able 25 to obtain Michael’s interest in the Sony/ATV joint 26 venture. 27 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And as a former prosecutor 28 and as Michael Jackson’s attorney, you thought the 10220 1 ethical and professional thing for you and your law 2 firm to do was to investigate these people to 3 protect Mr. Jackson as best you could, right? 4 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I’m going to object to the 5 prefatory remarks as argumentative. 6 THE COURT: Overruled. 7 You may answer. 8 THE WITNESS: The investigation was one of 9 the tools we employed to try to be effective in 10 representing our client’s interest. 11 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: In response to Prosecutor 12 Auchincloss’s questions, you said you wanted -- 13 excuse me, let me rephrase that. 14 In response to Prosecutor Auchincloss’s 15 questions about why you started this investigation, 16 you said you wanted Michael Jackson to be empowered. 17 Do you remember that? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. And what did you mean by the word 20 “empowered”? 21 A. I wanted him to have a higher degree of 22 detail and knowledge about the people who were 23 becoming influential in his business and financial 24 affairs, so that, having that knowledge, he could 25 then make better decisions about those people and 26 the positions they would occupy in his life. 27 Q. Did you feel that Michael Jackson had made 28 poor decisions in trusting certain people in his 10221 1 life? 2 A. No disrespect intended to Mr. Jackson, but 3 it’s -- it was apparent from any review of the 4 lawsuits against him and some of his well-publicized 5 history that he’s been taken -- you know, that 6 people have attempted to gain significantly from 7 being associated with him. 8 Q. And you felt, looking at his history, that 9 he’d been taken advantage of repeatedly, right? 10 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Leading; 11 argumentative. 12 THE COURT: Sustained. 13 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you make a 14 determination whether or not Mr. Jackson had been 15 taken advantage of? 16 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; improper 17 opinion. 18 THE COURT: Relevancy; sustained. 19 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you feel that one of 20 your responsibilities as Mr. Jackson’s new attorney 21 was to try and stop people from taking advantage of 22 him? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Did you have concerns that all of the people 25 that you were investigating were taking advantage of 26 Michael Jackson? 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Leading; 28 relevance. 10222 1 THE COURT: Asked and answered. 2 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Asked and answered. 3 THE COURT: Sustained. 4 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you know that Mark 5 Geragos was investigating the Arvizos? 6 A. I don’t know. I don’t remember -- as I sit 7 here today, I don’t remember specifically that I 8 knew he was investigating them. I’m just not sure 9 about that. I’m sorry. 10 Q. I’m sorry. Did I stop you? 11 A. No. I just -- I don’t remember. 12 Q. Well, Prosecutor Auchincloss asked you if 13 you had ever talked to an investigator named Brad 14 Miller, right? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. And I believe you thought you might have, 17 but you weren’t sure; is that right? 18 A. That’s right. 19 Q. At some point, you were one of the lawyers 20 responsible for hiring Mark Geragos, right? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Do you recall ever discussing with Mark 23 Geragos his decision to investigate the Arvizos’ 24 background in extortion and fraud? 25 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Argumentative; 26 assumes facts; hearsay. 27 THE COURT: Sustained. 28 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever talk with 10223 1 Mark Geragos about what he learned about the J.C. 2 Penney suit filed by the Arvizos? 3 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Hearsay; 4 exceeds the scope. 5 THE COURT: Sustained. 6 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: When you were 7 communicating with Mr. Geragos, did you ever 8 discuss, you and he, a J.C. Penney suit, that you 9 recall? 10 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; hearsay. 11 THE COURT: Sustained. 12 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Now, Prosecutor 13 Auchincloss asked you some questions yesterday about 14 Janet Arvizo turning down an offer of $25,000 from 15 you. Do you remember that? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And at the point in time when you offered 18 $25,000 to Janet Arvizo, Janet Arvizo was being 19 represented in England by the same law firm that 20 represented Michael Jackson, right? 21 A. With respect to the British broadcasting 22 administrative complaint process, yes. 23 Q. If you know, who was paying Janet Arvizo’s 24 legal fees in that action? 25 A. Ultimately Mr. Jackson. I’m not sure which 26 exactly the source of funds was. But ultimately Mr. 27 Jackson. 28 Q. Do you have any idea how much money Mr. 10224 1 Jackson spent paying Janet Arvizo’s legal fees in 2 England? 3 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; relevancy. 4 THE COURT: Sustained. 5 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: When you discussed the 6 possibility of giving Janet Arvizo $25,000, you were 7 talking to her new lawyer named Bill Dickerman, 8 right? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. When you spoke to Bill Dickerman, did you 11 know that he had a profit-sharing arrangement with 12 an attorney named Larry Feldman? 13 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Relevancy; 14 hearsay. 15 THE COURT: Sustained. 16 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: If Janet Arvizo was going 17 to file a lawsuit against Michael Jackson with 18 Attorneys Larry Feldman and Bill Dickerman, it 19 wouldn’t make sense to be joined with him in a suit 20 in England, would it? 21 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; argumentative. 22 THE COURT: Sustained. 23 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Approximately when did you 24 talk to Attorney Bill Dickerman about your offer of 25 $25,000 to Janet Arvizo? 26 A. As I think I said yesterday, it was I think 27 spring of ‘04. And whether that was March, April, 28 May or June, I’m not sure. Mr. Dickerman and I 10225 1 corresponded over a period of, I’m not sure whether 2 it was two weeks or six weeks. But there was a 3 little period of time. And I’m pretty sure it was 4 late spring of ‘04. 5 Q. Did the name Attorney Larry Feldman ever pop 6 up in your discussions with Bill Dickerman? 7 A. No. 8 Q. How about Jamie Masada? 9 A. No. 10 Q. How about Stan Katz? 11 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Beyond the 12 scope; relevancy. 13 MR. MESEREAU: I believe counsel explored 14 this issue, Your Honor. 15 THE COURT: The objection is sustained. 16 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Attorney Dickerman 17 communicated to you his desire that Mrs. Arvizo not 18 be represented by any of Michael Jackson’s 19 attorneys, right? 20 A. Not exactly. What he communicated was that 21 he wanted the -- the representation with respect to 22 the British Standards Board complaint to be 23 terminated and he wanted the complaint withdrawn. 24 Q. And that was a complaint that Mr. Jackson 25 and Mrs. Arvizo had filed complaining about Mr. 26 Bashir’s actions and tactics, right? 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; assumes facts 28 not in evidence. 10226 1 THE COURT: Overruled. 2 THE WITNESS: Originally, as I said 3 yesterday, there was one complaint filed on behalf 4 of the Jacksons and the Arvizos. The Standards 5 Board subsequently instructed the lawyers in the UK 6 that the Arvizo complaint was a separate and 7 distinct matter and needed to be the subject of its 8 own complaint. 9 So that’s -- I mean, so there were two 10 separate complaints. Ultimately one for the Arvizos 11 and one for Mr. Jackson. And those complaints 12 alleged that Granada and Martin Bashir, as Granada’s 13 agent, had violated various aspects of the British 14 broadcasting standards with respect to their actions 15 in the video presented and produced by Granada. 16 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: At any point, did you feel 17 that you were a lawyer for Janet Arvizo? 18 A. No. 19 Q. At any point, did you feel you were giving 20 any legal advice to Janet Arvizo? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Now, Prosecutor Auchincloss showed you a 23 couple of model release forms that you had prepared, 24 right? 25 A. Yes. 26 Q. And when you prepared those release forms, 27 it was your understanding that Ms. Arvizo and her 28 family would sign them authorizing the family to be 10227 1 filmed in the “Take 2” production, right? 2 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Leading; 3 assumes facts not in evidence. 4 THE COURT: Sustained. 5 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Why did you prepare model 6 releases to be signed by the Arvizos? 7 A. Because we -- because there could not be a 8 broadcast use of any video containing their images 9 without a release. 10 Q. And at some point, did you learn that Janet 11 Arvizo was bargaining for better terms in those 12 releases? 13 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Hearsay; 14 assumes facts not in evidence; and leading. 15 THE COURT: Sustained. 16 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: You indicated in response 17 to Prosecutor Auchincloss’s questions that there was 18 a point in time where Janet Arvizo didn’t want to 19 sign the release you had drafted, correct? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And I believe you said that that refusal to 22 sign was communicated to you by Vincent Amen, 23 correct? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. And I believe you said that you then 26 redrafted a release for Janet Arvizo to sign, 27 correct? 28 A. Yes. 10228 1 Q. Why did you redraft that release for Janet 2 Arvizo to sign? 3 A. Because I needed -- because it had to be in 4 a simpler, more readable, user-friendly, 5 plain-English format, based on what had been 6 presented to me as the concerns and reservations 7 about executing the more formal release that I think 8 is two big paragraphs of like, you know, one 9 sentence per paragraph. It’s very legalese, so to 10 speak, and my understanding was that the Arvizos 11 would sign releases if they were drafted in a 12 fashion that were understandable by them. 13 Q. And was it your understanding that that was 14 Janet Arvizo’s request? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Who communicated that request to you? 17 A. I think it was Vincent Amen. 18 Q. How many drafts did that release go through 19 before you learned that Janet had signed it? 20 A. I think it was just the one revision 21 process. We went from the more complex document 22 that I described that we looked at in the exhibits 23 earlier to a more simpler document I think titled 24 “Model Release,” and it’s much simpler, less 25 elegant. 26 Q. And did you ever learn whether or not the 27 Arvizos had even appeared in the “Take 2” 28 documentary? 10229 1 A. I’m not sure that they did, to tell you the 2 truth. I mean, I did watch it once, but that was 3 two years ago, and I don’t remember whether they’re 4 in it or not. 5 Q. Isn’t it true, Mr. LeGrand, that documentary 6 appeared on television, was a great success, and 7 they weren’t even in it? 8 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; argumentative. 9 THE COURT: Sustained. 10 Counsel? I have this picture of this lawyer 11 upstairs walking back and forth, pulling his hairs 12 out of his head, wondering why the heck I ordered 13 him up here today under threat of warrant while Mr. 14 Mesereau goes on and on. What’s wrong with that 15 picture? 16 MR. MESEREAU: It’s pretty accurate, I 17 think, Your Honor. 18 THE COURT: Can we get on with it? 19 MR. MESEREAU: Yes. Yes, I will. Okay. 20 (Laughter.) 21 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: All right. Prosecutor -- 22 Prosecutor Auchincloss -- 23 THE COURT: Thank you for laughing. That 24 relieves some tension here. 25 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Prosecutor Auchincloss 26 asked you a question yesterday about Mr. Jackson’s 27 music career. Do you remember that? 28 A. Not precisely, no, sir. 10230 1 Q. Well, didn’t he say something about you were 2 all working on a “Take 2” documentary because you 3 were trying to shore up a falling music career for 4 Michael Jackson? 5 A. I think there was a question that had that 6 implicit in it. But I can’t recall the details of 7 the question. It’s been quite a few questions in 8 the last day. 9 Q. In the Bashir documentary, do you remember 10 Mr. Jackson received a BAMBI award? 11 A. Yes. 12 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; relevancy. 13 THE COURT: Sustained. 14 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: In fact, in that 15 documentary Bashir talks about Michael Jackson as 16 the greatest musical artist of all time, right? 17 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; relevancy. 18 THE COURT: Sustained. 19 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: You indicated you spoke to 20 representatives of the Bank of America about the 21 Fire Mountain LLC, right? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. And it was your understanding they had no 24 objection to money from the “Take 2” documentary 25 being placed in the Fire Mountain account, correct? 26 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Hearsay; 27 leading. 28 THE COURT: Overruled. 10231 1 You may answer. 2 THE WITNESS: I had a conversation, I’m not 3 sure which individual at Bank of America. There 4 were two or three that I spoke with. And after 5 discussing with them the overall circumstances, the 6 uses in paying the attorneys and funding the 7 litigation in the UK and such, they indicated that 8 they would not view that as a default under the 9 loan, and to the best of my knowledge, they 10 subsequently extended the loan in negotiations with 11 Mr. Malnik. 12 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And certainly Mr. Jackson 13 was not working with you in any effort to defraud 14 Bank of America, right? 15 A. That’s right. 16 MR. MESEREAU: I have no further questions, 17 Your Honor. 18 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Just a few. I’ll be 19 brief. 20 21 RECROSS-EXAMINATION 22 BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: 23 Q. Mr. LeGrand, you spoke to Attorney 24 Finkelstein at least two times. You testified to 25 that yesterday, correct? 26 A. I think that’s right. 27 Q. And Mr. Finkelstein was an attorney for Mr. 28 Jackson, true? 10232 1 A. Today I’m not sure who he was acting for. 2 Q. That was your understanding, that he was an 3 attorney for Mr. Jackson, correct? 4 A. It was my understanding he was being engaged 5 to handle the funds with respect to Fire Mountain, 6 which was -- 7 Q. My question is, he was an attorney for 8 Michael Jackson; true or false? 9 A. I don’t know that. 10 Q. Was that your understanding? 11 A. I am not aware that Mr. Finkelstein believed 12 he was representing Mr. Jackson as an individual. 13 Q. Who was he representing? 14 A. I thought he was acting for Fire Mountain. 15 Q. And Fire Mountain is completely owned by MJJ 16 Productions? 17 A. Yes, a corporation. 18 Q. Which is completely owned by Michael 19 Jackson? 20 A. Yes. That was my understanding. 21 Q. So he would be answering to Michael Jackson, 22 true? 23 A. Ultimately, yes. 24 Q. Okay. Mr. Finkelstein is a specialist in 25 offshore money, isn’t he? 26 A. I don’t know what he specializes in. 27 Q. Well, isn’t it true that you transferred two 28 million dollars to Mr. Finkelstein on Michael 10233 1 Jackson’s behalf so that Michael Jackson could 2 establish offshore bank accounts, true, or for 3 deposit in offshore bank accounts for Mr. Jackson? 4 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Relevancy; 5 foundation. 6 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: True? 7 THE COURT: Overruled. 8 THE WITNESS: I have, and had, no knowledge 9 of establishment of offshore accounts for the 10 benefit of Mr. Jackson at that time. 11 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Well, you were 12 entrusted with this two million dollars, correct? 13 A. Yes, sir. 14 Q. And you were entrusted with that two million 15 dollars to act in Michael Jackson’s interests, 16 correct? 17 A. Yes, sir. 18 Q. And when you transferred that two million 19 dollars to Mr. Finkelstein, Mr. Jackson’s interests 20 were what you were serving when you did that, 21 correct? 22 A. That was my intent, yes, sir. 23 Q. And are you telling us you had no idea where 24 that two million dollars was going? 25 A. I thought it was going to be used to pay the 26 expenses that were being incurred on Mr. Jackson’s 27 behalf in terms of the Granada litigation, to pay 28 bills, and would be delivered to the money manager 10234 1 once we got the new money manager firmly 2 established. That’s what I believed. 3 Q. But it wasn’t, was it? 4 A. Actually, I believe a significant portion of 5 the funds ultimately were delivered to Allan 6 Whitman. 7 Q. Do you know that? 8 A. I’m not sure today, but I thought -- I 9 certainly thought that the residual of the money 10 after that $965,000 was disbursed, I thought that 11 was delivered to Mr. Whitman. But I could be wrong 12 about that. 13 Q. As far as the John Branca and Tommy Motolla 14 investigation by Interfor, Interfor never found any 15 evidence that Mr. Motolla or Mr. Branca were engaged 16 in any fraud with Mr. Jackson, did they? 17 A. That’s correct. I had no evidence delivered 18 with that report to substantiate those claims. 19 Q. And in fact, that report only indicate that 20 Sony was depositing money in some offshore account, 21 apparently for Mr. -- on Mr. Jackson’s behalf, true? 22 A. I’m not sure about the “Mr. Jackson’s 23 behalf.” I would need to see the report. 24 Q. Okay. But you have no reason to believe 25 that any funds transferred to an offshore account by 26 Sony, you have no reason to believe that those funds 27 were somehow defrauding Mr. Jackson? 28 A. I was given no credible evidence to support 10235 1 those charges. I would be doing Mr. Branca and Mr. 2 Motolla a great wrong if I said otherwise. 3 Q. Did you consult with Mr. Jackson before you 4 took two million dollars of his money and sent it to 5 Mr. Finkelstein? 6 A. I don’t think so. 7 Q. Did you ever talk to him about that, ever? 8 A. I believe we talked about it when we were at 9 Al Malnik’s house in Florida later. 10 Q. And Mr. Finkelstein -- or Mr. Jackson had 11 knowledge of that two million dollars being 12 transferred to Mr. Finkelstein, didn’t he? 13 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; foundation. 14 THE COURT: Sustained. 15 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: He never indicated that 16 he didn’t know that you had transferred two million 17 dollars of his money to Mr. Finkelstein without his 18 permission or without his agreement, did he? 19 A. He never indicated to me that he was 20 dissatisfied with what -- with those transfers. 21 Q. As far as this litigation or complaint, or 22 whatever was going on in England regarding the 23 airing of the Bashir special, Janet Arvizo never 24 authorized her joinder in that action, did she, as 25 far as you know? 26 A. The only evidence I saw of her authorization 27 for that action was the page you showed me earlier 28 that Mr. Dickerman subsequently stated was a 10236 1 forgery. 2 Q. And as far as you know, Janet Arvizo has 3 never authorized any law firm in England to 4 represent her, as far as you know today, based on 5 everything? 6 A. Yeah, that’s true. 7 Q. And Janet Arvizo was reluctant to sign those 8 consent forms because she felt that she was burned 9 in the Martin Bashir special; that her family was 10 hurt because Gavin appeared in that special without 11 anybody’s consent. Isn’t that one of the reasons 12 why she was reluctant to sign those consent forms? 13 A. I don’t know what was in Janet Arvizo’s 14 mind. 15 Q. No one ever communicated to you that that 16 was part of her reluctance in signing those forms? 