Michael Jackson Lawyers Call on Witness
By LINDA DEUTSCH
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - Michael Jackson's defense lawyers aim to find out whether authorities violated his attorney-client privilege when they broke into the office of a private investigator hired by the pop star.
To that end, Jackson's lawyers planned to call as a witness the stepfather of the 12-year-old boy accusing Jackson of molestation. The stepfather, referred to in court as ``Mr. Doe'' to protect his identity, was scheduled to begin testimony at a pretrial hearing Thursday.
Jackson's defense wants to know what the stepfather might have known about the relationship between the private investigator, Bradley Miller, and Jackson's former lawyer, Mark Geragos.
The issue is whether anyone told prosecutors and sheriff's deputies that Miller was working for Geragos before authorities decided to break into Miller's office and seize evidence. The defense contends that if authorities knew the investigator and lawyer were working together, the search violated attorney-client privilege of confidentiality.
Evidence seized during the raid included the so-called ``rebuttal video,'' which was intended to answer negative publicity surrounding a British TV special on Jackson. The stepfather is said to have been present when Miller supervised the making of the video, during which the boy and his family reportedly vouch for Jackson's good character. Prosecutors say the family was coerced into making the video.
In addition to Mr. Doe, witnesses under subpoena for Thursday included William Dickerman, the attorney who once represented the family, and a number of sheriff's detectives.
Defense attorneys also plan to challenge individual items seized during a search of Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
Meanwhile, Jackson has asked a judge to allow him to publicly react to the California attorney general's conclusion that Jackson was not mistreated when he surrendered to authorities last year. In an interview a month after the arrest, Jackson said he was ``manhandled'' by Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies.
Jackson, 45, is charged with committing a lewd act upon a child, administering an intoxicating agent and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on $3 million bail.
Expert Says 'Lost' Beatles Trove Is Fake
By JILL LAWLESS
LONDON (AP) - It sounded too good to be true. Turns out it probably was. A long-sought trove of rare Beatles material that reportedly was found last month by a lucky British tourist remains lost, a leading Beatles expert says.
Last month, The Times newspaper reported that a suitcase bought by Fraser Claughton, 41, at an Australian flea market for about $35 was packed with Beatles memorabilia, including photos, concert programs and unreleased recordings.
But Pete Nash, a memorabilia expert from the British Beatles Fan Club who examined the contents of the suitcase on behalf of a British television channel, said he saw photocopied ticket stubs, laser-scanned pictures from the 1990s - and no rare reel-to-reel recordings.
``It's farcical, really,'' Nash told The Associated Press.
Neither The Times nor the reporter who wrote the original story wished to comment Wednesday.
Claughton does not have a listed telephone number, and could not be reached for comment. John Read, a friend and pop memorablia dealer who has spoken for him on the issue, did not return calls.
The story of Claughton's alleged discovery was picked up by media outlets around the world, including the AP.
The Times reported that among the contents of the suitcase was a reel-to-reel tape that included John Lennon and Paul McCartney experimenting with alternative versions of previously unrecorded tracks.
The newspaper quoted an expert with Christie's auction house as saying the find ``sounds very exciting indeed,'' but a spokeswoman stressed to the AP that the auction house had not been contacted about evaluating the find and none of its experts had seen it.
The Times had said some experts believed the collection was the lost ``Mal Evans archive,'' originally belonging to the Beatles' roadie and sound recordist.
Evans was killed by police in Los Angeles in 1976 after brandishing a fake gun. His belongings were lost during the police investigation and have never been recovered.
Nash said many of the items in the suitcase appeared to be copies, including laser-scanned photos dating from the mid-1990s and ticket stubs for The Beatles' appearance on ``The Ed Sullivan Show'' and the premiere of ``A Hard Day's Night'' that were reproductions of images from ``Lennon Legend,'' a book published last year.
``There was nothing to tie it to Mal Evans whatsoever,'' Nash said.
He said he asked to see the reel-to-reel tapes but was told ``they were locked away in a bank vault.''
``They said the tapes were still housed in their metal canisters,'' Nash said. ``Audio tape is magnetic. One thing you do not do is store it in metal canisters.''
Nash said he was played some tracks on CD that were ``very common (bootleg) tracks that most Beatles collectors would own.''
Geoff Baker, spokesman for The Beatles' label, Apple Corps, also said he believed the find was a fake.
The Evans archive remains a grail for Beatles collectors. Evans traveled with the band from the early 1960s and amassed a collection that would be worth millions if it turned up, Nash said.
``He used to pick up the rubbish in the studio, including The Beatles' handwritten notes and lyrics,'' Nash said.
In 1998, a notebook compiled by Evans, containing draft lyrics for ``Hey Jude'' and ``Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' sold for $185,000 at a London auction.
A year earlier, McCartney obtained an injunction to prevent Evans' widow from selling a scrap of paper bearing the original lyrics to ``With a Little Help From My Friends.''
Evans also completed a book about his time with the band. The manuscript is among the items lost after his death.
``All his personal effects were sent back to the U.K., including his ashes, but none of it arrived,'' Nash said. ``I think it's still lost in the mail.''
Madonna's Birthday Bash
Madonna rounded off her 46th birthday celebrations (8-16) with a slap-up meal.
The Queen of Pop was treated to dinner by hubby Guy Ritchie at top London restaurant Sketch.
Earlier in the day the couple enjoyed lunch with kids Rocco and Lourdes at another posh nosherie, Smiths of Smithfields, before setting off to visit a nearby museum.
An onlooker said: "Madonna, Guy and the kids looked like a really happy family. Little Rocco was all smiles and was carrying a big parcel for his mum. It was a really traditional family do – not flashy in any way."
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