SHOULD BE interesting? YAAAAAAAAA

Notice how Leno asked if it would be appropriate to call in the police if you had a neighbor who acted like MJ (with the boys and all). Mesereau conceded it would be, and an initial investigation was warranted. Also, the fact Mesereau insisted strenuously that MJ had no preference for boys over girls, shows he knows how indefensible that is. The defence's own witnesses make clear the vast majority of the time, MJ is sleeping with just boys. And he's sleeping in the same bed, at the same time, with the boy, with nobody else around. That's the norm, even it doesn't apply to Gavin.

Mesereau to Court: Please don't let our own witness tell the jury our client is guilty. http://www.sbscpublicaccess.org/docs/ctdocs/052305motlmtleno.pdf

I think Mesereau was entirely right to file this motion. Jay Leno is not an expert on the details of the prosecutions case, and has no more knowledge of Michael Jackson's guilt or innocence than anyone else who reads a newspaper. Allowing him to profess his opinions would only be prejudicial, and not probative. Jay Leno had specific information about a phone call he received from Gavin Arvizo. That is the only information he should be allowed to testify to in court. His opinion about other aspects of the case is irrelevant.

Abby, I agree with you here. Its like asking Rusell Crowe to name some person he has beaten up without provocation.

abbyr311, I don't blame him for filing the motion. It was not valid evidence. But, one thing Team Jackson did pre-trial was spin what Leno was going to say. We were to hear that Janet Arvizo picked up the phone, Gavin talked to Leno, Janet then coached Gavin in the background. Then, supposedly Leno called police, with his suspisciouns, and told police he thought the Arvizo's found their mark. All of that was false. Leno talked only to Gavin. Leno doesn't know who else was in the room, it could be a nurse. He didn't beleive there was any coaching. He was never asked for or gave money. Nothing made him think he should call police, and he never did call police. The police contacted him, which was when he told them how he was certain of the allegations against MJ. I suspect a lot of the stories of the long defence witness list, especially celebs, who never showed, don't add up to what the defence claimed. The defence got a long list of stories for Janet's ex-husband. Some panned out big time. Some didn't. One of the reasons, for the long list of witnesses, is it's a "gag-allowed" way of saying to the public, that all these the people think MJ is innocent, when really that's not quite true. Also, remember Mesereau wanted to totally silence Leno outside the court. He wanted to bar any and all jokes. Adding him to the witness list was partly an attempt to silence Leno, which would be wrong. PR-wise, it backfired, because Leno was only barred from joking about that which he had personal knowledge of, the Arvizo's.

I think we're in agreement regarding the pre-trial spin vs. actual fact. I had never thought of it, but that is a very clever "gag-allowed" means of communicating with the public. I wouldn't have a problem with it if the message it sent was factual. In was not in this case, which I think we both agree is unethical. There is another possibility. Leno could have told the police exactly what Mesereau expected him to say in court, but could have "toned down" his testimony for several reasons: 1) Once under oath, he might have been more careful about the words that he used. When talking to the police, you might tell them what you *think* is the case, but would be much more careful about putting forth your opinion during sworn testimony. 2) He might actually believe Jackson is guilty, and didn't want to help the defense any more than he had already. 3) He may have resented being called as a witness, and as such wanted to do as little as possible to help the defense. I find it harder to believe that Mesereau called Leno as a witness to silence him outside of the court, because there are other potential witnesses who's silence would have been more advantageous. For example, Diane Dimond could have been called as an 1108 witness to testify to the information she unearthed a decade ago regarding prior cases. Granted, the Reporters Shield Law would have protected her from answering many questions, but being on the witness list would have also prevented her from reporting about the trial. If I were Meserau, I would rather have silenced Diane Dimond than Jay Leno.

another REASON WHAT LENO TONED IT DOWN. not for any reason to help the ARVIZOs but himself. JAY LENO ATTRACTS THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT VIEWERS AND REPUBLICANS BIG TIME. UNLIKE DAVE LETTERMAN WHO ATTRACTS ALMOST EVERYONE AND DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS FROM MIDDLE TO LEFT ON THEIR SPECTRUM DURING ELECTIONS LENO WAS PRO BUSH DURING ELECTIONS LETTERMAN NOT FOR BUSH ABC VERY MUCH PRO BUSH DURING THE ELECTIONS CBS NOT SO JAY LENO WAS JUST SAVING HIS BUTT AND MAINTAINING HIS RATING SUPPORTERS.

MJGRAMMYOASIS => "JAY LENO ATTRACTS THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT VIEWERS AND REPUBLICANS BIG TIME" So you think the "Christian Right / Republicans" are the target audience of a comedian who tells nightly jokes about molestation, assorted sex scandals, Bush's intelligence, the Republican Social Security plan, lack of WMDs in Iraq, Church sex abuse scandal, an anti-gay Republicans who was secretly gay, etc, etc... ? You obviously have never watched the Jay Leno show in your life. While lots of christians watch it, and love it, it's awfully hard to enjoy the rauncy humor and be a hardline religous conservative. The whole MJ scandal really doesn't play on party lines.

You obviously have never watched the Jay Leno show in your life. While lots of christians watch it, and love it, it's awfully hard to enjoy the rauncy humor and be a hardline religous conservative. --------------------------------------------------------- Calg3, You imply that Bushs' support lies mainly with hardline Christian conservatives. Thats not true, some people voted for Bush because Leno is a petrol head. Petrol heads all over America voted for bush after realising that Leno was the owner of many American Classic Muscle cars and that he smoked up the pavement when there were lots of good looking chicks around. You must know that when all is said and done, petrol gets the emotions going in men, add some shapely beauty, and what do you get, a vote for the Bush rather the than Gore.

cALG3 YOU OBVIOUSLY NEVER USED ANALYTICAL THINKING WHEN COMPARING LETTERMAN AND LENO. May be it's a simply as never having watched LETTERMAN. My bet is on my first constructive critique---analytical thinking.