17 A. I don’t remember that. I think Mr. 18 Dickerman said words to that effect in 2004. But I 19 don’t remember anybody at the time, the week or ten 20 days or so that we were engaged in getting 21 appearance consents and releases from various 22 people, I don’t believe I heard that kind of 23 statement at that time. 24 Q. As far as the allegations of double-dealing, 25 self-interest involving the Interfor investigation, 26 Interfor never came up with anything substantial, 27 substantive, about Mr. Konitzer, did they? 28 A. I’m not sure what you mean by “substantive.” 10237 1 Q. Well, in terms of his double-dealing with 2 Michael Jackson, was there ever any indication that 3 he was double-dealing with Michael Jackson based 4 upon that report? 5 A. No, but that wasn’t -- the report wasn’t 6 about that. 7 Q. Was there ever any indication that he was 8 double-dealing -- that Dieter Weizner was 9 double-dealing with Michael Jackson in any way, 10 shape or form? 11 A. Not in that report. 12 Q. That report was basically full of rumors and 13 unsubstantiated allegations, true, because it was 14 incomplete? 15 A. Ultimately that was my view. 16 Q. And if Bank of America knew that you were 17 sending two million dollars to Mr. Finkelstein, do 18 you think they would have gone ahead and authorized 19 the handling of these funds through the Fire 20 Mountain account? 21 A. I don’t know. 22 Q. Well, didn’t you know that they were 23 concerned about paying bills and not putting money 24 offshore? 25 A. I don’t know. I can’t speak for Bank of 26 America, I’m sorry, sir. 27 Q. Janet Arvizo, based upon everything you 28 knew, was going to get nothing for this film, video, 10238 1 of her and her family that was taken at Mr. 2 Moslehi’s house, true? 3 A. I don’t know. 4 Q. Well, you didn’t disburse any funds to her 5 from the account that you pulled in three million 6 dollars from FOX on, correct? 7 A. That’s true. 8 Q. And she didn’t get a dime of that, did she? 9 A. Not to my knowledge. 10 Q. And you knew she was a poor individual, 11 indigent, her family did not have money? 12 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 13 misstates the evidence. 14 THE COURT: Sustained. 15 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Did it ever occur to 16 you that you were engaging in an exploitation of 17 Janet Arvizo along with Michael Jackson? 18 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 19 leading; misstates the evidence. 20 THE COURT: Sustained. 21 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Mr. LeGrand, as far as 22 any requests from the People regarding files or any 23 requests from law enforcement regarding files, the 24 reason why no requests were made is because that 25 would have been futile, because there’s an 26 attorney-client privilege that protects those files; 27 isn’t that accurate? 28 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 10239 1 evidence; foundation. 2 THE COURT: Overruled. 3 You may answer. 4 THE WITNESS: I’m not an expert in that area 5 of law, but I think generally you’re correct, that 6 the prosecution in this case could not have 7 compelled me to produce those files without Mr. 8 Jackson’s consent. 9 Q. BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And in fact, you were 10 contacted by the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office and 11 asked to be interviewed, and you refused; isn’t that 12 true? 13 A. I informed your -- I’m not sure what his 14 title was, but I informed the investigator who 15 called from the office that I would only be able to 16 be interviewed if they obtained Mr. Jackson’s 17 consent. 18 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: No further questions. 19 20 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION 21 BY MR. MESEREAU: 22 Q. Mr. LeGrand, do you know whether or not Mr. 23 Jackson has waived the attorney-client privilege as 24 far as you’re concerned? 25 A. Yes. I received documents signed by Mr. 26 Jackson waiving privilege so that I could appear 27 here today and yesterday. 28 Q. In fact, you were informed quite a while ago 10240 1 that Mr. Jackson had waived the attorney-client 2 privilege, correct? 3 A. Well, I was informed that he was prepared to 4 waive it with respect to my testimony, yes. 5 Q. Nobody from law enforcement has ever asked 6 you if there was any waiver of the attorney-client 7 privilege, right? 8 A. That’s correct. 9 Q. Nobody from the prosecution has ever asked 10 you if there was any waiver of the attorney-client 11 privilege? 12 A. That’s correct. 13 Q. Mr. Jackson doesn’t even know who Mr. 14 Finkelstein is, right? 15 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection. Assumes facts; 16 foundation; argumentative. 17 THE COURT: Sustained. 18 MR. MESEREAU: No further questions. 19 20 FURTHER RECROSS-EXAMINATION 21 BY MR. AUCHINCLOSS: 22 Q. As far as this waiver goes, when did you 23 ultimately obtain a waiver from Mr. Jackson on the 24 attorney-client privilege? 25 A. I believe it was Wednesday morning, this 26 week. 27 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: No further questions. 28 10241 1 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION 2 BY MR. MESEREAU: 3 Q. Mr. LeGrand, do you remember learning that 4 we had turned over your files to the prosecution 5 last December? 6 A. Yes. 7 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; assumes facts. 8 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did they ever ask you to 9 follow up, give them some more documents after they 10 got your files last December? 11 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Objection; argumentative. 12 THE COURT: Overruled. 13 You may answer. 14 THE WITNESS: I had no contact from the 15 prosecutor’s office other than that one phone call 16 from the sheriffs a long -- or investigator a long 17 time ago. But since December, no. 18 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And were you aware that 19 Mr. Auchincloss had your files as of last December? 20 A. I didn’t even know who Mr. Auchincloss was 21 before yesterday, but I had been informed by you 22 that my files had been delivered to the office 23 headed by Mr. Sneddon. 24 MR. MESEREAU: Thank you. 25 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: I have no further 26 questions, Your Honor. But there is one 27 housekeeping matter that I don’t think is 28 appropriate for me to mention in front of the jury. 10242 1 THE COURT: All right. Then I’ll excuse the 2 jury for lunch. We’ll take our break now, and I’ll 3 remain for a moment. 4 (To the witness) Just a moment. I’m not 5 sure if this involves you or not. 6 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Thank you. 7 8 (The following proceedings were held in 9 open court outside the presence and hearing of the 10 jury:) 11 12 THE COURT: Go ahead. 13 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: Your Honor, this witness 14 has indicated that he turned over five boxes of 15 documents to the defense. He has indicated that 16 there should have been e-mails in that -- in those 17 files, as well as his personal notes regarding 18 communications with his client. 19 I would like to state for the record, we 20 have none of those items. We have what I would say 21 would probably be one banker’s box of materials. 22 And I would like this witness ordered back. I would 23 like him ordered to produce the entire file 24 regarding Mr. Jackson. And I would like an 25 opportunity to review those documents and, if 26 necessary, have him brought back on 27 cross-examination concerning those documents. 28 THE COURT: As I understood his testimony, 10243 1 he’s turned over everything that he had to somebody 2 else. I mean, he doesn’t claim that he has any of 3 the documents. 4 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: And if that is the state 5 of the record, then I’d ask that the Court order the 6 defense to produce the documents that I’ve 7 mentioned. 8 THE COURT: Is that your position, that 9 you’ve already turned over everything you have on 10 this case to someone else? 11 THE WITNESS: Your Honor, with respect -- I 12 am no longer associated with the firm of Hale Lane. 13 THE BAILIFF: No one can hear you, sir. 14 THE WITNESS: I’m sorry. 15 I am no longer associated with the law firm 16 of Hale Lane. And I have no control over any of the 17 files that remain at Hale Lane. I have no access to 18 any of those materials. 19 I did, when I left Hale Lane, have a few 20 legal pads of notes. I don’t know whether those 21 notes include any references to Mr. Jackson or not. 22 And I will be pleased to, you know, look through 23 those and see if there are. But I have no access or 24 control. 25 THE COURT: Other than that, is it your 26 belief that all the file was turned over, or do you 27 have any way of knowing that? 28 THE WITNESS: I really have no way of 10244 1 knowing that. I mean, I -- when my representation 2 was terminated originally back in March of 2003, I 3 prepared copies of all the files at that time and 4 delivered them, I believe to Mr. Malnik in Florida, 5 who at the time I understood to be the primary 6 attorney serving Mr. Jackson. 7 Subsequently, I was re-engaged for the 8 limited purpose of continuing to manage the Granada 9 litigation in the United Kingdom, and continued in 10 that role until -- for quite a while, until the 11 charges were brought against Mr. Jackson in this 12 case, at which time the litigation in the UK was put 13 on hold. 14 Shortly thereafter, I communicated with Mr. 15 Malnik, asked him what I should do. And I 16 corresponded with, I think it was Steve Cochran, Zia 17 Modabber, whom I knew from the dealings with Mr. 18 Jackson, and indicated that I felt it appropriate to 19 turn over my records to the Katten Muchin law firm, 20 which at the time seemed to have a continuing 21 representation of Mr. Jackson. 22 I instructed my staff to prepare, you know, 23 copies of files. I -- this discussion of 24 completeness is somewhat baffling to me. Nobody 25 ever requested that I turn over every single piece 26 of paper, e-mail or document, that we make, you 27 know, a thorough search of every crevice and cranny 28 of our firm. We simply did our best to, you know, 10245 1 compile the files and deliver them. A lot of -- 2 THE COURT: Have you turned over everything 3 that you have control of at this point to somebody, 4 other than -- 5 THE WITNESS: Yeah, I think so. 6 THE COURT: Okay. 7 THE WITNESS: It’s possible I have some 8 boxes that may contain some notes. 9 THE COURT: I’ll ask you to look through 10 whatever records you have, and if you find that you 11 have some, prepare -- notify both sides and give 12 both sides access to those documents. 13 THE WITNESS: Very good, sir. 14 MR. AUCHINCLOSS: There was one other thing. 15 He mentioned that he delivered a CD of 16 e-mails to the defense, which we have not received. 17 THE COURT: Well, my recollection of the 18 testimony was that he thought he did. 19 Did you -- 20 MS. YU: Your Honor, I believe everything 21 was produced. We printed everything from a CD 22 that, it is correct, that Mr. LeGrand -- and we 23 printed it out and we produced them. 24 THE COURT: All right. 25 MS. YU: Every page. 26 THE COURT: So you should have those. 27 So the Court will -- you may step down. 28 Thank you. 10246 1 The Court will go in recess. 2 THE WITNESS: There’s still a binder here. 3 Somebody -- I’m not sure whose it is. 4 (Recess taken.) 5 6 (The following proceedings were held in 7 open court in the presence and hearing of the 8 jury:) 9 10 THE COURT: Call your next witness. 11 MR. MESEREAU: Yes. The defense will call 12 Mr. Mark Geragos. 13 THE COURT: Come forward, please. When you 14 get to the witness stand, remain standing. 15 Face the clerk and raise your right hand. 16 17 MARK GERAGOS 18 Having been sworn, testified as follows: 19 20 THE WITNESS: Yes. 21 THE CLERK: Please be seated. 22 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 23 THE CLERK: State and spell your name for the 24 record. 25 THE WITNESS: Mark Geragos. G-e-r-a-g-o-s. 26 THE CLERK: Thank you. 27 DIRECT EXAMINATION 28 BY MR. MESEREAU: 10247 1 Q. Good morning, Mark. 2 A. Good morning, Tom. 3 Q. Would you please give a little summary of 4 your education? 5 A. I went to college, I went to law school, I 6 passed the bar. 7 Q. Okay. 8 (Laughter.) 9 Q. That was kind of long-winded, wasn’t it? 10 A. It was not a very distinguished 11 undergraduate or graduate career, so.... 12 Q. And you are a lawyer in Los Angeles, 13 correct? 14 A. I am. I’ve got a firm in Los Angeles, which 15 I share with my father and my brother, named 16 Geragos & Geragos. We stayed up all night thinking 17 it up. 18 Q. All right. Do you know the fellow seated at 19 counsel table to my right? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And who is he? 22 A. Michael Jackson, who was a client of mine 23 for about 16 months. 24 Q. And when did you first meet Mr. Jackson? 25 A. It would have been probably about 26 February -- the first week of February of 2003, I 27 believe. 28 Q. And at some point, you were retained to 10248 1 represent Mr. Jackson, right? 2 A. That’s correct. 3 Q. And how did that come about? 4 THE WITNESS: Although I know you’ve told me 5 out of court that there is a waiver, Your Honor, I 6 have not seen nor heard it on the record, and I’m 7 more comfortable if I have that first. 8 THE COURT: Certainly. 9 MR. MESEREAU: I can represent to the Court 10 there is a waiver of the attorney-client privilege 11 so Mr. Geragos can testify. 12 THE COURT: You have a written waiver you’ll 13 provide him with after court today? 14 MR. MESEREAU: We will do that, Your Honor, 15 sure. 16 THE COURT: Is that satisfactory? 17 THE WITNESS: That is, Your Honor. Thank 18 you. 19 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: When were you first 20 retained to represent Mr. Jackson? 21 A. It would have been sometime shortly before I 22 met him the first time. The first time I met 23 Michael was at Neverland, and I was contacted by 24 somebody from, I think, Paul Hastings. And then was 25 sent -- or there was a series of transactions, I 26 guess, or faxes back and forth, and ultimately I was 27 retained and then went up to Neverland and met 28 Michael for the first time. 10249 1 Q. And why were you retained? 2 A. At that point, there were allegations that 3 were being made in the media and there was also, as 4 I remember, complaints that were being made to Child 5 Services about him, his fitness as a parent, as 6 well. 7 Q. And did you represent Mr. Jackson in those 8 two areas? 9 A. I did. I was given the role, so to speak, 10 among a cast of thousands, to kind of coordinate and 11 be a person who would look out for his interests in 12 those areas. 13 Q. And when you began to represent Mr. Jackson, 14 were you reporting to anyone in particular? 15 A. Well, when I first came on board, there was 16 a gentleman, who I saw in the hallway just a minute 17 ago, David LeGrand, who was there, who was a lawyer 18 who was coordinating a lot of the stuff. 19 There was a gentleman who he introduced me 20 to named Ronald Konitzer. And there was a gentleman 21 over at Paul Hastings. And I feel awful, I can’t 22 remember his name, because he’s the person who 23 referred me over there in the first place. But 24 there was another lawyer there. 25 But generally what would happen is, it 26 wasn’t so much reporting as we would have these 27 interminably long conference calls. 28 Q. And generally who was involved in those 10250 1 calls? 2 A. It seemed like everyone. There were all 3 kinds of people on the conference calls. There were 4 PR people. Paul Hastings lawyers. David LeGrand 5 would be on the conference call. I would plug into 6 the conference call. Ronald Konitzer would be on 7 the conference call, among others. Those are the 8 ones that come to mind. 9 Q. And were these conference calls occurring on 10 a daily basis? 11 A. It seemed like it. 12 Q. Typically who would initiate the conference 13 call? 14 A. I think David’s office would be my -- 15 would -- but that would be a guess. I really don’t 16 know. 17 Q. Was Michael Jackson usually involved in 18 these conference calls? 19 A. Usually not. 20 Q. Was he involved in any of them? 21 A. He -- there were a couple of calls. You’re 22 talking about February of ‘03. 23 Q. Sure. 24 A. There were a couple of calls where Michael 25 would get on the phone for brief periods of time, 26 but generally were not the same as what I’m talking 27 about with these conference calls. Those would be a 28 call where maybe Ronald would put him on the phone, 10251 1 there would a brief discussion. It wouldn’t be more 2 than, I don’t know, 45 seconds or a minute, usually, 3 it seemed like. It was very quick. 4 Q. And I believe said your work involved 5 response to the Bashir documentary? 6 A. Well, the lawyers who were responding to the 7 Bashir documentary, as I understood it, was there 8 was -- I think it was Paul Hastings English 9 barristers who were dealing with the documentary 10 there and dealing with some issue that they kept 11 talking about, some board that was involved that 12 they were making complaints about. 13 And then here, my role was to see if there 14 was any kind of -- anything that needed to be done 15 to protect him in terms of his parental rights or 16 anything else from the accusations that were being 17 made against him. 18 Q. Was your firm exclusively involved in the 19 area of child custody, parental rights? 20 A. No. There was -- he had a -- I don’t know 21 if he still has, but there was a lawyer by the name 22 of -- I think his name was Lance Spiegel, from a 23 firm on the west side of Los Angeles, and he was 24 clearly primarily with the custody issues. 25 My role was if there was any DCFS 26 involvement, if there was anybody who was trying to 27 do anything else. Basically to see if there was 28 anything else that he needed protection against. 10252 1 Q. Was a potential DCFS investigation the only 2 investigation you were concerned about at the time? 3 A. No, no, I was concerned about -- obviously 4 at the same time that the documentary came out, at 5 the time, there were people making all kinds of 6 accusations about Michael, and specifically with one 7 young man who was involved in that documentary, and 8 I was supposed to look into that as well. 9 Q. And was his name “Gavin Arvizo”? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Okay. At some point, did you ever hear the 12 name “Janet Arvizo”? 13 A. At the very -- probably before I heard the 14 name “Gavin.” 15 Q. And how did you hear her name? 16 A. Initially there was a rundown of exactly 17 what the situation was. And I couldn’t tell you 18 exactly if it was Paul Hastings or if it was the 19 English counterpart or the American counterpart or 20 if it was David, but there was a rundown of the 21 situation. I was told about the Arvizos. 22 I was also told and the first thing that was 23 done that had any urgency is there was a 60 Minutes 24 taping that was scheduled, and they wanted me to be 25 up there to make sure that Michael didn’t make any 26 statements or questions weren’t asked that were 27 inappropriate. 28 Q. And was this at Neverland? 10253 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Did you see Janet Arvizo at Neverland on 3 that day? 4 A. I remember seeing Gavin at Neverland that 5 day. And then we were there for, I don’t know, 6 maybe 12 hours or so. And during that time there, I 7 was getting downloaded with information as well from 8 a number of people at the ranch itself. 9 Q. And what was your role as far as your 10 representation of Mr. Jackson went on that occasion? 11 A. Well, that was really -- they just wanted 12 me, I guess, as a backstop on the interview. 13 And ultimately, after sitting there for 14 about 12 hours, it was my decision, or I told them 15 that, look, if I was going to be involved, I didn’t 16 want him doing the interview, and I pulled the plug 17 on it. 18 Q. So ultimately that interview with 60 Minutes 19 did not take place, correct? 20 A. On that occasion in February of 2003, it did 21 not. I -- I said that it was not going to happen, 22 and asked that they -- politely asked Mr. Bradley, 23 and there was another producer, whose name I think 24 was Radotsky, Michael Radotsky, who was there, told 25 them that this was not going to happen. 26 Q. And you say you were at Neverland 27 approximately 12 hours that day? 28 A. It seemed like it, yeah. 10254 1 Q. And did you see Ms. Janet Arvizo there the 2 whole time? 3 A. Well, portions, is my memory. I remember -- 4 I have vivid memories about Gavin Arvizo talking 5 with Ed Bradley and Gavin Arvizo talking with 6 Radotsky, which I think is his name, the producer, 7 and then seeing what was going on there. And also 8 hearing these stories that people were telling me, 9 and trying to just take it in and sort out whatever 10 it was. 11 Q. And was it your understanding that the 12 Arvizos wanted to have a role in that 60 Minutes 13 documentary? 