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Jackson accuser's mother breaks down during testimony MICHAEL MARIANT/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Michael Jackson adjusts his eyeglasses as he arrives at the Santa Barbara County courthouse last Monday in Santa Maria, Calif., for his child molestation trial. By LINDA DEUTSCH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SANTA MARIA, Calif. — In a riveting episode of courtroom drama, the mother of Michael Jackson’s accuser sobbed, snapped her fingers, affected a German accent, implored jurors not to judge her and exclaimed: “I’ve waited two years for this!” If Jackson’s child molestation trial were being televised, some might have scoffed that she was playing to the cameras. But there are no cameras inside this trial, which is shaping up as one of the wildest in California’s colorful history of jurisprudence. The mother’s demeanor has changed each day. Beyond the vivid courtroom scenes, she is perhaps as important as her son to the prosecution’s case. Without her, the conspiracy count against Jackson would probably fail. Prosecutors claim the pop star conspired to isolate and control the boy’s family — a count that lists 28 alleged overt acts, 20 of which are based on the woman’s story. Her credibility also reflects on her children’s testimony, most importandy her son’s claims of molestation, since the defense is likely to argue that she coached them to lie. Her son alleges that Jackson, 46, molested him in early 2003, when he was 13 and recovering from cancer. Jackson denies all of it and his lawyer is challenging the mother’s credibility. In her first day on the stand, she extended her arms to jurors and implored: “Please don’t judge me.” She almost scuttled her entire testimony by invoking Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination if asked about welfare fraud and perjury. The judge told jurors to draw no inferences from the refusal but said the defense may explore the issues through other witnesses. On the second day, she outlined her allegations that the family was held captive by Jackson employees, saying they told her she was pursued by “killers” who would only be appeased if she and her family made a video to counter a documentary called “Living With Michael Jackson,” in which Jackson acknowledged he let children sleep in his bed in a nonsexual way. By Friday, she was complaining to the jury about the aggressive cross-examination by Jackson’s attorney. When the judge told her to stop making speeches and answei questions directly, she protested: “I’ve waited two years for this!” Jackson’s attorney will resume cross-examining the mother Monday. Jurors saw two different faces of the mother — one a glamorously coifed figure shown in a video praising Jackson as a father figure, the other the plainly dressed woman on the witness stand denying virtually everything her videotaped self had to say. She maintained that the videotaped testimonial was scripted by Jackson’s cohorts. “I was acting,” she insisted, adding at one point: “I’m a poor actress.” “No,” shot back Jackson lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. “I think you’re a good one.” Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville reprimanded both lawyer and witness for their remarks. At one point, the woman referred to two Jackson aides as “the Germans,” and imitated them using a German accent. At another time, she listened to herself on tape praising Jackson’s kindness during her. time at Neverland. “Now I know different,” she blurted during questioning. “I know that Neverland is all about booze, pornography and sex with boys.” The remark was stricken from the record, as were many others. Mesereau also focused on what he calls the woman’s bogus lawsuit against a department store. The family received more than $150,000 in 2001 after alleging they were roughed up by J.C. Penney security guards. Under his questioning, she reluctantly acknowledged that she lied under oath in that suit about her relationship with her husband. Although he sought to paint her as a con artist who lies for financial gain, she insisted she has no financial motives in the Jackson case. “I want justice,” she declared. I ’tfX IH(^W)|J\\ !fVCeS and Digrams anri R e House are for the use assr* . ’^3Siare nota"°^ . • Bikes •Bets •Bets, Paddles or canes MICHAEL LAFORGIA/THE GAMECOCK New Russell House rules posted last week ban canes often carried by black fraternity members. . ■ SIGNS Continued from page 1 African-American fraternity member, and they only need to carry a cane around if you are putting on a performance.” After the brawl, Vanterpool said his and other black fraternities made concessions on conduct guidelines presented to university officials. He said Student Life ignored the concessions made by the implicated fraternities and placed “unreasonable restrictions.” “Just because we are another set of individuals and black does not mean we will start another incident,” Vanterpool said. “Problems happen at the Greek Village all the time, and a big deal has not been made about it.” Vanterpool said he had identified the conditions that led to the brawl, but the relationship between black fraternities is better than in previous years. He said the problem lies in the structure of fraternities that made it difficult for leadership to adequately manage the actions of its members. “The problem with fraternities in general, is that you have to make sure everyone is on the same page,” Vanterpool said. “Because if one person starts something for whatever reason, a brother tries to protect that person, and it grows and grows and grows.” Vanterpool said the new Russell House restrictions wouldn’t be effective. He said there is a need for the black fraternities to unify, but that it might take black people “sitting-up” and realizing what is happening to do so. “We are rivals and we compete with each other — healthy competition is good,” Vanterpool said. “But we all need to see that we are working for the same reasons, and a lot of us are getting there.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknetvs@gwm.sc. edu ■ ATHLETICS Continued from page 1 and mingling with some of the 38,000 fans in attendance. “They’ve obviously done a good job at TCU,” Spurrier said. “We’re glad to have (Hyman) with us.” Overwhelmed with the amount of attention and requests for his time, Hyman likened his day to “drinking water from a fire hose.” “We’re really excited to be here and this is a wonderful opportunity and a tremendous challenge,” Hyman said. “The one thing that stands out is the love and passion and loyalty that South Carolina has for its school. “This was an easy decision ... .1 lived here for 11 years, and it’s good to be back.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknetvs@gwm.sc. edit ■ FOOTBALL Continued from page 1 Eric Hyman, who will replace McGee as AD on July 1, talked Saturday about keeping order in the athletics department. “I can’t legislate integrity. I can demand it. You try and create accountability.” Comments an this story? 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