JACKO EX-ATTORNEY'S DOUBLE 'CR ... 05/15/2005
The New York Post
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News
Published: 05/15/2005
Page: 019
Keywords: Analysis
JACKO EX-ATTORNEY'S DOUBLE 'CROSS' 
Byline: By DIANE DIMOND

 SANTA ANITA, Calif. - A trick or an honest mistake?
       It took a subpoena and the threat of arrest to get attorney Mark Geragos to the stand in the Michael Jackson trial Friday. Now, all he said may be tossed.
    Geragos answered all of the defense's questions but then refused to answer any of the prosecution's.
    The reason has to do with Jackson lawyer Tom Mesereau's failure to produce the document that made Geragos' testimony possible until minutes into the cross-examination. That's when he finally showed Geragos the waiver of attorney-client privilege, signed by Jackson himself.
    Geragos had been hired by Jackson in 2003 and later dismissed when he seemed preoccupied with Scott Peterson's defense. He testified that he never saw Jackson behave inappropriately.
    But when it came time for the afternoon cross-examination, Geragos suddenly declared he would answer no more questions about anything he'd learned after Jackson's Nov. 20, 2003, arrest.
    At the start of his testimony, Geragos had turned to the judge and said that he understood that Jackson had signed a waiver of his attorney-client privilege but that he'd yet to see it and would feel more comfortable with it in hand.
    Not to worry, Mesereau said.
    "I can represent to the court there is a waiver," he said.
    And so we got to hear all the good about Jackson and all the bad about the current accuser and his family. Then the cross-examination was interrupted by the regular 15-minute court break - and Mesereau at last let Geragos see the attorney-client waiver form.
    It had been structured as a "limited" waiver. Mesereau had put an end date on it, to ensure that whatever Geragos had learned after Jackson's arrest could not be disclosed.
    Back in court, Geragos declared: "Without a written waiver, I am not going to answer, even under threat of contempt, any further questions."
    Mesereau swore he hadn't meant to mislead the court, but many in the room wondered if “Mesmerizing Mez” hadn't knowingly withheld the waiver until after Geragos had plied the jury with such comments as:
    "I saw [in Jackson] a childlike man. I saw nothing nefarious. I saw a man who was ripe as a target, and I wanted to protect him. I thought they were going to shake him down."
    The rules say you can't have a direct examination of a witness without allowing the other side to cross-examine. Many would argue that the law does not recognize the concept of a limited waiver: Either your attorney-client privilege is waived or it isn't.
    Judge Rodney Melville dismissed the jury, admonished Mesereau and ordered Geragos back in court on Friday.
    He then ended the session by asking, "What do we do now?"
    Well, judge, that's up to you.  

   

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