14 A. I watched as -- 15 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as to 16 speculative. 17 THE COURT: Sustained. 18 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Referring only to your 19 state of mind at the time, Mr. Geragos, did you have 20 any knowledge one way or the other whether or not 21 the Arvizos were supposed to be involved in the 22 documentary? 23 MR. ZONEN: I object as irrelevant to this 24 question. 25 THE COURT: You have to let him finish the 26 question so I know what you’re objecting to. 27 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Mr. Geragos, just 28 directing my question to your state of mind at the 10255 1 time, did you have any understanding one way or the 2 other whether or not Janet Arvizo and the children 3 were supposed to appear in a 60 Minutes documentary? 4 MR. ZONEN: Objection to his state of mind 5 as being irrelevant to this proceeding. 6 THE COURT: Sustained. 7 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: In your capacity as Mr. 8 Jackson’s attorney on that day, did you have any 9 understanding as to why the Arvizos were at 10 Neverland? 11 A. The -- I saw an interaction between Gavin 12 Arvizo -- 13 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object to any 14 vision of interaction as being irrelevant to this 15 proceeding, and the question is irrelevant and 16 lacking in foundation. 17 MR. MESEREAU: He’s cutting off the witness, 18 Your Honor, I object. 19 THE COURT: I think that question can be 20 answered “yes” or “no,” and we can go from there. 21 Do you want the question read back? 22 THE WITNESS: God, I hate to say “no.” 23 Did I see -- did I see an interaction? Yes. 24 THE COURT: I’ll have the question read back 25 so you understand it. 26 (Record read.) 27 THE WITNESS: Yes. 28 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: What was your 10256 1 understanding? 2 MR. ZONEN: Objection; lack of foundation. 3 THE COURT: Sustained. 4 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: As Mr. Jackson’s attorney, 5 were you under any instructions to do anything with 6 the Arvizos at Neverland on that particular day? 7 MR. ZONEN: Objection; vague. Instruction 8 from whom? 9 THE COURT: Sustained. 10 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you talk to Janet 11 Arvizo that day? 12 A. Briefly, I believe. But -- I know that I 13 didn’t talk to her. I watched her interact or 14 converse with Mr. Radotsky, who was the producer. 15 I believe Mr. Bradley. 16 Q. Did you see Ms. Arvizo talking to Mr. 17 Radotsky for any length of time that day? 18 A. I don’t know if I would say a length of 19 time. I saw at least on two occasions, I think. 20 Q. And why were you at Neverland that day? 21 A. I was asked to come up by Mr. LeGrand 22 specifically to, I guess, monitor the interview. 23 Q. And were you under the impression, as you 24 arrived, that the Arvizos were going to be there? 25 A. Yes. 26 Q. Why? 27 A. It’s what I was told. 28 Q. Is that by Mr. LeGrand? 10257 1 A. I believe it was. 2 Q. And were you told why they were going to be 3 there? 4 A. I believe Mr. LeGrand told me that -- 5 MR. ZONEN: That would be “yes” or “no,” 6 Your Honor. I object to any answer beyond that. 7 THE COURT: Sustained. 8 “Yes” or “no.” 9 THE WITNESS: Yes. 10 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And what was your 11 understanding as to why they were going to be there? 12 MR. ZONEN: Objection. Hearsay; lack of 13 foundation. 14 THE COURT: Sustained. 15 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you give any advice to 16 the Arvizos on that particular day? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Did you talk to Gavin Arvizo on that 19 particular day? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Who else do you recall being at Neverland on 22 that particular day, other than the people you’ve 23 identified? 24 A. Dieter Weizner was there. I think a 25 gentleman by the name of Jack Sussman from CBS was 26 there. There was a woman which -- also with CBS 27 with the last name of Simon, I think was there. 28 There was another lawyer from my office with me. I 10258 1 can’t remember which lawyer it was. And there was 2 a -- I don’t know, a cast of probably 30 or 40 3 people, production people, who were there as well. 4 Q. And what time did you arrive there that day? 5 A. I couldn’t tell you. It was light outside. 6 But I don’t -- I would imagine late morning, early 7 afternoon, but that’s just a guess. 8 Q. What time do you think you left? 9 A. Whatever, eight, ten, twelve hours after I 10 arrived. 11 Q. When you left, do you know whether or not 12 Janet Arvizo was still there? 13 A. I do not. 14 Q. Do you know whether or not Gavin Arvizo was 15 still there? 16 A. I do not. Not as I sit here today. 17 Q. Did you hear Janet Arvizo say anything to 18 Mr. Radotsky? 19 A. Not that I can remember as I sit here. 20 Q. Did you see Janet Arvizo talk to Ed Bradley 21 of 60 Minutes? 22 A. I believe that I did. 23 Q. Did you hear what she said? 24 A. Not that I can remember. 25 Q. Okay. Did you see either Mr. Bradley or Mr. 26 Radotsky talking to Gavin Arvizo? 27 A. Yes. I think Radotsky, with Mr. Bradley. I 28 don’t know that he was actively participating, but I 10259 1 do believe Radotsky was talking. 2 Q. And approximately what date was this, Mr. 3 Geragos? 4 A. I want to say February 7th, and I just -- I 5 don’t know if that was a Saturday. I don’t believe 6 it was a court day. So it was either a Saturday or 7 a Sunday, but I’d just be guessing again. 8 Q. Have you seen the Bashir documentary at this 9 point? 10 A. I have seen it. But not recently. 11 Q. No, had you seen it at this particular point 12 in time? 13 A. No, I had not. 14 Q. Did you ever see Janet Arvizo again? 15 A. No, I don’t believe that I have. 16 Q. Have you ever spoken to her on the phone? 17 A. No, I don’t believe that I have. 18 Q. Okay. Following that visit to Neverland, 19 you continued to represent Mr. Jackson, right? 20 A. That’s correct. 21 Q. And what were the things you were doing as a 22 lawyer for Mr. Jackson? 23 A. Well, one of the first things that I did 24 after that was to get ahold of the -- a copy of the 25 documentary by Mr. Bashir. I watched it. We 26 were -- on these conference calls, they would talk 27 about what the various allegations were against 28 Michael. 10260 1 One of the first things I did is involve a 2 private investigator. And I involved a private 3 investigator and I had some associates in the firm 4 do some database searching on various players 5 involved. 6 Q. Now, was it your understanding at that point 7 that Mr. Sneddon had started any investigation? 8 A. No. It was not my understanding that he 9 had. 10 Q. Had you heard of any statements Mr. Sneddon 11 had made anywhere about an investigation into 12 Michael Jackson at that point? 13 A. In early February, no. The only thing 14 that -- as I remember, in early February, that 15 sticks out in my mind now as I sit here, was 16 something about somebody complaining to DCFS. 17 Q. Now, you said you started your own 18 investigation, right? 19 A. That’s correct. 20 Q. And why did you do that? 21 A. I was -- the things that I was hearing about 22 the Arvizos gave me great pause. 23 Q. What were you hearing? 24 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object as hearsay and 25 irrelevance and lack of foundation and vague as to 26 time. 27 THE COURT: I’m going to overrule the 28 objection and I’m going to allow the witness to 10261 1 answer, but I’ll caution the jury that at this 2 point, what he states that he heard about the family 3 is not offered for the truth of the matter asserted. 4 But it’s offered to explain why he did certain 5 things thereafter. 6 Go ahead. 7 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 8 I had -- when I was up there, sitting up 9 there that day, somebody had told me a story about 10 Gavin being told to refer to Michael as “Daddy,” and 11 that -- that Michael was uncomfortable with that; 12 that the person that was telling me was probably one 13 of the people who were -- it was either Weizner or 14 Konitzer or somebody, somebody who was up there, and 15 that that concerned him greatly. 16 That obviously gave me pause, and so in 17 response to that, I decided to run some database 18 searches on the Arvizos. 19 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you run those database 20 searches on the Arvizos? 21 A. I did. 22 Q. And what did you find? 23 A. The -- a lawsuit against J.C. Penney’s 24 and -- a lawsuit against J.C. Penney’s and then a 25 purported -- and then I had somebody, and I don’t 26 know if it was in-office or not, take a look at the 27 file or do a little bit more due diligence on it. 28 Q. That was look at the J.C. Penney file? 10262 1 A. Correct. 2 Q. Okay. And why did you do that? 3 A. Well, I had a concern at that point that 4 given what was going on, that somebody might use the 5 situation to manipulate my client. 6 Q. And when you say “manipulate” your client, 7 what do you mean? 8 A. It was not unknown to me that my client is 9 frequently the target of litigation, so I -- and 10 you’ve got a whirlwind of activity going around and 11 you’ve got people making accusations. It occurs to 12 me that I want to know if some of the players that 13 are involved have a litigious history, so that’s why 14 I ran the database search. 15 Q. Now, did you do the database search yourself 16 or did you have an investigator do it? 17 A. That’s what I said before. I don’t know if 18 it was inhouse or out. I can’t tell you, as I sit 19 here, for sure, whether I had Brad do it, whether I 20 had somebody just run it on either Lexis or West Law 21 in the office, but somebody did it and came up with 22 it. 23 Q. Who is Brad? 24 A. Brad Miller is the investigator who I hired 25 to start to do an investigation on the Arvizos. 26 Q. And approximately when did you start your 27 investigation into the Arvizos? 28 A. It would have been very shortly after 10263 1 leaving Neverland. So if that was the 7th or the 2 8th, it would have been within a couple of days. 3 Q. And when do you think you learned about the 4 J.C. Penney lawsuit that had been filed by the 5 Arvizos? 6 A. Within a couple of days. 7 Q. Okay. And what was your reaction to what 8 you learned about that suit? 9 A. I was gravely concerned. 10 Q. Why? 11 A. I thought that given the situation, and I 12 was also given information that they were attempting 13 or that there were rumors that the family was 14 attempting -- 15 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object to any 16 reference to “rumors” or any information from an 17 unnamed source as lacking in foundation, 18 speculative. 19 THE COURT: Sustained. 20 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Was the investigation you 21 did into the J.C. Penney lawsuit the first part of 22 your investigation into the Arvizos? 23 A. Probably. I mean, to that extent that you 24 run some kind of a database search, I suppose that 25 was -- if it wasn’t the first, it was in the top 26 five. 27 Q. And was Mr. Miller involved in that search 28 into the J.C. Penney lawsuit, to your knowledge? 10264 1 A. I would imagine that after I -- if he didn’t 2 find it, that I quickly brought it to his attention 3 and he did do -- he probably would have -- he 4 probably would have been the guy that I assigned to 5 follow up on it. But I -- I don’t know as I sit 6 here. 7 Q. Is Mr. Miller a licensed private 8 investigator in California? 9 A. He is. 10 Q. And had you worked with him before? 11 A. I had, on, I think, probably three or four 12 occasions. 13 Q. Okay. And where was his office at the time? 14 A. You know, I believe at the time it was in 15 Beverly Hills. But I can’t -- that’s only because I 16 know it was in Beverly Hills at one time and it’s no 17 longer in Beverly Hills. I don’t know in February 18 of ‘03 if it still was in Beverly Hills. I couldn’t 19 tell you. 20 Q. Did the investigation into the Arvizos that 21 you started continue? 22 A. Yes. I had him -- or I asked him to please 23 find out where they were, and to document what they 24 were doing, who they were meeting with, and whether 25 or not they were either trying to sell a story to 26 the tabloids, or meeting with lawyers, or anything 27 even more grave than that, at least from my client’s 28 standpoint. 10265 1 Q. When you say “more grave than that,” what 2 are you talking about? 3 A. Well, I -- I thought at that time that it 4 was a problem that somebody could manipulate the 5 situation. I don’t know -- I don’t want to run 6 through a parade of horribles in my mind, but I 7 thought that, given what the situation was, somebody 8 could take advantage of it, and I was worried about 9 that. And I -- so I decided I wanted to know, and I 10 told Brad, “Tell me where they are, tell me what 11 they’re doing, and tell me who they’re meeting 12 with.” 13 Q. Were you concerned that the Arvizos might be 14 planning to extort Michael Jackson? 15 MR. ZONEN: Objection; leading. 16 THE COURT: Sustained. 17 THE WITNESS: I was; I was concerned. 18 MR. ZONEN: There’s an objection. 19 THE COURT: Just a moment. 20 THE WITNESS: I’m sorry. 21 THE COURT: Next question. 22 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: What else did you do to 23 investigate the problem of the Arvizos possibly 24 manipulating Michael Jackson? 25 A. Well, I -- besides have Brad do that, we 26 investigate -- they were not the only -- they 27 weren’t the sole focus, but for your -- to answer 28 your question, I also told Brad I wanted him to go 10266 1 and take a statement and get a statement from them. 2 Q. And why did you want Brad Miller to get a 3 statement from the Arvizos? 4 A. Because I found that -- in the past, at 5 least, with other cases, that if somebody gives a 6 statement right at the time, that it’s much more 7 difficult later for them to make up something and 8 change the story, because you’re locked into it. 9 That’s what the truth was, and that’s why I wanted a 10 statement. 11 Q. And in your experience, it’s pretty typical 12 for an investigator to try and get statements, 13 correct? 14 MR. ZONEN: Objection; leading. 15 THE COURT: Overruled. 16 You may answer. 17 THE WITNESS: It’s what investigators do. 18 The reason you have the investigator take the 19 statement and not the lawyer is so that the lawyer 20 doesn’t end up being like I am up here, on the 21 witness stand. 22 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And to your knowledge, did 23 Mr. Miller take a statement from the Arvizos? 24 A. Yes, Mr. Miller took a statement. I told 25 him to identify himself. I told him to tell them 26 that he was taking it for me, and I told him that I 27 wanted him to ask questions. 28 Q. Okay. And did you ever actually see that 10267 1 statement? 2 A. Later I saw a transcript of it. But I don’t 3 know that I saw -- I think he downloaded it to me in 4 essence saying, “This is what they said, this is 5 what they said, this is what they said,” in a 6 telephone call is probably what he did. 7 Q. Was it your understanding, Mr. Geragos, that 8 statement would be recorded? 9 A. I wanted a tape-recorded statement of them, 10 detailing all of -- or as extensively as possible, 11 and I wanted it done -- I probably told Brad 12 something to the effect, “I want it done yesterday. 13 I don’t want to wait. Get it done.” 14 Q. Did anything else go on in the investigation 15 of the Arvizos? 16 A. Well, at the same time that that was 17 happening, the -- there was a rebuttal video being 18 made by a gentleman named Schaffel, who seemed to be 19 running that end of things, and that rebuttal video 20 involved the Arvizos as well. 21 So at one point I instructed Brad, “Go watch 22 when that gets made and sit there, and don’t leave 23 until you get a copy of that videotape. Because I 24 want a copy of the videotape. I don’t want it to 25 disappear into the ether.” 26 Q. To your knowledge, did he do that? 27 A. I know that he went there. I don’t know 28 that we ever got a copy of the videotape. 10268 1 Q. Is there anything else you had Mr. Miller do 2 to investigate the Arvizos? 3 A. I don’t know. Off the top of my head, the 4 things that I described is what I remember, as I sit 5 here. 6 Q. Did you ever arrange to have the Arvizos put 7 under surveillance? 8 A. I told him at one point I wanted to know 9 where they were, what they were doing, who they were 10 meeting with, and to report back to me. 11 Q. And as far as you know, putting people under 12 surveillance is part of an investigation, and it’s 13 perfectly lawful, correct? 14 A. I have done it on more than one occasion. I 15 know most lawyers do it with great frequency. I 16 know D.A.s do it. And law enforcement does it. 17 Q. Okay. And do you know whether or not the 18 Arvizos were actually put under surveillance at some 19 point? 20 A. I do now, and I did then. 21 Q. Okay. To your knowledge, was anyone working 22 with Mr. Miller in your investigation of the 23 Arvizos? 24 A. I know now that they were. He may have told 25 me that a gentleman by the same of Asaf did 26 something for him on one occasion. I know now that 27 he had somebody named Johnny working for him. And I 28 didn’t know that at the time. 10269 1 Q. Okay. And how long did your investigation 2 of the Arvizos last, if you know? 3 A. If he started sometime after February 7th, 4 it would have gone through probably the middle or 5 end of March would be my guess. 6 Q. Okay. Now, you mentioned someone named 7 Schaffel. Did you meet Marc Schaffel at some point? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Did you ever speak to him? 10 A. I’ve spoken to him on the phone. 11 Q. How often do you think you’ve spoken to him 12 on the phone? 13 A. I couldn’t tell you. Anytime that anything 14 came up about this video that was being made, I was 15 always told to talk to Schaffel. 16 Q. How many conversations do you think you had 17 with Schaffel about the making of the video? 18 A. It would just be a guess. I have no idea. 19 Q. Okay. 20 A. I would say five to ten, probably. Maybe 21 more. 22 Q. Now, was Schaffel typically involved in the 23 conference calls you have described before? 24 A. Actually, no. He was not typically involved 25 in the conference calls. In fact, at one point, 26 David LeGrand and I had discussed excising Schaffel 27 from the whole situation -- 28 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object to that 10270 1 portion as being nonresponsive to the question and 2 hearsay. 3 THE COURT: Sustained. 4 MR. ZONEN: Motion to strike. 5 THE COURT: Strike it after, “Actually, no.” 6 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you and Mr. LeGrand 7 have any discussions about Marc Schaffel? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. How many do you think you had? 10 A. At least three. 11 Q. Okay. Did you have more discussions with 12 Konitzer than you did Schaffel? 13 A. Clearly. Clearly. 14 Q. And why do you say that? 15 A. Ronald Konitzer was, from my perception, the 16 person who was kind of the backstop or the person 17 who was running things. 18 Q. And did you meet with him personally? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. On how many occasions, do you think? 21 A. Probably at least three. 22 Q. Okay. Did you ever talk to a guy named 23 Dieter Weizner? 24 A. During the time period of February and March 25 of ‘03, only the time that I was at Neverland did I 26 speak to Dieter, and it was for just a very brief 27 period of time. 28 Q. Okay. 10271 1 A. I later -- in terms of time, I later talked 2 to Dieter maybe a year after that more extensively. 3 But February and March, no, I had very little 4 contact with Dieter. 5 Q. Now, as part of your investigation into the 6 Arvizos, you described the statement that Mr. Miller 7 obtained, his attendance at the rebuttal video, and 8 you say you learned about some surveillance that 9 went on. Is there anything else that was part of 10 that investigation that you remember? 11 A. Well, I remember a series of letters with a 12 gentleman named Dickerman. And storage of Janet 13 Arvizo’s things in a storage unit. And I remember 14 going back and forth with Mr. Dickerman as to where 15 he wanted those items and the things that he was 16 claiming. 17 Q. You mentioned Janet Arvizo’s possessions 18 being in a storage unit. How did that happen? 19 A. I -- I don’t know, because I wasn’t there. 20 Everything I know was later related to me. If 21 that’s okay, I’ll get into that. You don’t have -- 22 there’s no objection. 