da mjstar.com
Jackson's Legal Team In Chaos?
18/10/2004
Michael Jackson's legal team is in tatters and falling apart, according to my sources.
Even as Jackson is busy complaining about rapper Eminem's latest video, which depicts the singer in a decidedly negative light, he is missing the point of his child molestation case. My sources tell me that Jackson's defense team, which lost some serious ground last week in decisions issued by Judge Rodney Melville, is in complete disarray.
The reason for the trouble seems to boil down to one person: Brian Oxman, the longtime friend and lawyer of Michael's brother Randy. Oxman was the decision-maker who brought in Michael's current lead defense counsel, Thomas Mesereau. But I am told that Oxman has alienated all the other attorneys who are working on keeping Michael out of jail.
Among them is Steve Cochran, who over the years has represented Michael in a variety of cases as a partner of another longtime adviser, Zia Modabber. On Friday, Cochran left the current case abruptly. Jackson issued a characteristically weird statement saying that Cochran left for "his own confidential reasons." But I am told that it was Oxman who forced him out. The two were at each other's throats for months according to insiders, with Cochran increasingly cut off from access to Jackson.
With Cochan gone and the role of John Branca severely diminished, Jackson is now completely separated from the legal team that has guided him through two decades of rough sailing.
Oxman, as I reported a couple of weeks ago, has had his problems with the California State Bar Association. His connection to Michael Jackson is through brother Randy, whom Oxman has represented in other matters. Early in Michael's current problems, Oxman appeared on television constantly, claiming to be the "Jackson family attorney" even when he was not. Jackson's then lawyer Mark Geragos repeatedly tried to get Oxman to stop making appearances. Eventually Geragos left the case.
My sources say that in the last couple of weeks, Oxman has done something unexpected and decidedly unorthodox: he's contacted potential defense witnesses in the case directly, trying to bypass their attorneys. When he was rebuffed by these witnesses, a certain lack of diplomacy led to a scuffle among the members of the legal team. Mesereau, my sources say, seems not to understand the impact of Oxman's actions.
"The whole legal team is crumbling," an insider related to me over the weekend.
Where does this leave Michael? More isolated from reality than ever, say his closest associates. As Jackson fights for his life and his career, he is now painted into a corner with just brother Randy, Oxman and Mesereau. Whether even the latter stays at this point is a question that may be answered before the week is over.
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in poche parole dice che il team legale di MJ naviga nel caos,che sarebbe generato da un certo Brian Oxman,il legale del fratello Randy.Dice che lui ha costretto ad andare via Steve Cochran,che ora c'e' una specie di lotta interna tra questo e Mesereau e Michael si trova in una situazione di isolamento etc etc.
speriamo che non sia vero