Posted on 05/11/2005 10:40:32 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Actor Macaulay Culkin took the stand at Michael Jackson's child molestation trial Wednesday and denied he was molested by the pop star.
Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. asked Culkin what he thought of the charges against Jackson.
"I think they're absolutely ridiculous," said Culkin, 24.
He said prosecutors never approached him about whether he had been molested and he only learned of the allegations that he had been molested by watching news coverage of the trial.
"Somebody told me you should probably check out CNN because they're saying something about you," Culkin said. "I just couldn't believe it. ... It was amazing to me that nobody even approached me and asked if these allegations were true."
Prosecution witnesses testified earlier that Jackson inappropriately touched Culkin, who was a frequent childhood guest of Jackson. That testimony was used to allege that Jackson has a pattern of inappropriate behavior with boys.
Those witnesses included a chef who testified he saw Jackson with his hand up Culkin's shorts as the singer held the boy up to a video game at Jackson's Neverland ranch.
A former maid also testified previously that Culkin stayed in Jackson's bedroom during visits to Neverland. That woman, whose son received a $2.4 million settlement from Jackson in 1994, was attacked by the defense because she was paid $20,000 to appear on a TV show.
Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him wine and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to rebut a TV documentary in which the boy appeared with Jackson, who said he let children sleep in his bed but that it was non-sexual.
Culkin is the third young man to appear for the defense to deny he was a victim of improper behavior by Jackson during childhood visits with the pop star.
Culkin, who shot to fame as the wide-eyed kid in 1990's "Home Alone," has also appeared in such films as "Uncle Buck," "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" and "Richie Rich."
Culkin testified he met Jackson when he was 9 or 10 years old and has remained friends since, last speaking to him about three days ago.
He said his family has been to Neverland several times and has been in the singer's bedroom. He said he never felt his family was excluded from the bedroom or any other part of the ranch.
Culkin was also asked about whether he had ever seen anything improper happen with Brett Barnes or Wade Robson, the two young men who also testified for the defense last week.
"I've never seen him do anything improper with anyone," Culkin said.
On cross-examination, Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen asked Culkin if prosecutors had tried repeatedly to contact him but had been rebuffed.
"Not that I know of, no," Culkin said.
Zonen asked whether prosecutors had attempted to contact him in 1993 and recently when his attorney said he wouldn't give statement to either side prior to his testimony.
Culkin said his lawyer had suggested he not talk to attorneys in advance and he agreed.
"I wasn't really planning on testifying," he said.
Culkin was also asked about a trip to Bermuda he took with a childhood friend.
He said Jackson came along but he did not remember whether he or the singer suggested that the pop star join Culkin and the friend's family.
Culkin was also asked whether the family had complained that Jackson had tried to separate him from the family during the Bermuda trip.
Culkin said he had no such recollection.
Zonen asked if Jackson gave Culkin a Rolex watch on that trip.
Prosecutors say Jackson also gave a watch to his current accuser on a flight from Miami to Santa Barbara as a bribe to keep him from revealing that Jackson gave him wine.
Culkin said he did vaguely remember the watch but wasn't particularly impressed by it at the time.
"I was not a person without means, so it wasn't that awe-inspiring," he said.
In May 2004, Culkin told CNN's Larry King that Jackson was "a good friend of mine and still is."
Culkin suggested to King that they connected because he didn't treat Jackson as a superstar and talked to him "like a normal human being" who is "very kid-like."
"Believe me, I call him a jerk all the time. I call him a fat head and this and that and he gets it," Culkin told King.
Culkin said Jackson is "not a very social person" and is not good at explaining himself because he has been sheltered for decades.
The actor is facing a June 8 hearing on two misdemeanor drug counts in Oklahoma City, where he was arrested on Sept. 17, 2004, after police alleged found more than a half-ounce of marijuana and several tablets of the prescription medication Xanax in a car in which he was a passenger.
Authorities said Culkin did not have a prescription for Xanax, which is used to treat depression and panic disorders. Culkin has pleaded innocent to the charges and is free on $4,000 bail.
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )
NOTHING like OJ at all.
You claim a mountain of DNA or do you think it flys with all the bad witnesses?
I'm not sure that was definitive, but thanks.
Seriously disturbed, to be sure.
Perhaps it all depends on what "molestation" is. One boy's molestation is another boys gratification?
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