23 Okay. It was later related to me by Brad 24 that she was moving in with her boyfriend who was -- 25 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as to 26 hearsay. Nonresponsive to the question. 27 THE COURT: Okay. Sustained. 28 MR. ZONEN: Was that one sustained, Your 10272 1 Honor? 2 THE COURT: Yes. 3 MR. ZONEN: Thank you. 4 THE COURT: He gave you the opening line, but 5 you were talking to counsel. 6 THE WITNESS: I tried to prompt you, Mr. 7 Zonen. 8 THE COURT: He was prompting you. Go ahead. 9 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you have anything to 10 do with the storage of Janet Arvizo’s possessions? 11 A. I told Brad at one point, “If you’re going 12 to do this, film it, so that you don’t later get 13 accused of taking something.” 14 Q. And did you have any understanding as to why 15 Brad was going to store that material? 16 A. I believe -- 17 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object as hearsay. 18 THE COURT: Overruled. 19 You may answer. 20 THE WITNESS: I believe it was because he 21 was trying to remain in the good graces to get 22 whatever information he could as to what they were 23 up to. 24 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as 25 speculative, move to strike. 26 THE COURT: I’ll strike that. 27 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Was it your understanding 28 that Janet wanted Brad to store her possessions? 10273 1 MR. ZONEN: Objection. Leading and 2 speculative. 3 THE COURT: Sustained. 4 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Do you know why those 5 possessions were stored? 6 MR. ZONEN: Objection; lack of foundation. 7 THE COURT: Foundation; sustained. 8 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever at any point 9 have any knowledge as to why those possessions were 10 stored by Mr. Miller? 11 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object beyond “yes” or 12 “no.” 13 THE WITNESS: Yes. 14 I’m sorry, I may have jumped the gun. 15 THE COURT: That’s fine. 16 Go ahead. Next question. 17 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Why were they stored? 18 MR. ZONEN: Objection. Lack of foundation; 19 hearsay. 20 THE COURT: Foundation; sustained. 21 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Do you know why they were 22 stored? 23 A. I believe they were stored -- 24 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object to anything beyond 25 “yes” or “no.” 26 THE WITNESS: Yes. 27 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: How did you obtain your 28 knowledge of how they were stored? 10274 1 A. Talking with Mr. Miller. 2 Q. Did he tell you why they were stored? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Did you give any instructions to him about 5 storing that material? 6 A. I told him when he did the move -- 7 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as hearsay. 8 THE COURT: Sustained. 9 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Were those possessions 10 stored at your request? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Were they stored because Mr. Miller wanted 13 to store them? 14 MR. ZONEN: Objection. Lack of foundation; 15 hearsay. 16 THE COURT: Sustained. 17 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever see those 18 possessions at any time? 19 A. No. 20 Q. Did you ever go to storage to see those 21 possessions? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Now, you had some correspondence with 24 Attorney Bill Dickerman about those possessions, 25 right? 26 A. Yes. 27 Q. And what can you tell us about that? 28 A. That every time I’d get a letter it didn’t 10275 1 seem to represent the phone conversation that we 2 had. 3 Q. And did he start writing to you about 4 wanting those possessions returned? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And do you know approximately when that 7 happened? 8 A. I do not. It was sometime after -- it was 9 sometime after February. 10 Q. And you were still representing Michael 11 Jackson at the time, correct? 12 A. I represented Michael all the way through, I 13 don’t know, whatever -- February to whenever, 14 December, I guess. 15 Q. Now, at some point, did you try to return 16 those possessions to Mr. Dickerman? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And please explain what you did. 19 A. I directed -- when I first got the letter 20 from Mr. Dickerman, I told somebody to fax it over 21 to Brad, somebody in my office to fax it over to 22 Brad. And at some point, then received another 23 letter, and letters kept coming back and forth. And 24 there would be phone calls. And I kept trying to 25 get this stuff over there, suggesting that either 26 they take over the storage unit, that they pay for 27 the storage unit, that they do anything to get it 28 out, so that we could get out of the situation. 10276 1 Q. Did you say that it was at your direction 2 that the move was videotaped? 3 A. I believe I’m the one who told Brad, “If 4 you’re going to do this, you better videotape the 5 move.” I believe that’s what I told him. It was 6 almost those exact words. 7 Q. And did he ever tell you that Janet wanted 8 him to move that stuff? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. When did he tell you that Janet wanted him 11 to move that stuff? 12 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as hearsay. 13 Move to strike. 14 THE COURT: Overruled. The question, though, 15 now, is, “When did she tell you” -- no. “When did 16 he tell you that Janet wanted him to move the 17 stuff?” 18 THE WITNESS: Probably in the same 19 conversation I said, “If you’re going to do it, you 20 should videotape it.” 21 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And to your knowledge, was 22 that material ever returned to Mr. Dickerman? 23 A. You know, I assume so. But I know that 24 there was one instance where I got so fed up with 25 what was going on, that I actually told -- 26 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object as nonresponsive. 27 THE COURT: Sustained. 28 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Do you know if that 10277 1 material was ever returned to Mr. Dickerman? 2 A. I know at one time I directed that it just 3 be dumped into his law office so that he would take 4 it, and the building wouldn’t accept it. 5 Q. That was done at your request? 6 A. To return it? Yes. At all times I said, 7 “Return the stuff.” 8 Q. Okay. Do you know someone named Frank 9 Tyson? 10 A. I’ve met Frank Tyson. 11 Q. And when did you first meet him? 12 A. Probably it would have been mid-February of 13 2003, would be a guess. 14 Q. Do you know approximately where you met him? 15 A. No. I can’t tell you where I met him. I 16 think he came to my office once with another guy 17 whose name I can’t remember. But I -- but I don’t 18 know if that was the first time I met him or not. 19 Q. Did you have much communication with Frank 20 Tyson? 21 A. I talked to Frank occasionally. 22 Q. Would he typically call you? 23 A. Most always. I wasn’t calling him. 24 Q. How many conversations do you think you had 25 with him? 26 A. Well, if he would call me, I might call him 27 back. But I don’t know how many conversations. I 28 don’t know that it was a time. I think he was in 10278 1 communication with Brad more than he was with me. 2 Q. Okay. Now, at some point did your 3 investigation into the Arvizos terminate? 4 A. Yeah. I would say probably -- probably 5 about five or six weeks after it started. 6 Q. And did you reach any conclusions about the 7 Arvizos, based upon your investigation? 8 A. Yeah. They -- that Michael could have 9 nothing to do with them. 10 Q. Why is that? 11 A. I just felt like it was a pending disaster. 12 Q. And what do you mean by “pending disaster”? 13 A. I just was not comfortable with what I was 14 finding out, what I was hearing. I just wasn’t 15 comfortable with that. 16 Q. What were you finding out? 17 A. Well, I -- 18 MR. ZONEN: Objection; hearsay. 19 THE COURT: Sustained. 20 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Were you ever concerned 21 that the Arvizos were going to try to extort Michael 22 Jackson? 23 MR. ZONEN: Objection; leading. 24 THE COURT: Sustained. 25 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Were the results of your 26 investigation negative or positive when it came to 27 the Arvizos? 28 A. Negative. 10279 1 MR. ZONEN: Objection; vague. 2 THE COURT: Sustained. 3 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: What did you conclude? 4 A. I concluded that they -- that they should -- 5 MR. ZONEN: Objection; calls for a 6 conclusion. 7 THE COURT: You should have said “asked and 8 answered.” 9 He’s already discussed that. Move on. 10 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Okay. As Mr. Jackson’s 11 lawyer at that point in time, did you think it was 12 in his interest to be involved with the Arvizos? 13 A. I -- 14 MR. ZONEN: Objection; asked and answered. 15 MR. MESEREAU: No, it wasn’t. 16 THE COURT: It is. Next question. 17 MR. MESEREAU: Okay. 18 THE COURT: Sustained. 19 MR. MESEREAU: All right. 20 Q. Did you ever hear anything about the Arvizos 21 taking a trip to Brazil? 22 MR. ZONEN: Your Honor, I’m going to object 23 as to hearsay. And vague, “hear anything about.” 24 BAILIFF CORTEZ: Your microphone’s off 25 again, sir. 26 THE COURT: Sustained. 27 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever learn whether 28 or not the Arvizos were planning to take a trip to 10280 1 Brazil? 2 A. I learned later that there were -- 3 MR. ZONEN: I will object to anything beyond 4 “yes” or “no” as nonresponsive. 5 THE WITNESS: Yes. 6 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: What did you learn? 7 MR. ZONEN: Objection; hearsay. 8 THE COURT: Sustained. 9 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you have anything to 10 do with any planned trip to Brazil involving the 11 Arvizos? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Did you ever learn if anyone did? 14 A. I learned that someone -- 15 MR. ZONEN: Objection beyond “yes” or “no.” 16 THE WITNESS: Yes. 17 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: What did you learn? 18 MR. ZONEN: Objection; hearsay. 19 THE COURT: Sustained. 20 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever learn that 21 the Arvizos were traveling to any federal buildings 22 to obtain passports or visas for a trip to Brazil? 23 MR. ZONEN: Objection; beyond the scope. 24 Objection; lack of foundation and leading. 25 THE COURT: Sustained on leading. 26 Sustained. 27 MR. MESEREAU: Okay. 28 Q. During the time you represented Michael 10281 1 Jackson, did you ever do anything involving a 2 potential trip to Brazil with the Arvizos? 3 A. I didn’t do anything involving a potential 4 trip to Brazil with the Arvizos. 5 Q. Did you ever learn anything about such a 6 trip? 7 A. I did, yes. 8 Q. When did you learn that? 9 A. Sometime after Michael was arrested. 10 Q. Okay. And at some point, did you ever have 11 possession of passports of the Arvizos? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. And could you explain that? 14 A. The passport -- when I was going through all 15 of the materials that we had in our office in order 16 to itemize them for you, in turning over all the 17 files, the passports were located in a locked file 18 cabinet where we kept a lot of Michael’s files. 19 I then directed one of the lawyers in my 20 office to file the passports with the Court so that 21 I did not give them to you, so that you wouldn’t be 22 in a position where you would have to testify as to 23 them. 24 Q. And did you, in fact, turn them in to this 25 Court? 26 A. I directed one of the lawyers in my office 27 to bring them to the Court and file them with the 28 Court as a court’s exhibit. 10282 1 Q. Okay. Is that the last you saw of them? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Okay. Were you involved in any business 4 matters related to Mr. Jackson during the first 5 three months of 2003? 6 A. There probably were times when Mr. Konitzer 7 would ask about certain projects. And then if it 8 was something somebody in the office, one of the 9 other lawyers, could deal with, I would refer him to 10 one of the other lawyers. So, yes, I would say that 11 there were some occasions. 12 Q. And what kind of projects are you referring 13 to? 14 A. My understanding of what Mr. Konitzer’s 15 relationship was with Mr. Jackson was that he was 16 helping to promote, I don’t know, technological 17 applications of various things. And it was usually 18 surrounding those kind of items and usually it was 19 beyond our expertise. So usually I would tell 20 him -- refer him over to somebody else or to some 21 other lawyer. But he would come and seek advice on 22 those things. 23 Q. Was any of this business-related legal work 24 done in your office? 25 A. Some could have been. I mean, there could 26 have been -- I could have sent -- probably my 27 brother Matthew would have done some work in 28 connection with various things that they were asking 10283 1 about. Loan refinancing, things of that nature. 2 There was also a marketing idea that they were doing 3 or they wanted to pursue. 4 Q. And were you having discussions with Mr. 5 LeGrand about Mr. Jackson’s business matters? 6 A. Mr. LeGrand would bring up those issues, but 7 it was really -- that was really Mr. LeGrand’s area 8 of -- I guess his purview, so to speak. That was 9 really what his niche was. He’s what’s called a 10 transactional lawyer who deals with corporate 11 matters, and that was really his expertise. 12 Q. In the discussions you had with Konitzer and 13 Weizner about Mr. Jackson’s business affairs, do you 14 recall Mr. Jackson ever participating? 15 MR. ZONEN: Objection. Lack of foundation; 16 assumes facts not in evidence as to those 17 conversations. 18 THE COURT: Overruled. 19 You may answer. 20 THE WITNESS: It was my understanding that 21 there was -- in fact, it was more than an 22 understanding because I believe that my retainer 23 initially was signed on a power of attorney that -- 24 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object as nonresponsive to 25 the question. 26 THE COURT: Sustained. 27 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you have any 28 discussions with Mr. Konitzer about Mr. Jackson’s 10284 1 business affairs? 2 A. To the extent that Mr. Konitzer represented 3 to me that he was running the business affairs. 4 Q. Is that what he told you? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Did you have any discussions with Mr. 7 Weizner about Mr. Jackson’s business affairs? 8 A. Not in 2003, in February or March. Like I 9 said, the only contact I really had with Dieter was 10 that first time I saw him briefly, discussed it 11 briefly. But I didn’t really have that much contact 12 with him. I really talked mostly with Ronald. 13 Q. And when you were retained, you had a 14 retainer agreement signed, correct? 15 A. That’s correct. 16 Q. And that’s your normal practice as a lawyer, 17 right? 18 A. And the State Bar rules generally encourage 19 that, if not require anything that’s going to 20 involve a certain amount of money. 21 Q. And a retainer agreement basically sets out 22 the terms and conditions under which you’ll 23 represent a client as a lawyer, right? 24 A. Right. 25 Q. Who signed your retainer agreement? 26 A. I believe that it was signed by Konitzer and 27 Weizner on a power of attorney, which I also was 28 provided, that was signed by Mr. Jackson. 10285 1 Q. Okay. Did you ever see Konitzer sign any 2 other documents on behalf of Mr. Jackson while you 3 were representing Mr. Jackson? 4 A. Not that I can pinpoint. I mean, I -- no, 5 not that I can think of right now. 6 Q. And did the power of attorney that you saw 7 appear to give Mr. Konitzer the ability to sign 8 documents for Mr. Jackson? 9 A. It did -- my understanding of it was that it 10 did. 11 Q. And do you recall at any point in time when 12 that power of attorney was revoked? 13 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object to lack of 14 foundation. 15 THE COURT: Overruled. 16 You may answer. 17 THE WITNESS: I believe the power of attorney 18 was revoked about the time that David LeGrand got 19 fired. But that’s just my memory as I’m sitting 20 here. I don’t have anything to pin that on. 21 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: And I believe you said, 22 Mr. Geragos, that you were under the impression that 23 Konitzer was trying to take over Mr. Jackson’s 24 business affairs? 25 A. It was my perception of Mr. Konitzer that he 26 was the one who was running the business affairs in 27 terms of hands on, and that Mr. LeGrand was the 28 lawyer that was doing the corporate transactional 10286 1 work. 2 Q. And based on your involvement in discussions 3 about Mr. Jackson’s business, did it appear to you 4 that Mr. Jackson wasn’t involved much at all? 5 MR. ZONEN: Objection; leading. 6 THE COURT: Sustained. 7 MR. ZONEN: Objection; speculative as well. 8 THE COURT: Leading; sustained. 9 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Did you ever meet Mr. 10 LeGrand in Las Vegas? 11 A. I met Mr. LeGrand at Neverland. And I met 12 Mr. LeGrand at another -- at Paul Hastings, I 13 believe, downtown L.A. As I sit here, I don’t 14 remember Las Vegas. If you’ve got something to 15 refresh my memory, maybe, but I don’t recall that as 16 I sit here. 17 Q. Now, obviously, having represented Mr. 18 Jackson, you’re aware of what the charges are in 19 this case, right? 20 A. I am. 21 Q. And you’re aware that the prosecutors are 22 claiming there was a conspiracy to commit various 23 crimes on the Arvizos, right? 24 MR. ZONEN: Objection; leading. 25 THE COURT: Overruled. 26 THE WITNESS: I am aware of that. 27 Q. BY MR. MESEREAU: Were you ever part of any 28 conspiracy to abduct the Arvizo children? 10287 1 A. No. 2 Q. Were you part of any conspiracy to extort 3 anything from the Arvizos? 4 A. Absolutely not. 5 Q. Were you ever part of any conspiracy to 6 commit any crime against the Arvizos? 7 A. Absolutely not. I was trying to prevent a 8 crime against my client. 9 Q. And what crime was that? 10 A. I thought that they were going to shake him 11 down. 12 MR. MESEREAU: I have no further questions. 13 THE COURT: Cross-examine? 14 15 CROSS-EXAMINATION 16 BY MR. ZONEN: 17 Q. Mr. Geragos, good afternoon. 18 A. Good afternoon, Mr. Zonen. 19 Q. Now, you were retained to represent Mr. 20 Jackson in the early part of February; is that 21 correct? 22 A. That’s correct. 23 Q. Could that have been the latter part of 24 January? 25 A. I don’t think so. But, I mean, if -- I 26 don’t want to quibble with you for a couple of days. 27 I’ve always thought it was -- I’ve always thought it 28 was February 4th and that I went to Neverland on the 10288 1 7th. I don’t know why, that just sticks in my head. 2 Q. Now, prior to your being retained, were you 3 familiar or did you know about the documentary 4 “Living with Michael Jackson”? 5 A. I don’t -- I don’t know. 6 Q. At the time that you were retained, did you 7 know about the documentary “Living with Michael 8 Jackson”? 9 A. At the time that the retainer agreement was 10 signed, yes. 11 Q. At the time that you were first contacted by 12 somebody -- 13 A. I was going to say -- 14 Q. -- for Michael Jackson’s organization about 15 your representing Mr. Jackson, did you know about 16 the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson”? 17 A. Probably not. 18 Q. Who was the first person to call you about 19 your representing Mr. Jackson? 20 A. I think it was a lawyer from Paul Hastings, 21 the same guy I said I’ve got a mental block on the 22 name, who said that one of his partners was an 23 ex-U.S. Attorney who had a case with me and wanted 24 to know if I was interested in it. 25 Q. All right. 26 A. I just don’t remember. I just don’t 27 remember the name. And it was -- it could have 28 been -- could he have called me in late January? I 10289 1 suppose he could have. I just don’t remember. 2 Q. Do you know if that was before the screening 3 of the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson”? 4 A. I have no idea. 5 Q. Do you know when “Living with Michael 6 Jackson” was screened? 7 A. No. 8 Q. Either in the United States or in England? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Do you know -- did you know the content of 11 the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson”? 12 A. At what time? 13 Q. At the time that it was aired in the United 14 States. 15 A. Well, you’d have to tell me when it was 16 aired and then I’d tell you. 17 Q. I guess you didn’t see it, then; is that 18 correct? 