The family of the teenager at the center of Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial was offered a new house and free college educations in exchange for appearing in a video refuting a damaging TV documentary, the teenager's stepfather testified.
Taking the stand at Jackson's child molestation trial, the stepfather also told jurors that the accuser, then 13, became mean, rude and distant after the time he spent with Jackson and that it took "several months" for his behavior to return to normal after the family left Jackson's Neverland Ranch in March 2003.
The boy's stepfather described him as "brainwashed," leading to a vigorous objection from Jackson's defense. The remark was stricken and the jury admonished to disregard it.
The defense tried to counter the stepfather's testimony by pointing out to jurors that he spurned the offer of a house and free educations because he wanted an even larger share of what he thought would be a financial windfall from the rebuttal video.
The stepfather, a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, admitted that he thought the offer was insufficient because he believed Jackson stood to earn $4 million to $5 million from selling his rebuttal -- and the family ought to share in the money.
He also admitted asking reporters from a British tabloid for money for an interview with the family because "I thought it was the standard in the industry." But he insisted he later declined their offer of $15,000.
"The more I thought about it, the less I liked it," he said. "It just wasn't going to be an appropriate thing to do with this family."
The stepfather said following the airing of "Living with Michael Jackson" in February 2003, Jackson associate Frank Tyson called the boy's mother repeatedly -- sometimes every 15 or 20 minutes -- about participating in a rebuttal video. He described her as "distressed" by the calls.
The stepfather, who was not married to the mother at the time but was living with her off and on, said Tyson told him that the family could get a new house and free college educations for the accuser, his brother and sister.
Not satisfied with the offer, and believing that the Jackson camp was "taking advantage" of the family, "I asked what he was offering financially or monetarily," the stepfather said -- at which point he said Tyson demanded to know if he was trying to blackmail Jackson.
He also said Tyson told him that "we're offering them protection," but wouldn't say who or what they needed protection from.
The mother eventually agreed to participate in the rebuttal video, which was played earlier in the trial. In it, she and the accuser, along with his brother and sister, laud Jackson and deny anything improper happened. However, the three children all testified that the video was scripted and they were coached on what to say.
Tyson was named along with four other Jackson associates as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment against the entertainer in April 2004. The indictment alleges that Jackson and the five men conspired to intimidate and coerce the family into participating in damage control after the documentary, including holding them against their will in the weeks after it aired.
The indictment also alleges that Jackson paid Tyson $1 million about three weeks after the family left the ranch.
During the time prosecutors allege that the family was being held against its will, at Neverland and a Los Angeles hotel, the stepfather said he had several short phone conversations with the mother. She was "distressed" and "disturbed," and he said she told him she was being followed and had to take a chaperone wherever she went
However, the stepfather said the mother did not give him details.
"She wasn't telling me specifically what was happening, and I wasn't asking," he said. "She didn't want to talk about it."
Accompanied by his mother, Katherine, Jackson arrived at court Tuesday wearing a black blazer and pants, a white shirt and a gray tie and vest along with a blue armband. He waved and smiled at screaming fans outside the Santa Maria courthouse before entering.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting the boy -- now 15 years old -- at Neverland, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold his family captive in 2003.
Jackson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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