19 A. Well, no, I saw it. But I didn’t watch it 20 when it was aired. I -- 21 Q. All right. When you were contacted by 22 somebody -- 23 MR. MESEREAU: Objection, Your Honor. He’s 24 cutting off the witness. 25 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Was your answer completed? 26 A. All I was going to say is, I remember 27 watching it for the first time when somebody sent 28 it -- I asked that they send me a copy of the 10290 1 videotape. I was aware of it before I watched it 2 the first time because it was probably a subject of 3 one of these conference calls. 4 Q. And -- all right. Now, when is the first 5 time you spoke with your client, Mr. Jackson? 6 A. Would have been probably that day at 7 Neverland. 8 Q. There’s no question that your client was 9 Michael Jackson; is that right? 10 A. My client was Michael Jackson. 11 Q. It was not Ronald Konitzer? 12 A. No. 13 Q. It was not Dieter Weizner? 14 A. Right. 15 Q. It was not Marc Schaffel? 16 A. That’s correct. 17 Q. Nor was it Vinnie or Frank? 18 A. Clearly it was not. 19 Q. And at all times you understood that you 20 represented Michael Jackson alone? 21 A. I did. 22 Q. You did not represent the enterprise 23 Neverland Valley Entertainment? 24 A. I did not. 25 Q. Did not represent any of Michael Jackson’s 26 corporate interests? 27 A. I did not. 28 Q. And you represented Michael Jackson for 10291 1 purposes of assuring that he avoided criminal 2 liability and liability with regards to custody of 3 his children; is that correct? 4 A. That’s correct. 5 Q. Your concern was that his children might be 6 taken away from him? 7 A. That was one of my concerns. 8 Q. Your concern was that he might be prosecuted 9 for some criminal matter? 10 A. I think initially my concern was -- were the 11 children and any allegation of the fitness of him as 12 a parent, because that was a subject of a lot of the 13 media firestorm surrounding him at that point. 14 Q. Was that because of his allegedly dangling 15 his youngest child over a second-story balcony in a 16 hotel in Germany? 17 A. I think that that’s what started some of 18 that, but then the -- there was -- with the 19 documentary, there was the same usual suspects 20 hurling allegations at him about his fitness once 21 the documentary came out. 22 Q. All right. But are we talking about simply 23 neglect of his own children, or are we talking about 24 his relationship with other children? 25 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 26 evidence; lack of foundation; leading. 27 THE COURT: Overruled. 28 THE WITNESS: I was concerned about his 10292 1 children and his maintaining his relationship with 2 his children. 3 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: But the issues that you were 4 dealing with as a consequence of that documentary, 5 “Living with Michael Jackson,” had to do with how he 6 interacted with his own children, correct? 7 A. The issues dealt with the fact that there 8 were people who were calling for DCFS to take the 9 children out of the house -- 10 Q. All right. 11 A. -- and to conduct an investigation. That 12 was what -- that was what was the overriding concern 13 initially. 14 Q. At some point in time, you had an 15 opportunity to either read the transcript of that 16 documentary, “Living with Michael Jackson,” or view 17 it; is that correct? 18 A. I viewed it. I didn’t read the transcript. 19 Q. Did you view it before you arrived at 20 Neverland? 21 A. I couldn’t tell you, as I sit here, whether 22 I did it before or after. It was sometime within a 23 very close period of time. 24 Q. At the time that you were at Neverland, you 25 saw Ed Bradley there; is that right? 26 A. That’s right. 27 Q. Ed Bradley is somebody you recognized as 28 being one of the commentators from 60 Minutes; is 10293 1 that right? 2 A. That’s right. 3 Q. You also saw an entire film crew from 60 4 Minutes? 5 A. That’s right. 6 Q. 60 Minutes you were familiar with. You had 7 seen it in the past; is that right? 8 A. That’s right. 9 Q. You were a little concerned about Michael 10 Jackson appearing on 60 Minutes; is that right? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Had you had a conversation with Michael 13 Jackson prior to your arrival at Neverland on that 14 date? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Do you know if that date was the 7th of 17 February? 18 A. I think I stated before that that date 19 sticks in my mind. If that is a Saturday, that 20 would be my guess. My best guess. 21 I believe that when you executed the -- or 22 the officers executed the search warrant, they took 23 some gate logs also. I don’t know if the gate logs 24 are accurate, but I later saw where I signed it on 25 the day that I got there. 26 Q. Did you have a conversation with Mr. Jackson 27 on the 7th? 28 A. Yes. 10294 1 Q. All right. Did you have a sense of the 2 content of the documentary “Living with Michael 3 Jackson”? 4 A. At that point, I was more concerned with 5 what -- the fact that he was going to sit down with 6 60 Minutes and what the content of that was going to 7 be. 8 I spent most of my time talking with and 9 trying to weasel out the information from the 10 producers as to what was going to be the ground 11 rules, which they said there were none. But the 12 content, where they were headed, what they were 13 trying to do, that was my concern. 14 Q. Did you ask any questions of Michael Jackson 15 about whether he had been sleeping with boys during 16 your conversation with him on the 7th of February at 17 Neverland? 18 A. No, I did -- 19 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Leading; lack of 20 foundation. 21 THE COURT: Overruled. 22 THE WITNESS: No, I did not start 23 questioning him about whether he was sleeping with 24 boys when I was up there. 25 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you know, at the time 26 that you were at Neverland on the 7th of February, 27 assuming that is the date, that the issue of him 28 sleeping with boys was, in fact, an issue that had 10295 1 been raised in this documentary? 2 A. I think that I did know that. I don’t know 3 whether it was through the documentary or whether it 4 was from the download of information. I think I 5 probably had that information. 6 Q. Did you understand, at the time that you 7 were at Neverland on the 7th of February, that Gavin 8 Arvizo was one of the children it was believed that 9 Mr. Jackson was sleeping with? 10 A. I don’t know that -- when you say one of the 11 children that he was sleeping with, I’m not clear on 12 what you’re -- what you’re implying there. 13 I knew that Gavin Arvizo, when I was up 14 there, was somebody who was reputed to be in the 15 documentary. But I don’t know that anybody said, 16 “Hey, Michael Jackson is sleeping with Gavin 17 Arvizo.” I don’t think that that happened. 18 And I certainly -- as I sit here today, I 19 don’t know if Gavin Arvizo says in the documentary, 20 “Yeah, I was sleeping with Michael Jackson.” 21 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object as nonresponsive as 22 to what he knows today. The question dealt with on 23 the 7th of February. And move to strike. 24 THE COURT: All right. I’ll strike from -- 25 well, actually, I won’t. He actually says as he 26 sits here today, he can’t remember what he knew 27 then, so the objection is overruled. 28 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: All right. But on the 7th of 10296 1 February of 2003, you were aware that one of the 2 issues that you were dealing with, as his lawyer, 3 was the issue of whether or not he had been sleeping 4 with a succession of different boys over the last 5 number of years? 6 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. No foundation 7 and misstates the evidence. 8 THE COURT: I’ll sustain the objection. 9 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you understand that Mr. 10 Jackson, in the interview with Mr. Bashir, said, “I 11 slept with all of them,” in reference to a number or 12 succession of boys? 13 A. On February -- 14 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 15 argumentative. 16 THE COURT: Overruled. 17 You may answer. 18 THE WITNESS: On February 7th, I don’t 19 believe -- I know you asked this. I just don’t 20 believe that I can tell you whether I had seen the 21 documentary. I probably had not until after I got 22 back from Neverland is my best guess. So, no, my 23 guess is, as I sit here, but I’m not 100 percent 24 sure of that. 25 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you have a conversation 26 with Michael Jackson about Michael Jackson doing a 27 press conference in Florida? 28 A. No. 10297 1 Q. Did you know that Michael Jackson had been 2 scheduled to do a press conference in Florida? 3 A. On what date? 4 Q. The 7th of February. 5 A. On the 7th of February. No, I did not know 6 that. 7 Q. Did you know that Michael Jackson had 8 brought the Arvizo family to Florida to do a press 9 conference? 10 A. On February 7th, I did not know that. 11 Q. Did you know, on the 7th of February, that 12 Janet Arvizo had never had a conversation with 13 Michael Jackson other than a brief conversation back 14 in the year 2000? 15 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 16 evidence; foundation. 17 THE COURT: Overruled. 18 You may answer. 19 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Go ahead. 20 A. On February 7th, I can’t tell you what Janet 21 Arvizo did with Michael Jackson. The only thing 22 that I can tell you is I saw the Arvizos interacting 23 with -- 24 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: My question was whether you 25 knew about any conversations between -- 26 A. No. 27 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. He cut off the 28 witness again, Your Honor. 10298 1 MR. ZONEN: It’s nonresponsive, I’ll object. 2 MR. MESEREAU: Move to admonish counsel not 3 to cut off the witness. 4 THE COURT: I’ll strike after the sentence, 5 “The only thing that I can tell you....” From there 6 on, I’ll strike that. Next question. 7 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Mr. Geragos, did you have a 8 conversation with any employee of Michael Jackson or 9 representative of Michael Jackson directing them to 10 have the Arvizos brought to Florida? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Did you have a conversation with Michael 13 Jackson or any representative of Michael Jackson 14 directing that the Arvizos be brought from Florida 15 to Neverland? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Did you know that they were being brought 18 from Florida to Neverland? 19 A. On February 7th? No. 20 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. That misstates 21 the evidence. Foundation. They weren’t being 22 brought anywhere. 23 THE COURT: I’m going to sustain the 24 objection as vague. 25 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Were you aware that the 26 Arvizo family was flown from Florida to Santa 27 Barbara County and then driven to Neverland? 28 A. On February 7th? 10299 1 Q. Prior to, just prior to February 7th. 2 A. I’m asking you. Do you mean did I know that 3 on February 7th? 4 Q. On February 7th did you know that? 5 A. No. 6 Q. Did you make any inquiry as to what that 7 family was doing there? 8 A. Later. 9 Q. When later? 10 A. Probably middle February. 11 Q. Two weeks later? A week later? 12 A. No, by middle February would have been about 13 a week later. 14 Q. On the 7th of February, did you recommend to 15 your client, Mr. Jackson, that the family, the 16 Arvizo family, be taken home immediately? 17 A. No. 18 Q. A week later, did you tell Mr. Jackson that 19 the Arvizo family should be taken home immediately? 20 A. No. 21 Q. At any time during the month of February, 22 did you tell Mr. Jackson that the Arvizo family 23 should be taken home immediately? 24 A. No, I did not. 25 Q. Did you have any conversation with Mr. 26 Jackson at any time on the 7th of February about the 27 Arvizo family being there on his property? 28 A. To the extent that this, “He’s calling me 10300 1 daddy,” or, “Janet’s encouraging him to call me 2 ‘daddy’” story was told to me. 3 Q. Did you talk with Mr. Jackson at any time on 4 the 7th of February about the Arvizo family leaving 5 Neverland? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Did you talk with Mr. Jackson at any time on 8 the 7th of February about whether or not Gavin was 9 staying in his bedroom? 10 A. No. Not on the 7th. 11 Q. Did you know on the 7th of February that 12 there was an issue dealing with boys staying in his 13 bedroom -- 14 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. 15 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: -- that had become quite 16 public? 17 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 18 evidence; argumentative. 19 THE COURT: Overruled. 20 MR. MESEREAU: And foundation. 21 THE COURT: Overruled. 22 You may answer. 23 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Go ahead. 24 THE COURT: Do you want the question read 25 back? 26 THE WITNESS: No. 27 I just don’t know what you mean by “an 28 issue.” That it was in the public domain? Yes. I 10301 1 knew it was in the public domain. 2 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: And did you discuss it with 3 Mr. Jackson? 4 A. No. 5 Q. As his attorney and hopeful of avoiding any 6 criminal liability on his behalf, did you tell Mr. 7 Jackson on the 7th of February that he ought to 8 refrain from having young boys come into his 9 bedroom? 10 A. No. I didn’t give him, as I told you, any 11 advice right then and there. I was -- the first 12 time I met him, I was trying to do an investigation. 13 I was also trying to stop the 60 Minutes interview, 14 once I got a sense that it was not going to be a 15 warm and fuzzy piece. 16 Q. All right. You’ve seen 60 Minutes before, 17 haven’t you? 18 A. If it’s Morley Safer, you tend to get a 19 different piece than if it’s Ed Bradley or Mike 20 Wallace. 21 Q. So even without knowing the issues, as soon 22 as you saw it was Ed Bradley, you assumed it 23 wouldn’t be warm or fuzzy, right? 24 A. I’ve watched Ed Bradley do some pieces that 25 weren’t exactly hard-hitting. 26 Q. Now, at any time within the next seven days 27 after the 7th, the next week after the 7th, did you 28 ever tell Mr. Jackson that he would be well-served 10302 1 by keeping young boys out of his bedroom? 2 A. I don’t know that I talked directly to him 3 that following week. The only conversations that I 4 had for the next six weeks were usually over the 5 phone and fairly brief. 6 Q. With Mr. Jackson? 7 A. If he was on the phone, briefly. But they 8 weren’t extensive. 9 Q. All right. Do you know if you had any 10 conversations with Mr. Jackson over the next seven 11 days over the telephone? 12 A. I couldn’t tell you. I don’t think so. 13 Q. Do you know if you had any conversations 14 with Mr. Jackson over the next 14 days? 15 A. Probably one. 16 Q. Just one conversation? 17 A. Probably one. 18 Q. Can I assume that that conversation did 19 address the issue of whether or not boys were still 20 sleeping in his bedroom? 21 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 22 argumentative. 23 THE COURT: Overruled. 24 You may answer. 25 THE WITNESS: No, I don’t think that the 26 discussion revolved around whether boys sleep in his 27 bedroom. 28 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Can I assume within the next 10303 1 14 days after the 7th, in other words, up to the 2 21st of February, that you had by this point seen, 3 personally viewed, the documentary “Living with 4 Michael Jackson,” the Martin Bashir documentary? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And you had seen at that point Mr. Jackson’s 7 admission to sleeping with boys; is that right? 8 A. Well, when you say “admission to sleeping 9 with boys,” what are you saying? The statement that 10 boys will stay in his room? 11 Q. Yes. 12 A. Okay. Are you implying that’s necessarily 13 something sexual? 14 Q. I don’t believe it’s appropriate for me to 15 be answering questions, Mr. Geragos. Let’s go back 16 to the question again. 17 A. I’m confused as to when you say “sleeping,” 18 “boys sleeping in his room,” I didn’t -- I didn’t 19 think -- my concern was, Mr. Zonen -- 20 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as 21 nonresponsive. 22 THE WITNESS: I was trying to answer it. 23 MR. MESEREAU: Cutting off the witness, Your 24 Honor. Objection. 25 THE COURT: Okay. Everyone, we’re going to 26 have a time-out. 27 MR. ZONEN: Next question? 28 THE COURT: No. I want you to drop down 10304 1 about two degrees and.... I ride horses, and we 2 wait for the head to relax. 3 Go ahead. Relax a minute. 4 All right. 5 MR. ZONEN: Thank you. 6 Q. Mr. Geragos, when you watched that film, you 7 did see the portion where Mr. Jackson refers to 8 sleeping with boys; is that right? 9 A. Mr. Zonen, as I sit here today, I don’t 10 remember seeing in that documentary - I’ll take your 11 word for it - that he said, “sleeping with boys.” 12 The one thing that I drew from seeing 13 Michael Jackson on February 7th and seeing the kids 14 there was a gentleman who, to my mind, was almost 15 childlike in his love for kids. I didn’t see 16 anything nefarious. I didn’t see anything that 17 struck me as potentially criminal. But I did see 18 somebody who appeared to me to be ripe as a target. 19 And so I took action that I thought was to protect 20 him. 21 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as 22 nonresponsive. 23 THE COURT: Sustained. 24 MR. ZONEN: Move to strike the last part of 25 the answer. 26 THE COURT: I’ll strike after, “I don’t 27 remember seeing in that documentary....” 28 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Mr. Geragos, do you recall 10305 1 the documentary where he said he slept with Macaulay 2 Culkin? 3 A. No. As I sit here, I don’t remember him -- 4 I wasn’t fixated on whether or not he slept with 5 Macaulay Culkin. I really -- that was not a concern 6 of mine. 7 Q. Do you recall him saying he shared a bed 8 with boys? 9 A. I know that he has said that since then. I 10 know -- I’ve sat next to him, or in the same room 11 when he said that, so I know that; that I know that 12 he said that. 13 Q. Do you recall seeing the portion of the 14 documentary where he’s sitting next to Gavin Arvizo? 15 A. That I have a vivid memory of. 16 Q. And in that portion of that documentary, 17 he’s holding Gavin Arvizo’s hand? 18 A. I have a vivid memory of that. 19 Q. And Gavin Arvizo is resting his head on Mr. 20 Jackson’s shoulder? 21 A. Right. 22 Q. Gavin Arvizo shared a room with Mr. Jackson; 23 is that correct? 24 A. I -- you’re telling me -- 25 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; argumentative. 26 THE COURT: Overruled. 27 You may answer. Do you want the question 28 read back? 10306 1 THE WITNESS: No. 2 If what you’re telling is Gavin Arvizo spent 3 the night in his room -- 4 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Were you aware of that? 5 A. I know that that’s one of the things that’s 6 been claimed, yes. 7 Q. Did you ever ask Mr. Jackson if that was 8 true, that Gavin Arvizo shared his bed or spent the 9 night in his room? 10 A. I think we discussed that. 11 Q. What did he tell you? 12 A. That nothing happened. 13 Q. No, I didn’t ask you that. What did he tell 14 you about whether or not he shared his room or his 15 bed? 16 A. What he has consistently said the entire 17 time that I represented him, which is that he didn’t 18 do anything; that there was nothing untoward; that 19 there was nothing sexual; and that if somebody 20 spends the night in his room, that that was just an 21 act of unconditional love. That it wasn’t anything 22 that you’re getting in here and -- 23 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to move to strike as 24 nonresponsive. 25 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. He cut off the 26 witness. 27 THE COURT: You did cut him off. Your 28 question called for the answer he’s giving, so -- 10307 1 MR. MESEREAU: May he continue to give his 2 answer, Your Honor? 3 THE COURT: Yes, he may. 4 THE WITNESS: The problem was, Mr. Zonen, 5 as I saw it, when people say he’s sleeping with 6 somebody in his room, the jump is, with a lot of 7 people, that that is something that is awful, that 8 is something that is really, really bad because it 9 must be sexual. 10 THE COURT: Just a minute. You’re lecturing 11 the jury. Let’s back up. I’ll strike that. Do you 12 want to go back to the question again? 13 MR. ZONEN: I’d like to ask a new one. 14 Q. Mr. Geragos, did you ask Mr. Jackson 15 specifically if Gavin Arvizo had ever spent the 16 night in his room? 17 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Beyond the scope 18 and foundation. 19 THE COURT: Overruled. 20 THE WITNESS: Yes. And he said nothing ever 21 happened. 22 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did he tell you that Gavin 23 Arvizo had spent the night in his room? 24 A. He said he may have spent the night in the 25 room, like a lot of the other boys did, and nothing 26 happened. 27 Q. Did he tell you how many nights Gavin Arvizo 28 spent in his room while he was there? 10308 1 A. No. I didn’t ask him. 2 Q. Did he tell you whether or not Gavin Arvizo 3 specifically shared a bed with him? 4 A. I didn’t ask him about sharing a bed. I 5 asked him in the room, I asked him if anything 6 happened. His answer was, “No.” 7 Based on my observations -- 8 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as 9 nonresponsive. 10 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. He cut off the 11 witness. 12 MR. ZONEN: Maybe we better resolve this, I 13 think. 14 THE COURT: Just a moment. 15 The ruling is that, “Based on my 16 observations...,” that will be stricken. Next 17 question. 18 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Now, you never asked him at 19 any time whether or not he shared a bed with Gavin 20 Arvizo? 21 A. I may have later on, after the arrest. I 22 assumed we were still talking sometime in 23 February -- 24 Q. Yes. 25 A. -- of ‘03. 26 Q. Yes. 27 A. February of ‘03, no. After the arrest, yes. 28 Q. All right. Now, during the next two weeks, 10309 1 did you have any other conversations with Michael 2 Jackson about Gavin Arvizo? 3 A. Other than the ones we’ve talked about, no. 4 Probably not. 5 Q. Did you ever tell Michael Jackson that the 6 Arvizo family should be taken home as soon as 7 possible? 8 A. In February of ‘03, no. 9 Q. Did you come to learn that the Arvizo family 10 was spending a great deal of time at Neverland 11 during the month of February? 12 A. No, I came to learn that Janet Arvizo was 13 making accusations about Dieter. 14 MR. ZONEN: I’ll object as nonresponsive. 15 THE COURT: Sustained. Stricken. 16 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Mr. Geragos, did you come to 17 learn that the Arvizo family was spending a great 18 deal of time at Neverland during the month of 19 February? 20 A. Did I learn that in February? 21 Q. In February. 22 A. Probably, yes. 23 Q. All right. Did you immediately call Mr. 24 Jackson and tell him that the Arvizo family should 25 be taken back to their home in East Los Angeles? 26 A. No. I think I told him that in March, or 27 told Ronald that in March; that they should -- they 28 should cut ties. 10310 1 Q. All right. Now, at some point in time, you 2 directed that your investigator have an interview 3 with the Arvizo family? 4 A. That’s correct. 5 Q. And I think you said, “Do it yesterday,” 6 right? 7 A. He said, “When do you want it done?” And I 8 said, “Like yesterday.” 9 Q. As quickly as he can possibly do it? 10 A. That’s correct. 11 Q. This is Brad Miller? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. Brad Miller has been your investigator for 14 some number of years; is that correct? 15 A. I think at that time Brad Miller I had used 16 on three or four other cases. I’ve used him on a 17 number since. 18 Q. Did you tell Brad Miller to tape-record that 19 interview? 20 A. I believe I told him to tape-record the 21 interview, that I wanted a taped statement by the 22 Arvizos. 23 Q. Did you tell him to turn off the 24 tape-recorder and not to record certain pieces of 25 information? 26 A. Absolutely not. 27 Q. Did you ever listen to that tape? 28 A. Yes. 10311 1 Q. All right. It is true, is it not, that when 2 he asked the question about whether or not Gavin 3 slept in the same bed with Michael Jackson, Gavin 4 did not answer the question and Brad Miller then 5 turned off the tape-recorder? 6 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 7 evidence; no foundation. 8 THE COURT: Overruled. 9 You may answer. 10 THE WITNESS: I’m not so sure that that’s 11 what happened. 12 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: What is your recollection of 13 hearing that tape-recording? 14 A. It appears to me, in listening to that tape, 15 that the tape was turned on, off, at least two or 16 three times. And I can’t tell you as I sit here 17 what the question was before each one. But the tape 18 is taped and is turned off and then turned on, so 19 I’d agree with you as to that extent. 20 Q. Did you ask Brad Miller if he specifically 21 turned off the tape-recorder about the time that he 22 asked the question of whether or not Gavin was 23 sleeping with Michael Jackson? 24 A. I -- you bet I did. 25 Q. You’re aware that other children have 26 accused Michael Jackson of molesting them. You’re 27 aware of that? 28 A. Yes. 10312 1 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 2 argumentative; Court ruling; move to admonish 3 counsel. 4 THE COURT: Just a moment. 5 The objection is overruled. The answer is, 6 “Yes.” 7 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: All right. You’re aware that 8 back in 1993, there were -- there was one lawsuit 9 that was filed against Michael Jackson that was 10 settled on behalf of a child named Jordan Chandler? 11 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; beyond the scope. 12 THE COURT: Overruled. 13 You may answer. 14 THE WITNESS: Yes. 15 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: All right. You’re aware that 16 there was another incident of a resolution of a 17 claim against Michael Jackson involving a child by 18 the name of Jason Francia? 19 A. No. Not at -- if you’re talking February 20 and March of ‘03, no. 21 Q. You didn’t learn that until some later time? 22 A. Right. 23 Q. All right. But at the time that you were 24 meeting with Mr. Jackson on the 7th, you were aware 25 of the incident involving Jordie Chandler; is that 26 correct? 27 A. I knew -- 28 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; asked and 10313 1 answered. 2 THE COURT: Sustained. 3 MR. ZONEN: I don’t believe the last time I 4 said in February. I may stand corrected if I’m 5 wrong. 6 THE COURT: Well, that could be. I’ll allow 7 the question with that understanding. 8 MR. ZONEN: All right. 9 Q. Was that, in fact, something you knew about 10 on the 7th of February? 11 A. I think so, yes. 12 Q. All right. Did you ask Mr. Jackson about 13 that allegation? 14 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 15 beyond the scope. 16 THE COURT: Overruled. 17 THE WITNESS: No. 18 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Were you concerned when you 19 saw Gavin Arvizo there, a child of the same age as 20 Jordie Chandler? 21 A. I don’t know that I knew that Gavin Arvizo 22 was the same age as Jordie Chandler. I suppose, 23 obviously, at one point they were the same age, but 24 I don’t know that that was something that ever went 25 through my mind. 26 Q. Were you concerned about the presence of 27 this child at Neverland? 28 A. Well, I was concerned about accusations that 10314 1 were being made, yes. 2 Q. Accusations by whom? 3 A. The -- at the time, in February of ‘03, 4 there was a swirl of publicity, and there were 5 accusations that were being made by numerous people 6 that his children should be taken out of the home. 7 THE COURT: Just a moment. 8 Let’s take a break. 9 (Recess taken.) 10 THE COURT: Counsel? 11 MR. ZONEN: Thank you. 12 Q. Mr. Geragos -- 13 THE BAILIFF: Oh, your microphone. 14 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Mr. Geragos, did you keep 15 copies of notes of conversations with Mr. Jackson? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Did you make any notes of your conversations 18 with Mr. Jackson? 19 A. Probably not. 20 Q. You didn’t make any notes at all of any of 21 your -- 22 A. Probably not. I generally don’t do that 23 with my clients. I generally just talk to them. 24 Q. Did you make notes of any of your 25 conversations with any of the other individuals who 26 were working for Mr. Jackson at the time? 27 A. I don’t think so. 28 Q. You made no notes of any conversation with 10315 1 Dieter Weizner? 2 A. Dieter Weizner, as I explained before, I 3 didn’t really talk to in February or March, other 4 than on that one occasion. Ronald I would talk to, 5 but I’m not a big note-taker. 6 Q. No notes of conversations with Ronald 7 Konitzer? 8 A. I wouldn’t say “no,” but none that I can 9 remember taking. 10 Q. Do you think that your file might have notes 11 of conversations with Ronald Konitzer? 12 A. To be honest, I’d have to look. 13 Q. Do you think that your file would have notes 14 of conversations with Mark Schaffel? 15 A. No. 16 Q. How about Frank Cascio? 17 A. No. 18 Q. How about Vinnie Amen? 19 A. I don’t know that I ever had -- unless he 20 was standing with Frank when I talked with Frank, I 21 don’t know that I ever had a conversation directly 22 with him. Maybe when he was with Frank, but, no, I 23 wouldn’t have notes. 24 Q. Did you have any e-mail communications with 25 Michael Jackson? 26 A. No, I don’t believe so. 27 Q. Did you have any e-mail communications with 28 any of the other named people, the people I just 10316 1 named? 2 A. Probably Ronald would be on -- e-mails that 3 would come from David LeGrand would have Ronald’s 4 name on them as well. 5 Q. So you would have kept communications 6 between yourself and David LeGrand through e-mail? 7 A. No, I wouldn’t have kept them, but I would 8 have had them at one point. I don’t know that I 9 would have kept them. Like I say, I would have had 10 them if they had sent them to me, but probably would 11 have deleted after I got whatever information I 12 wanted. 13 Q. Is it your habit and custom to print out 14 copies of your e-mails and keep them? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Is it your habit and custom to keep your 17 e-mails electronically stored in your computer? 18 A. No. If it’s something particularly 19 important, I’ll just click over and save it into 20 Word Perfect and then save it in the file, but I 21 generally do not keep the e-mails segregated with 22 whatever else. 23 Q. Do you have a Word Perfect file on Michael 24 Jackson? 25 A. I believe that I do. 26 Q. Does it contain e-mail communications? 27 A. I don’t think I had any e-mails with him. 28 I’d have to double-check to be sure, but I don’t 10317 1 think I did. 2 Q. Did you have e-mail communications with Brad 3 Miller? 4 A. I think that I did. 5 Q. Did you save those e-mail communications? 6 A. I don’t think that I did. 7 Q. You might have? 8 A. Maybe. 9 Q. Would it be your habit and custom to title 10 those “E-mail communications” with your investigator 11 and put them in your file as a Word Perfect 12 document? 13 A. If I looked in Word Perfect, that’s -- if it 14 was something important and I saved it into Word 15 Perfect, that would be the way to tell. 16 Q. Is it the case that you’re the only lawyer 17 remaining in Los Angeles County who still uses Word 18 Perfect? 19 (Laughter.) 20 A. Probably so. But it’s the 11 series, so -- 21 Q. Mr. Geragos, I’d like to show you an 22 exhibit. 23 Could I approach the witness? 24 THE COURT: Yes. 25 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Number 347, would you take a 26 look at that, please? 27 A. Okay. 28 Q. That’s an exhibit containing two notes; is 10318 1 that correct? 2 A. Yes. It’s got two blue pieces of paper with 3 handwriting on it. 4 Q. Do you recognize that as your former 5 client’s handwriting? 6 MR. MESEREAU: Excuse me, could I see what 7 this is? 8 THE COURT: Yes. 9 MR. MESEREAU: May I approach, Your Honor? 10 THE COURT: Yes. 11 MR. ZONEN: It’s admitted in evidence, Your 12 Honor. 13 THE COURT: He just needs to see what it is. 14 MR. ZONEN: I understand. Thank you. 15 Q. Do you recognize that as Mr. Jackson’s 16 handwriting? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Were you familiar with Mr. Jackson’s 19 handwriting? 20 A. Familiar with his signature and familiar 21 with some of the way he signs off. But not -- this 22 does not appear -- there’s nothing about it that I 23 recognize. 24 Q. All right. Would you read those two notes, 25 please, out loud? 26 A. “But you have to really be honest in your 27 heart that I am your dad and will take care” -- 28 “good care of you, Dad. I want you to have a great 10319 1 time in Florida. I’m very happy to be your daddy. 2 Blanket, Prince and Paris are your brothers and 3 sisters. Love, Dad.” 4 Q. All right. Would you be surprised to learn 5 that that is, in fact, a note or two notes written 6 by Mr. Jackson to Gavin Arvizo? 7 A. I don’t know. Would I be surprised? I 8 don’t know. I probably would be surprised. 9 Q. All right. Mr. Geragos, if, in fact, those 10 are notes written by the defendant to Gavin Arvizo, 11 that would be inconsistent with what you tell us he 12 told you about not wanting to be called “Dad”; is 13 that right? 14 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 15 evidence. He said someone else told him. 16 THE WITNESS: Yeah -- 17 THE COURT: Just a moment. 18 And no speaking objections, Mr. Mesereau. 19 MR. MESEREAU: Yes, sir. 20 THE COURT: All right. You may answer. I’m 21 not sure you answered or you were responding to Mr. 22 Mesereau, so -- 23 MR. ZONEN: Should the question be reread, 24 Your Honor? 25 THE COURT: Reread the question. 26 THE WITNESS: I believe that the -- that -- 27 I don’t know what dates these were written on, and I 28 don’t know that it’s his handwriting. 10320 1 Are you asking me to assume it’s his 2 handwriting? If I assume it’s his handwriting, yes, 3 that would be -- that would be surprising to me. 4 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Now, to your knowledge, the 5 only trip that the Arvizos ever took to Florida with 6 Mr. Jackson was the one that they took just prior to 7 arriving in Neverland on the 7th; is that correct? 8 A. From the discovery, that’s my understanding. 9 Q. You have no other information that the 10 Arvizo family ever took any other trip to Florida 11 with Mr. Jackson? 12 A. Right. I don’t have any other information 13 that they took any other trip. 14 Q. Do you have any information that the Arvizo 15 family took a trip anywhere with Mr. Jackson other 16 than Florida and Neverland? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Now, I asked you a number of questions about 19 your giving counsel to your client about the Arvizo 20 family leaving Neverland. 21 When did you finally tell your client that 22 it’s time for the Arvizo family to go home? 23 A. I think I told -- I don’t know that it was 24 Michael or Ronald, or maybe on the same phone call, 25 but sometime in March that -- in March of ‘03. 26 Q. Now, were you aware in March of ‘03 that the 27 Arvizo family was still at Neverland? 28 A. I think they had come and gone, was my 10321 1 understanding back then, in March of ‘03. 2 Q. At the time of the conversation with Mr. 3 Jackson -- let me strike that and reask that. 4 Did you finally have a conversation with 5 Michael Jackson about the fact that the Arvizos 6 should not be at Neverland? 7 A. I had a conversation -- my only hesitancy is 8 when you say was it with Michael Jackson. I don’t 9 think it was with Michael. I think the conversation 10 was with either Ronald or Brad saying that, “This is 11 not a good situation.” I don’t think that the 12 conversation was with Michael. 13 Q. Well, Brad Miller was working for Michael 14 Jackson at the time? 15 A. Brad Miller was working for me. 16 Q. All right. 17 A. Brad Miller would be a liaison. If I were 18 in trial, I would have Brad communicate messages, 19 but Brad was not talking to Michael. Brad would 20 have been talking to one of the people that I 21 mentioned. 22 Q. All right. Is there a reason you didn’t 23 call Michael Jackson directly, given that he is 24 your -- was your client -- 25 A. Well -- 26 Q. -- and tell him to send the Arvizo family 27 home? Is there a reason you didn’t do that? 28 A. Because I don’t believe, at the time when I 10322 1 had that conversation, that Michael was even at 2 Neverland. I don’t think Michael was there then. 3 Q. Did you make any effort to determine when 4 Michael Jackson would be at Neverland? 5 A. Well, when you say, “make an effort to 6 determine,” I believe at one point he was out of 7 state and -- in March, and I was informed of that, 8 and so that’s -- that was the basis for my opinion. 9 Q. Did you -- 10 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. He’s cutting off 11 the witness. 12 THE COURT: Sustained. 13 MR. MESEREAU: May the witness complete his 14 answer, Your Honor? 15 THE COURT: Had you completed your answer? 16 THE WITNESS: No, but I forgot what I was 17 going to say. 18 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you make an effort to 19 contact Michael Jackson out of state? 20 A. No -- well, I think that I was told he was 21 out of state. I think it was one of those brief 22 conversations when he was on with somebody else. I 23 was having a conversation with somebody else, he was 24 either in the room or got on for a minute. 25 But, no, that was not -- I didn’t consider 26 that -- that I was dictating to him what he needed 27 to do. I was there, I thought, to do an 28 investigation. I was there to make sure that 10323 1 nothing unfair happened to him and his kids. That 2 was my role. 3 Q. At some point in time around the middle of 4 the month of February, did you learn that the family 5 had left Neverland? 6 A. This was what was objected to before. You 7 want me to answer it now? 8 Q. I’d like to know if you learned at some time 9 in the middle of February that the family had left 10 Neverland. Yes or no? 11 A. Yes, I was told by somebody that the family 12 had left Neverland. 13 Q. All right. Okay. Now, were you aware that 14 there were telephone calls being made from Frank 15 Cascio to Janet Arvizo asking her to return to 16 Neverland? 17 A. I found that out later. I did not know it 18 at the time. 19 Q. Are you aware that your investigator, Brad 20 Miller, tape-recorded one or more of those 21 conversations? 22 A. I’m aware of one. I found that out when the 23 police searched Brad’s office and got that tape, and 24 later learned what that was. 25 Q. Did you direct Mr. Miller to tape-record 26 those telephone calls? 27 A. I said I was aware of one. 28 Q. Did you direct Brad Miller -- 10324 1 A. And I did not direct him to tape a phone 2 call surreptitiously. The only tape that I directed 3 him to do that was an audiotape, was the one where I 4 said, “I want you to sit down and interview them.” 5 And I also told him, “I want a log of where they 6 are.” I did not tell him to tape Frank Tyson or 7 that one phone call. 8 Q. Did Mr. Miller tell you about the 9 conversation that he tape-recorded between Frank 10 Cascio or Frank Tyson and Janet Arvizo? 11 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Assumes facts not 12 in evidence; no foundation; misstates the evidence 13 as well. 14 THE COURT: Overruled. 15 You may answer. 16 THE WITNESS: Brad later told me, when we 17 were -- you and I and Mr. Sneddon were litigating 18 this issue, and I asked him about it, that the 19 reason he did it is because Frank had led him to 20 believe -- 21 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object at this time 22 to -- 23 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. He’s cutting off 24 the witness. 25 MR. ZONEN: Well, I -- 26 THE COURT: Overruled. 27 The question is simply whether or not he 28 told you about tape-recording the conversation. 10325 1 THE WITNESS: Do you want me to answer “yes” 2 or “no”? Yes. 3 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Now, when was the 4 conversation that you had with Brad Miller where he 5 acknowledged tape-recording that conversation? When 6 was that? 7 A. It would have been substantially after the 8 tape was seized from his office. 9 Q. All right. Back during the month of 10 February, was Brad Miller informing you as to the 11 content of his investigation? 12 A. He was -- he was pretty dil -- 13 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Leading, Your 14 Honor. Vague as to time. 15 MR. ZONEN: I said February. 16 MR. MESEREAU: Can I assume 2003? 17 THE COURT: Just a moment. Just a moment. 18 All right. I’ll overrule the objection. 19 Do you want the question read back? I’ll 20 order it read back. 21 THE WITNESS: I remember. I was going to 22 answer. 23 He was being fairly diligent about telling 24 me. He did not tell me about that one particular 25 call until after it was seized when I started to 26 question him about it. 27 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did he tell you about any 28 conversations that took place between Frank Cascio 10326 1 and Janet Arvizo? 2 A. That conversation. 3 Q. Did he tell you that in the middle part of 4 February, Frank Cascio was trying to get Janet 5 Arvizo back to Neverland Ranch? 6 A. No. That’s not what he told me. Do you 7 want me to tell you what he told me? 8 Q. Did he tell you that anybody from Neverland 9 Ranch was making efforts to get Janet Arvizo back? 10 A. No. He told me that he was -- 11 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object as 12 nonresponsive. 13 THE WITNESS: No. 14 THE COURT: Sustained. 15 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Mr. Geragos, did you have 16 conversations with any employee of Michael Jackson 17 on whether or not the Arvizo family should be 18 tape -- videotaped and whether or not that videotape 19 should be included in a commercial production to be 20 aired on television? 21 A. I was told that they were going to be 22 videotaped, and it would have been by David and/or 23 Ronald. And I instructed Brad to go to the 24 videotaping and to remain there until he got a copy 25 of the videotape. 26 Q. Were you consulted at any time by any 27 employee of Michael Jackson as to whether or not 28 waivers would be necessary for such a thing? 10327 1 A. No. 2 Q. Were you consulted by anybody employed by 3 Michael Jackson on the question of whether or not 4 any member of the Arvizo family should be 5 compensated for their involvement in this tape? 6 A. I was told that they wanted to be 7 compensated for the tape. 8 Q. All right. And did you tell -- who was that 9 who told you that? 10 A. As I sit here, I would just be guessing. I 11 know that I was told that they wanted to be 12 compensated for the tape. 13 Q. And did you tell that person that that would 14 be an appropriate thing to do, since it was a 15 commercial interest? 16 A. No. I don’t think I did -- had anything to 17 do with it. In fact, I think that that was dealt 18 with -- all of the licensing and everything having 19 to do with the rebuttal was handled by, I think, 20 David and Schaffel. 21 Q. At the time of the conversation with this 22 person about them wanting to be compensated for this 23 tape, did you ask that person if the Arvizo family 24 was still staying at Neverland Ranch? 25 A. I don’t remember if I did. 26 Q. Do you know if you told that person that it 27 was not a good idea for these people to be 28 associating with Michael Jackson? 10328 1 A. Well, I know that I had that conversation. 2 Q. With whom? 3 A. I’m sure I’ve had it with Brad. I’m sure 4 I’ve had it with Ronald. And I’m positive that at 5 one point I had that conversation with David. 6 Q. With who? 7 A. David LeGrand. 8 Q. With David LeGrand. 9 Did any of them tell you that was difficult 10 to do because Mr. Jackson enjoyed sleeping with 11 Gavin Arvizo? 12 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Assumes facts not 13 in evidence; argumentative. 14 THE COURT: Overruled. 15 You may answer. 16 THE WITNESS: No. Nobody told me that. 17 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: When did you first learn that 18 there was, in fact, a succession of young boys that 19 had been sleeping with Michael Jackson over the last 20 15 years? 21 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Misstates the 22 evidence; argumentative; no foundation; move to 23 strike. 24 THE COURT: Argumentative; sustained. 25 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you ever learn about 26 Brett Barnes? 27 A. Doesn’t ring a bell. 28 Q. Did you ever learn about Jordie Chandler? 10329 1 A. The same person you asked me about 2 earlier -- 3 Q. Yes. 4 A. -- from ‘93, yes. 5 MR. MESEREAU: Asked and answered. 6 MR. ZONEN: All right. 7 THE COURT: Just a moment. 8 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: And in the process of 9 investigating -- 10 THE COURT: Just a moment. I’m ruling on an 11 objection here. 12 MR. ZONEN: I’m sorry. I thought you had. 13 THE COURT: Sustained. 14 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you ever determine 15 whether or not Jordie Chandler had spent many 16 consecutive nights in bed with Michael Jackson? 17 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Beyond the scope; 18 no foundation; argumentative. 19 THE COURT: Sustained. 20 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you make any 21 investigation into any of the allegations against 22 Michael Jackson that occurred back in 1993 and prior 23 to ‘93? 24 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Beyond the scope; 25 no foundation; argumentative. 26 THE COURT: Overruled. 27 You may answer. 28 THE WITNESS: Over the break I was given the 10330 1 written waiver, and the written waiver was up 2 through -- 3 BAILIFF CORTEZ: Microphone, sir. 4 THE WITNESS: The written waiver was up 5 through the time of arrest. To answer that, I would 6 have to go beyond that. 7 THE COURT: I didn’t understand that the 8 waiver was limited. 9 MR. ZONEN: Nor did I. 10 MR. MESEREAU: Yes, Your Honor. If I didn’t 11 say that, I meant to. We were going to limit it 12 until up to the time of Mr. Jackson’s arrest. 13 THE COURT: That’s not what you informed all 14 of us. Take the jury out, please. 15 16 (The following proceedings were held in 17 open court outside the presence and hearing of the 18 jury:) 19 20 THE COURT: Counsel, you didn’t inform Mr. 21 Geragos, myself, or anyone else in the courtroom 22 that there was anything other than a waiver of the 23 attorney-client privilege. You didn’t indicate 24 there was any limitations on that waiver. 25 MR. MESEREAU: That’s my mistake, Your 26 Honor. I was thinking in terms of the period, 27 relevant time period, not after the arrest, the time 28 he was involved with Mr. Konitzer, Dieter, people 10331 1 like that. That’s -- that’s my mistake, and I 2 apologize. I didn’t think anything was relevant 3 after the arrest. 4 THE COURT: They can’t hear you talking back 5 there. 6 MR. MESEREAU: I didn’t think anything was 7 relevant after the arrest. And I should have been 8 clear about that. That’s my mistake. 9 THE COURT: Well, I consider you’ve made a 10 total, complete waiver on the record. You know, I’m 11 not going to allow you to give with one hand and 12 take away with the other. 13 MR. MESEREAU: Can I inquire, Your Honor? 14 With all due respect, what would be relevant after 15 the arrest to the time period that’s being litigated 16 in court? I don’t think there is anything. I 17 believe the allegations -- 18 THE COURT: The relevancy is one issue, 19 granted. But that’s not what we’re talking about 20 now. We’re talking about the scope of the waiver 21 that you represented that you were -- that existed. 22 Mr. Geragos is on the witness stand. He’s 23 answering questions, and then you inform him during 24 a break that there’s some limitation. I think 25 relevance has to be dealt with on a 26 question-by-question basis. I’m not dealing with 27 that. I’m dealing with the extent of the waiver 28 that you indicated to the Court and to Mr. Geragos 10332 1 that you have. 2 MR. MESEREAU: I guess I did do that. And 3 unfortunately, I meant to cover the period involving 4 this case, which I thought was before the arrest, 5 and that was my mistake. 6 I didn’t think it included, Your Honor, the 7 period of time following the initial Information. 8 I didn’t think that was relevant. I wasn’t even 9 considering that. I was thinking about the time 10 period during which the prosecution has elicited 11 testimony and he elicited testimony regarding these 12 alleged events. 13 THE COURT: Well, what’s your position? 14 MR. ZONEN: I think it may be appropriate to 15 ask this witness questions about his conversations 16 with the defendant and questions about his 17 involvement in the case even after the arrest. It 18 could have bearing certainly on his conduct here, or 19 conduct that he took after the time of the arrest 20 could have bearing on whether or not he did or 21 didn’t do certain things prior to the arrest. I 22 just don’t think that we should be restrained from 23 having to limit our questions only up to the time of 24 his arrest. 25 THE WITNESS: Your Honor, may I just 26 interject one thing, since I’m going to be the one 27 asked the questions? 28 If there’s not a waiver from the client -- 10333 1 MR. ZONEN: I’m going to object. 2 THE WITNESS: If there’s not a waiver -- 3 THE COURT: No, he has my permission to 4 speak. 5 THE WITNESS: If there’s not a waiver by the 6 client, I believe under State Bar rules, I am 7 completely exposed. And I would inform the Court, 8 without a written waiver, I am not going to answer, 9 even under threat of contempt, any further questions 10 that have to do with anything which is stated at 11 least in the written waiver that I have, under -- or 12 after December of 2003, because I can’t put that 13 genie back into the bottle at this point. 14 Frankly, I think technically the arrest was 15 in November of 2003, in the first place, but the 16 letter states December of 2003. And I believe under 17 State Bar rules, I’m not allowed to answer anything 18 unless there’s a written waiver that is fully 19 informed by the client. 20 MR. ZONEN: Your Honor, we haven’t been 21 furnished with a copy of that waiver. We would like 22 to see it, please. 23 THE COURT: Go ahead and -- 24 MR. MESEREAU: We have another copy, Your 25 Honor. 26 THE WITNESS: Do you want to make a copy or -- 27 MR. ZONEN: That’s okay. 28 THE COURT: The question that was asked was 10334 1 whether or not he’d made an investigation into the 2 1993 allegations. And that was when he advised us 3 that he had been given a limited waiver. 4 So I guess if the question was whether you’d 5 made any investigation into the allegations about 6 1993 back in February, that you would be able to 7 answer that question. 8 THE WITNESS: That’s correct, Your Honor. 9 In fact, if the question was limited to 10 anything prior to, I believe it was November -- I 11 want to say 18th or 19th of 2003, anything prior to 12 that date I’m comfortable with and don’t have a 13 problem. 14 Anything after that date, I’m going to 15 refuse or decline to answer. Respectfully, of 16 course. 17 THE COURT: I’m not quite sure how to deal 18 with it, but one way we can deal with it is that the 19 relevancy of his testimony is based on what happened 20 in February, March, and maybe up to the time of 21 arrest. And then we could complete that testimony, 22 and if you then thought you had some need to go into 23 other areas, we could get some points and 24 authorities on where we stand on the 25 misrepresentation that Mr. Mesereau has made to the 26 Court and to counsel. 27 That way, though, if we take evidence 28 limited in that respect today, we can free counsel 10335 1 up to get back to his trial. I know he’s got a 2 trial in Los Angeles that he needs to be at. And if 3 we do it that way, then what I would do is hold you 4 on call to me. 5 THE WITNESS: I kind of thought I already 6 was. 7 THE COURT: Huh? 8 THE WITNESS: I kind of thought I already 9 was. 10 THE COURT: Yeah, you are. But, you know, in 11 the future, and -- 12 MR. ZONEN: Judge, is the Court under the 13 expectation that we’re actually going to finish by 14 2:30 today? 15 THE COURT: Uh-huh. Aren’t you? 16 MR. ZONEN: Not optimistically, no. Not 17 with redirect as well. I may finish cross. I don’t 18 know that we’re going to finish redirect. 19 THE COURT: Well, let’s see what we do. 20 Sometimes -- anyway, I then will proceed in this 21 fashion, reserving what remedies exist -- what 22 should be done under the circumstances, but we don’t 23 waste the last hour, and perhaps we’re able to free 24 counsel and perhaps not. 25 Is that an agreeable way to proceed? 26 MR. ZONEN: It is. 27 And while the jury is out, let me also ask 28 that we be furnished at this time Mr. Geragos’s 10336 1 file, at least the file that existed up to the date 2 of the arrest, which would include all of his 3 billing records, his notes, his e-mails, his 4 handwritings, communications and reports. There is 5 a waiver up till that time. 6 THE COURT: I’m not going to order that, 7 Counsel. You can use the proper process for that. 8 Now, is that an agreeable way to proceed, 9 Mr. Mesereau, today? 10 MR. MESEREAU: Yes, Your Honor. And I 11 apologize for the -- it was not intentional, what 12 you’ve categorized as a misrepresentation. I 13 apologize for that. It was not intentional. I was 14 thinking of the period of the alleged conspiracy. 15 THE COURT: People can’t hear you. 16 MR. MESEREAU: I was thinking of the period 17 of the alleged conspiracy. I was not thinking 18 beyond that, and that’s my mistake. And I do 19 apologize to the Court. 20 THE COURT: All right. We’ll see where that 21 gets us. I don’t know where that gets us. Let’s 22 bring the jury in and see what we can achieve. 23 24 (The following proceedings were held in 25 open court in the presence and hearing of the 26 jury:) 27 28 THE COURT: Go ahead, Counsel. 10337 1 MR. ZONEN: All right. 2 Q. Mr. Geragos, the tape-recording of the 3 telephone call that I had asked you about 4 previously, the call between Frank Cascio and Janet 5 Arvizo, you did tell us that you listened to that 6 tape-recording; is that correct? 7 A. Yes, I -- well, we’re right back to where we 8 were before. 9 THE COURT: Excuse me. I was just -- let me 10 just take care of something. 11 I’ll just have the court reporter mark that. 12 Next question. 13 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Mr. Geragos, at some time 14 after that interview that your investigator, Mr. 15 Miller, had with the Arvizo family at your 16 direction, you became aware of the fact that there 17 was going to be a filming of the entire family; is 18 that right? 19 A. I don’t know if it was the whole family, but 20 I was aware there was going to be a videotaping, 21 yes. 22 Q. And were you aware at that time that that 23 video was going to be used in a commercial 24 production? 25 A. I knew that the videotaping was going to 26 be -- they were trying to sell it. That’s what they 27 were going to do. So if you mean “commercial” that 28 way, yes, they were trying to sell it. I don’t know 10338 1 if they had already cut a deal or not. 2 Q. Was it your understanding that the Arvizos’ 3 participation in that video would have commercial 4 value to your client, Mr. Jackson? 5 A. I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer 6 that. 7 Q. Was that your belief at the time? 8 A. I don’t know that I ever thought about it at 9 the time. 10 Q. Did anybody ever talk to you about the 11 commercial value of their involvement in this video? 12 A. Nobody was looking for my advice on 13 commercial value of the rebuttal video. 14 Q. Did anybody ever consult with you at all 15 about the propriety of using the Arvizo family in 16 this video? 17 A. I don’t know about -- well, I just said if 18 some statements were going to be taped, I wanted a 19 copy. 20 Q. Did you know that Gavin Arvizo was a cancer 21 survivor? 22 A. I did not then, when that tape was made. 23 Q. Well, that tape was made, what, the 20th? 24 A. I think that tape was made the 20th. And I 25 probably -- probably knew that either on that 26 following day or the day after. But I think very 27 close in time. 28 Q. Mr. Geragos, you had not watched the 10339 1 documentary “Living with Michael Jackson” prior to 2 that? 3 A. I had, but I had -- I had not investigated 4 records or anything like that. I later got records 5 and confirmed what was being said. 6 Q. Isn’t it true that the documentary “Living 7 with Michael Jackson” has clearly stated that Gavin 8 Arvizo is a cancer survivor? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And you did view that documentary prior to 11 the taping on the 20th? 12 A. Right, but I wasn’t buying anything until I 13 had documentation. 14 Q. All right. But you had information, at 15 least, that Gavin Arvizo was a cancer survivor; is 16 that right? 17 A. That’s what the claim was. 18 Q. Did you ever ask Michael Jackson if it was 19 true that Gavin Arvizo was a cancer survivor? 20 A. Not in February of ‘03. 21 Q. Of any of the conversations that you had 22 with David LeGrand or Ronald Konitzer, did you ask 23 either one of them if it was true that Gavin Arvizo 24 was a cancer survivor? 25 A. I think that the discussions were had 26 sometime in February about that subject. 27 Q. You were aware, were you not, that the 28 filming and presentation and airing of the 10340 1 documentary “Living with Michael Jackson” caused 2 Gavin Arvizo considerable problems in his life? 3 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; foundation. 4 THE COURT: Overruled. 5 You may answer. 6 THE WITNESS: I was aware that the claim was 7 made that he was being taunted at school. 8 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: And you knew that prior to 9 the 20th of February; is that right? 10 A. I don’t think I knew it prior to the 20th. 11 I think I knew it closer to the end of the month or 12 the beginning of March. 13 Q. When you viewed the documentary “Living with 14 Michael Jackson,” did you understand at the time 15 that that documentary was going to cause Gavin 16 Arvizo problems? 17 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; foundation. 18 THE WITNESS: My -- 19 THE COURT: Overruled. 20 You may answer. 21 THE WITNESS: Gavin Arvizo wasn’t my client. 22 Michael Jackson was my client. 23 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: I understand that. 24 A. I was not -- you know, I don’t want to sound 25 heartless, but I was worried about my client’s 26 problems. 27 Q. I understand you were worried about your 28 clients problems, but did you, in fact, understand 10341 1 that the airing of that documentary could cause 2 Gavin Arvizo problems because of how he was depicted 3 and portrayed? 4 A. I -- I suppose in retrospect, yes. At the 5 time, I thought that it was -- it would have the 6 opposite effect for him. He would be able to 7 exploit that for money. That was my worry; that he 8 was going to, or the family was going to go sell 9 their story for a six-figure sum. I had that 10 concern. 11 Q. Now, actually “sell the story,” sell the 12 story to whom? 13 A. One of the tabloids. 14 Q. Well, they would have a right to do that, 15 wouldn’t they? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. There’s absolutely nothing illegal about 18 selling your own story? 19 A. If it’s false, then you have actions that 20 you can take, and that’s -- that’s one of the 21 reasons I wanted to have the tape, because I didn’t 22 want -- I wanted to have them locked into what the 23 truth was and not later sell a false story, because 24 my experience is that the tabloids are not always 25 absolutely accurate. 26 Q. All right. Now, that’s not necessarily the 27 problem of the Arvizos, whether or not the tabloids 28 are accurate, right? 10342 1 A. I don’t know that I would agree with that. 2 Q. All right. But the Arvizos certainly would 3 have a right, in this country, to sell their story 4 to anybody? 5 A. They would. And as I stated, I already had 6 a concern about the Arvizos because of the J.C. 7 Penney lawsuit, so I was not exactly looking at them 8 as being pristine or pure at that point. I had -- 9 for lack of a better word, I had a rather jaded view 10 at that point. 11 Q. In fact, Michael Jackson was marketing the 12 Arvizo’s story for profit; is that true? 13 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Foundation; 14 assumes facts not in evidence. 15 THE COURT: Overruled. 16 You may answer. 17 THE WITNESS: They were trying to do, my 18 understanding, what they called a rebuttal video. 19 And the reason they were trying to do a rebuttal 20 video, I suppose, was, as you indicated, for profit. 21 It wasn’t being done pro bono. 22 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: And your client believed that 23 if the Arvizos were included and their story was 24 included in this production, it would be more 25 profitable to him; is that true? 26 A. Actually, I don’t know. 27 MR. MESEREAU: Objection. Assumes facts not 28 in evidence; foundation. 10343 1 THE COURT: Overruled. 2 THE WITNESS: Actually, I don’t know what my 3 client believed. All I know is when I heard that 4 they were going to be included, I wanted to have a 5 copy of the statements, the videotaped statements. 6 I did not specifically talk to Michael 7 about, “Are you doing this for money?” “Is this 8 something that you have a belief we’re going to use 9 them for marketing?” or anything of that nature. 10 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you have a conversation 11 with anybody at Hamid Moslehi’s home -- easy for me 12 to say. 13 A. Common spelling. 14 Q. -- (continuing) Hamid Moslehi’s home on the 15 19th of February of 2003? 16 A. I could have, if Brad was there. It would 17 have made sense that Brad might have called me and 18 said, “They’re not giving me the videotape,” because 19 they didn’t give me the videotape. 20 Q. Did you at any time during the evening of 21 the 19th, into the early morning hours of the 20th, 22 give any direction to any employee of Michael 23 Jackson about what they should ask or what they 24 shouldn’t ask -- 25 A. Absolutely -- 26 Q. -- the Arvizo family? 27 A. Absolutely not. 28 Q. Did anybody consult with you about the 10344 1 script that would be used for the Arvizo family? 2 A. I didn’t know that there was a script. 3 Q. Did anybody ask you whether or not the 4 Arvizos should be specifically asked questions about 5 whether Gavin was molested? 6 A. I specifically said, “I want copies of the 7 videotape.” I do not believe that I talked to 8 Hamid. And I can’t pronounce his last name. 9 Q. Moslehi. 10 A. Easy for you to say. 11 And I don’t believe that I talked to anybody 12 else that evening but Brad. I could be mistaken. 13 But that -- my memory is that I would have talked to 14 Brad; that Brad told me that they weren’t giving up 15 a videotape, or that it was getting late, or I told 16 him, “I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Don’t 17 call me anymore. It’s late. I’ve got to go to 18 bed.” 19 Q. Did you talk to Mark Schaffel that night? 20 A. I don’t think so. I think I might have 21 talked to Schaffel the next day to find out why we 22 didn’t get a copy of the videotape. 23 Q. Did you talk to Christian Robinson? 24 A. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to Christian 25 Robinson. At least back in February or March of 26 2003, I don’t believe I’ve talked to Christian 27 Robinson. 28 Q. Did you talk to Vicki Podberesky that night? 10345 1 A. I did not. 2 Q. Did you refer anybody to Vicki Podberesky? 3 A. I think Brad called and said that -- 4 Q. Mr. Geragos, did you refer anybody to Vicki 5 Podberesky? 6 A. I was trying to answer the question. Brad 7 called and asked for a referral. I did not refer to 8 Vicki Podberesky. I referred to Michael Nasatir. 9 Vicki Podberesky is Michael’s partner. 10 Q. All right. And you referred Brad Miller to 11 Michael Nasatir; is that right? 12 A. Brad said that Janet wanted a lawyer. I 13 said, “I can’t represent Janet. My firm’s not going 14 to represent Janet. Call Mike Nasatir and see if 15 it’s something he can handle.” 16 Q. All right. You were the one who then gave 17 Brad Miller the name of Mike Nasatir’s law firm; is 18 that correct? 19 A. That’s correct. 20 Q. You didn’t say “Vicki Podberesky”? 21 A. I did not say “Vicki Podberesky.” I said 22 “Mike Nasatir.” 23 Q. Did you have a conversation with Vicki 24 Podberesky that night? 25 A. I don’t believe it was that night. But if 26 she says it was, I would defer to her. My memory is 27 that I talked to Mike Nasatir. 28 Q. Did you talk to Mike Nasatir that night? 10346 1 A. Might have. Might have said, “I’m referring 2 over a case,” or “Brad’s going to call you. Talk to 3 him,” you know, “Do whatever you have to do.” 4 Q. Did you tell Mike Nasatir that you would be 5 financially responsible for his bill? 6 A. Absolutely not. 7 Q. Did you tell him that Michael Jackson would 8 be financially responsible? 9 A. Absolutely not. 10 Q. Did you know who was going to be responsible 11 for his bill? 12 A. It wasn’t my firm. It wasn’t my business. 13 Q. Did it come up in the conversation with Brad 14 Miller? 15 A. No. Why would it -- no. 16 Q. Now, at this point, you understood that 17 Janet Arvizo did not have a lot of money? 18 A. I don’t know that I understood that. I was 19 aware of a J.C. Penney lawsuit. I was aware that 20 she had a boyfriend who seemed to be making very 21 good money. So, no, I’m not aware that she was 22 completely limited in terms of her funding. 23 Q. Did you ever make any effort to determine 24 whether or not she was going to have to pay a 25 retainer to the law firm of Mr. Nasatir? 26 A. Absolutely not. It wasn’t my business. 27 Q. You did have a conversation with Mr. Nasatir 28 either that night or the next morning? 10347 1 A. I believe it was the next morning, but I 2 could be mistaken. It might have been that night. 3 And I believe the conversation was that, “I referred 4 somebody over, and this is the name and the number.” 5 And, you know, “Handle it however you want to handle 6 it.” 7 Q. Did you ask Mr. Nasatir to contact you after 8 his interview with Janet Arvizo and tell you the 9 content of that interview? 10 A. If -- if I talked to him that night, I 11 probably would have said, “Let me know what 12 happens,” yes. 13 Q. Would you have asked him to tell you about 14 the content of the conversation? 15 A. I would have wanted to know what was being 16 said, yes. 17 Q. Would you have asked him to get an express 18 waiver of attorney-client privilege from Janet 19 Arvizo so that he could talk to you about the exact 20 content of that conversation? 21 A. No. I wouldn’t have advised him how to 22 practice law. He’s a -- I think a certified 23 specialist in criminal law, and I would assume he 24 would know that. 25 Q. Did you tell Brad Miller that you wanted 26 Brad Miller to become informed of the conversation 27 that Janet Arvizo was having with this attorney? 28 A. No, it was the opposite. Janet kept telling 10348 1 Brad she wanted him there. 2 Q. Did you have -- 3 A. And Brad said he couldn’t go, and that’s why 4 he volunteered Asaf instead. 5 Q. Did you have a conversation with Brad Miller 6 wherein you specifically asked Brad Miller to get as 7 much information as he could of the conversation 8 between Janet Arvizo and the Nasatir lawyer? 9 A. No. In fact, I -- my understanding was, I 10 told them, “I can’t get in the middle of that. 11 Refer it out.” And she kept asking Brad to attend 12 with her at that interview. 13 Q. Did Brad Miller tell you specifically that 14 the interview they were referring to was a 15 Department of Child Family Services interview? 16 A. I think he did, yes. 17 Q. Did you understand that that interview was 18 existing, was taking place because of concerns about 19 whether or not her children were being exposed to 20 Michael Jackson? 21 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; misstates the 22 evidence. 23 THE COURT: Overruled. 24 You may answer. 25 THE WITNESS: I -- I learned that after the 26 fact, after the interview. 27 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Who is it who told you that 28 Janet Arvizo was going to have an interview with the 10349 1 Department of Child & Family Services 2 representatives? 3 A. I believe it was Brad. 4 Q. And he told you that that night? 5 A. I believe so. I believe that it was that 6 night that he said she was asking him to go with her 7 to the interview. 8 Q. Do you know why this interview was conducted 9 at two o’clock in the morning, hours before the 10 start of the interview with Janet Arvizo and the 11 Department of Child Family Services? 12 A. I have no idea -- 13 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; misstates the 14 evidence. 15 THE COURT: Overruled. 16 You may answer. 17 THE WITNESS: I have no idea why it was 2:00 18 in the morning. I do have a memory of saying, “Stop 19 calling me, because I’m going to bed.” 20 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did you tell Brad Miller at 21 any time that they should have that interview done 22 before the start of her interview with the 23 Department of Child Family Services? 24 A. Absolutely not. One, in my mind, had 25 nothing to do with the other. 26 Q. Did you tell Brad Miller to tape-record that 27 interview with the Department of Family Services? 28 A. Absolutely not. If I -- no, I absolutely 10350 1 did not. 2 Q. Did you tell Brad Miller that he should have 3 somebody else tape-record that interview? 4 A. Absolutely not. I didn’t know that he was 5 going to have anybody there. 6 Q. Did you have Asaf there that day? 7 A. I did not have Asaf there that day. 8 Q. Did you know Asaf prior to that day? 9 A. I think I met Asaf on one prior 10 investigation that I had hired Brad on. 11 Q. Is that Asaf Vilchic? 12 A. I think that’s his last name. 13 Q. And did you understand him to be an 14 employee, a part-time employee, of Brad Miller? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Is Brad Miller someone you had worked with 17 for a period longer than five years prior to that 18 day? 19 A. No. 20 Q. Did you feel that you knew Brad Miller 21 fairly well? 22 A. I thought I knew him, yes. At that time, I 23 don’t know if I would say “fairly well,” but I used 24 him, as I indicated, probably on three or four 25 different cases. I use a number of investigators. 26 Q. Was there any conversation between you and 27 Brad Miller that night, on the evening of the 19th, 28 about whether or not the DCSF interview would be 10351 1 tape-recorded? 2 A. No, absolutely not. 3 Q. When did you first learn that that interview 4 had been tape-recorded? 5 THE WITNESS: I can’t answer that, Your 6 Honor. 7 THE COURT: Mark that. 8 Next question, please. 9 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: When did you listen to the 10 tape-recording for the first time? 11 A. I can’t answer that. 12 Q. Did you have a conversation with Brad Miller 13 within the next week about the -- about the meeting 14 with the Department of Child Family Services? 15 A. I probably would have, yes. I don’t have -- 16 as I sit here, I don’t remember it, but it would not 17 have been unlikely. 18 Q. Did Brad Miller brief you about the content 19 of the Department of Child & Family Services 20 meeting? 21 A. I think I was told that there wasn’t any 22 problem. And I don’t -- and I don’t know if I was 23 told that within a week or within a day, but I think 24 I was just told that there was no problem. 25 Q. Did you ask him, Brad Miller, if he was, in 26 fact, present during the course of the meeting with 27 the representatives from the Department of Child & 28 Family Services? 10352 1 A. I don’t remember doing it, but it certainly 2 would not have been unusual for me to have done it. 3 As I sit here, I don’t remember asking him that, but 4 it’s logical that I would have. 5 Q. Did Brad Miller tell you that he was 6 personally present during that interview? 7 A. I don’t remember the conversation, but I 8 don’t at any time remember Brad telling me that he 9 was present during that interview. 10 Q. Did he ever tell you who was present during 11 that interview? 12 A. That’s another question I can’t answer. 13 THE COURT: All right. Mark it. 14 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did Brad Miller ever tell you 15 that Asaf was present during the beginning of the 16 interview? 17 A. That’s another question I can’t answer. 18 THE COURT: Next question. Mark it. 19 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: Did Asaf ever tell you how 20 that tape got in the hands of MS-NBC and Dan Abrams? 21 A. That’s another question I can’t answer. 22 THE COURT: All right. I think we’ll take 23 our recess early today. I don’t think this is 24 productive to proceed this way. 25 (To the jury) Any objection if you go home 26 seven minutes early? 27 A JUROR: Oh, no. 28 THE COURT: See you Monday morning at 8:30. 10353 1 Remember the admonition. 2 Counsel remain a moment. 3 MR. ZONEN: Thank you. 4 5 (The following proceedings were held in 6 open court outside the presence and hearing of the 7 jury:) 8 9 MR. ZONEN: Mr. Geragos, do you still have 10 that exhibit in front of you or did I take it back 11 already? 12 THE WITNESS: Yes. 13 THE COURT: Mr. Geragos, you may step down, 14 but remain within the bar. You have an interest, a 15 stake here. I think you have counsel here. 16 MR. GERAGOS: Pat’s sitting here, but I’ll 17 be one of those pro pers. 18 My biggest concern is I’m engaged in 19 Department C35 in a jury trial that has been ongoing 20 now for eight weeks in Santa Ana court before the 21 Honorable Judge -- 22 THE COURT: Could you come to the microphone? 23 There’s people that just can’t hear you back there. 24 MR. ZONEN: I’ll move out of your way. 25 MR. GERAGOS: I’m presently engaged in jury 26 trial in Department C35, long-cause court, in Santa 27 Ana. I’ve been there for eight weeks. We have 18 28 jurors in the box. I’m in the middle of 10354 1 cross-examination. This is a case that’s estimated 2 to last till August. The case is actually seven 3 years old. It’s been to the Supreme Court and back, 4 and there is a published decision on it. The -- all 5 the jurors are ordered back for Monday morning at 6 nine o’clock. I am ordered back by Judge Fasel at 7 8:45. 8 Obviously I do not want to incur the wrath 9 of this Court, but I believe that if I’m ordered 10 back for Monday, I’m going to be under competing 11 Court orders, and somebody’s going to find me in 12 contempt. 13 THE COURT: Who do you want to do that? 14 (Laughter.) 15 MR. GERAGOS: I think I’d rather -- I hate 16 to say this, as much as I love Santa Maria, I’d 17 rather spend my time in the OSC jail, so -- 18 MR. SANGER: We have a nice jail here. 19 THE COURT: We can call that judge. I 20 understand. In fact, that’s why I ordered you up 21 today, was when I heard that you were in a lengthy 22 jury trial, my choice was not to disturb the jury 23 trial on Monday, because I know how hard it is for 24 any jury to have to deal with these kind of 25 problems. 26 And I fully anticipated that we’d be able to 27 get all of your testimony in today. You know, the 28 District Attorney had said that he only had a few 10355 1 more minutes with LeGrand, and that didn’t happen, 2 so you were kept upstairs for a period I didn’t 3 anticipate this morning. 4 But his courtroom is dark on Fridays? 5 MR. GERAGOS: He I think -- I believe has a 6 law-and-motion calendar on Fridays, and that’s why 7 it’s dark for jury trials. 8 The jury was ordered back at -- for nine 9 o’clock. The next day off is the 20th. I’ve 10 already inquired here. I guess you’re not working, 11 I guess this court is dark on the 20th. And then we 12 do have, even though I’m supposed to be out of the 13 country, we’re dark on the 26th of May. I suppose I 14 could always delay that trip to later in the day if 15 I could get -- 16 THE COURT: Well, I’m not going to put it 17 off that long. What I could do is cancel our day 18 off on the 20th. The 20th was going to be a day off 19 because Mr. Sanger had made a commitment to 20 appear -- 21 MR. GERAGOS: If it’s just Mr. Sanger, I’ve 22 got no problems screwing up his day off. 23 THE COURT: So I’m trying to -- what I’m 24 going to require here is some points and authorities 25 from both sides. I’m not quite sure of what -- 26 where we are and what we should be doing. And so it 27 wouldn’t hurt if -- I mean, clearly everyone’s going 28 to have their points and authorities to me Monday, 10356 1 but then we could take your testimony next Friday 2 and -- 3 MR. GERAGOS: That’s fine. And I’d 4 appreciate it. The case I had on Friday I was 5 hoping that you would say that. I had somebody go 6 out to San Bernardino this morning and continue a 7 prelim that was set for the 20th, so I have -- I can 8 move the other two things that I have, so it’s not a 9 problem. 10 MR. SANGER: Your Honor, on Friday, from a 11 selfish standpoint, could we limit the day to Mr. 12 Geragos’s testimony? 13 THE COURT: Yes. 14 MR. SANGER: So when we’re through, then we 15 could go, because I could still make part of it. 16 THE COURT: Right. We can set Friday just 17 for Mr. Geragos’s testimony. 18 MR. SANGER: Thank you. 19 THE COURT: How much more testimony -- how 20 much longer do you think you’re -- I know. The 21 problem is if I give you a week, then it will -- to 22 think of questions, then.... 23 MR. GERAGOS: Exactly. 24 MR. ZONEN: You’re asking me how many more 25 minutes of cross-examination I have? 26 THE COURT: Estimate your time. 27 MR. ZONEN: Oh, gosh. A half hour at least. 28 THE COURT: Is that all? 10357 1 MR. ZONEN: Well, no. 2 (Laughter.) 3 THE COURT: Well, we have a serious problem 4 to deal with, and I really don’t have a -- I really 5 am not -- all we can do is do some research. 6 MR. ZONEN: I’ll try to accommodate the 7 Court as best I can. 8 THE COURT: If I bring the jury in, I’m not 9 going to bring them in just for a half hour of 10 testimony on Friday, so we’ll use the whole day. 11 That would not be fair to the jury. 12 MR. SANGER: Whatever the Court decides. 13 THE COURT: I think that’s what we’ve got to 14 do. 15 MR. SANGER: If we quit early -- let me put 16 it this way. If we quit early on Friday, it would 17 be nice, but whatever the Court can do with that in 18 mind. 19 THE COURT: All right. 20 MR. GERAGOS: May I be excused, with the 21 promise that I will return at 8:30 on Friday the 22 20th? 23 THE COURT: You’re ordered to return on 24 Friday -- 25 MR. GERAGOS: And I promise I’ll be here. 26 THE COURT: -- by 8:30. 27 MR. GERAGOS: Thank you. 28 THE COURT: I want points and authorities 10358 1 from Mr. Mesereau, and I want points and authorities 2 from Mr. Sneddon. 3 Are you interested in -- 4 MR. GERAGOS: Yes, I had hoped that you 5 would invite me to, but I was going to -- I’ll try 6 to keep it short, but I’ll point to what I think are 7 the applicable code sections that are appropriate 8 and the Rules of Professional Conduct. 9 THE COURT: The issue -- here’s -- the issue 10 I want addressed is not what the ethical rules are. 11 We know that. What I want to address is what 12 happens in the middle of testimony when the party 13 who’s asserted that they have given you a waiver on 14 the record, a waiver of the attorney-client 15 privilege, suddenly reveals in the writing that you 16 don’t have a complete waiver. And what are the 17 remedies? What should I do? 18 MR. GERAGOS: My belief is that under the -- 19 THE COURT: Well -- 20 MR. GERAGOS: I won’t give it to you now. 21 THE COURT: Don’t shoot from the hip. I 22 can’t believe that this ever happened to you before, 23 did it? 24 MR. GERAGOS: No. 25 THE COURT: Okay. Well, let’s do some 26 research on it. 27 MR. GERAGOS: I just think it’s similar to 28 the conflict situation. If it’s not done by the 10359 1 client on the record, then that’s the problem. 2 THE COURT: Well, that’s not the -- the 3 client -- the attorney made the waiver. The client 4 is sitting there, you know. There’s all sorts of 5 issues here that are different than that. 6 The question is what do we do now? So I 7 would like all of you to weigh in on the issue at 8 hand, which is what do we do now? 9 MR. GERAGOS: I’d be happy to. Thank you. 10 THE COURT: Now, will you fax your materials 11 to my office? Do you still have that number? 12 MR. GERAGOS: I do. I saved that on my Word 13 Perfect. 14 THE COURT: I’ll authorize fax service on 15 Mr. Mesereau and Mr. Zonen, Mr. Sneddon. And I want 16 to have all of this by eight o’clock Monday morning. 17 MR. GERAGOS: That’s fine. 18 THE COURT: And then would you call your 19 judge and tell him that I have accommodated him and 20 do understand the situation with him? 21 MR. GERAGOS: I will. Thank you very much, 22 Your Honor. 23 THE COURT: Anything else? 24 MR. SANGER: I’m still struggling with this 25 matter that I have on Friday. Assuming we’re 26 through with Mr. Geragos by the 11:30 break, would 27 you be willing to call the jury in -- in other 28 words, we would have witnesses -- if he’s done in a 10360 1 half an hour, we would have witnesses to take us to 2 the 11:30 break. Would that be all right? 3 THE COURT: All right. 4 MR. SANGER: Okay. 5 THE COURT: Would you have -- I would like to 6 have the jury commissioner immediately leave a 7 message for all the jurors right now that the day 8 off on the 20th has been cancelled. We’re going to 9 use it so that any plans they have they can change, 10 and prevent them from making plans in anticipation. 11 Anything else? 12 Okay. 13 (The proceedings adjourned at 2:30 p.m.) 14 --o0o-- 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 10361 1 REPORTER’S CERTIFICATE 2 3 4 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) 5 OF CALIFORNIA, ) 6 Plaintiff, ) 7 -vs- ) No. 1133603 8 MICHAEL JOE JACKSON, ) 9 Defendant. ) 10 11 12 I, MICHELE MATTSON McNEIL, RPR, CRR, 13 CSR #3304, Official Court Reporter, do hereby 14 certify: 15 That the foregoing pages 10193 through 10361 16 contain a true and correct transcript of the 17 proceedings had in the within and above-entitled 18 matter as by me taken down in shorthand writing at 19 said proceedings on May 13, 2005, and thereafter 20 reduced to typewriting by computer-aided 21 transcription under my direction. 22 DATED: Santa Maria, California, 23 May 13, 2005. 24 25 26 27 MICHELE MATTSON McNEIL, RPR, CRR, CSR #3304 28 10362