Judge Orders Investigation Into Michael Jackson's Kids Welfare + Other Headlines
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A judge on Friday ordered an investigation into the well-being of Michael Jackson's children and a lawyer for the family matriarch said she will move to share guardianship of the children with the adult son of Tito Jackson.
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff told a court investigator to interview the three children independently and provide a report for review only by the judge, not attorneys involved in the case.
The order does not spell out a reason for the investigation, but it is likely intended to give the judge another perspective on how Jackson's children are coping after a week of family turmoil that included the absence of their grandmother and a dispute in the driveway of their home amid a feud over the estate of the pop superstar.
The court investigator was ordered to interview the children at school at a time to remain undisclosed. Beckloff received a similar report a few weeks after Jackson's death in 2009 and its contents remain sealed.
Beckloff said during a hearing earlier this week that there were no indications that Katherine Jackson had done anything wrong. (The judge added that Jackson may have been "prevented from acting as a guardian because of the acts of third parties.")
Under the proposed guardianship change, the 82-year-old Jackson would share oversight of the children with Tito Jackson's son in a deal that would relieve her of some of the day-to-day stresses of managing a famous family, her attorney Perry Sanders Jr. said.
The decision was made after a meeting between Katherine Jackson and Sanders on Thursday. He said Michael Jackson's eldest son has told attorneys he approves of the arrangement.
A formal filing for co-guardianship is expected next week. If approved, it would make Tito Joe "TJ" Jackson a co-guardian of the children - Prince, Paris and Blanket - who range in ages from 10 to 15.
TJ Jackson's attorneys suggest the co-guardianship arrangement in a filing Friday. It states that if either adult guardian dies or is unable to serve, the other will act alone in raising the children.
Under the plan, responsibility for managing staff and security at the home would shift to TJ Jackson. Katherine Jackson would keep control of a family allowance worth tens of thousands of dollars a month, Sanders said.
"Mrs. Jackson is extremely pleased with the prospect of enjoying the pleasure of raising Michael's children without the day-to-day tedium of items such as managing the large staff that goes with such a high-profile family and focus her attention on being a grandmother and raising Michael's children," Sanders wrote in a statement.
"She is eager to simply enjoy her great relationship with these children, while deeding over some of the stressors that go hand in hand with being a guardian," he wrote.
TJ Jackson, 34, is the children's first cousin and performs with his brothers in the musical group 3T.
Beckloff on Wednesday suspended Katherine Jackson's guardianship duties temporarily and appointed TJ Jackson as temporary guardian. The judge said he would likely re-instate Katherine Jackson as guardian upon her return.
Katherine Jackson had been at a Tucson, Ariz., spa since July 15 with her daughter Rebbie and other relatives and had not spoken to her grandchildren during that time. She returned to the Los Angeles area on Thursday.
"The minor children are very attached to (TJ Jackson) who has been very involved in their lives since the death of their father," TJ Jackson's attorneys wrote in the court filing. "Recent events have highlighted the need for continuity for the minor children."
The filing was required by Beckloff, but Sanders said it would be superseded by a joint petition next week.
Source - AP
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Nephew and caregiver of Katherine Jackson breaks his silence: "She has been bamboozled"
Trent Jackson, Katherine Jackson's nephew and caregiver who reported her missing, is a bit upset with the family matriarch, but furious at the Jackson siblings who took her to Arizona.
Discussing Katherine’s absence, Trent Jackson tells ABC News, “You can’t just leave for 10 days and not have an excuse where you been.” Trent says it was “improper” for her to be gone for 10 days and not call the grandkids.
Still, he blames the Jackson siblings, saying, “If they cared they never would have put her in a position like that.”
Trent reveals to ABC News that the room the Jackson siblings put Katherine in “had no television, no phone, no communication at all.” (Note: Miraval Spa, where Katherine stayed, does in fact have landlines and beside phones within every room; they also allow cellphone use in their rooms, and provide free Wi-fi. So I don't know why Trent thinks otherwise.)
Trent further says that Katherine “loves her Jermaine, her Janet, her Rebbie” and is “gonna put them above us," and that Katherine “has been bamboozled” and “needs to listen to the voice of reason” and “do the right thing.” (I notice Trent didn't say Katherine "loves her Randy," lol . . . burn.)
When asked about the physical confrontation at Katherine Jackson's Calabasas, California, home earlier this week, Trent said he never expected that to happen. Regarding the recent actions of the Jackson siblings, Trent tells ABC News that Prince told him they have been “planning this since [his] dad died.”
Katherine Jackson's lawyers made a similar accusation in a statement to inquiring press, sent out Tuesday (July 24). “One of the family members who was part of [Monday's] ambush admitted that a plan has been in place for the last three years to remove Katherine Jackson from her home and her beloved grandchildren,” the lawyers said, referring to an incident earlier this week (caught on camera), involving Randy and Janet Jackson -- whom several family members accused of blocking all contact with the 82-year-old Katherine. The confrontation at the Calabasas, California house resulted in a physical altercation and police involvement. A battery report was taken, but no arrests were made.
“Prince, Paris, and Blanket Jackson have not heard from their grandmother since she left their home nine days ago to attend a series of her sons’ concerts on their Unity Tour. She never made the shows,” continued Tuesday's statement. "Despite efforts to interview Katherine Jackson at her current location in Arizona yesterday [Monday], Los Angeles County Sheriffs confirmed that they were denied access to Mrs. Jackson by security for one of her children.”
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department closed the missing persons report on Katherine Jackson on Tuesday, “satisfied” with having spoken to two family members in her stead.
As previously reported, Katherine Jackson returned to her Calabasas home early Thursday morning, after filming a brief, pre-written statement to ABC News. Her grandson, Prince Jackson, son of the late Michael Jackson, took to Twitter on that very day, stating that he was “really angry and hurt” at how “misguided and how badly [my grandmother] was lied to” during her mysterious absence.
Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore confirmed that the sheriff's department is investigating allegations that Jackson was being "emotionally and financially mistreated by family members."
Katherine Jackson has a 20% share in her son's huge estate. Her husband, Joe Jackson, and her eight surviving children were completely left out of Michael Jackson's will.
The abuse probe began when "a business associate of the Jackson family" reported the allegation to a sheriff's official in April, Whitmore said.
Source - ABC News Radio
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Lawyer: Katherine Jackson "laughs" at stroke report
Katherine Jackson's lawyer met with her Thursday evening for the first time since her Arizona trip that led to her losing custody of Michael Jackson's children.
The 82-year-old Jackson family matriarch even found humor in some of the speculation about her health that emerged in the past week, the attorney, Perry Sanders, told CNN.
"I had a long and productive meeting today with Mrs. Jackson," Sanders said. "I am pleased to report that she is fine and she laughed at the widely publicized report that she had suffered a stroke."
A letter signed by several of Katherine Jackson's children -- accusing executors of pop star Michael Jackson's estate of abusing their mother -- referred to a "mini-stroke," which her lawyer and granddaughter Paris Jackson said never happened.
Katherine's son Jermaine Jackson repeatedly claimed on his official Twitter account that his mother had been "safe and well in Arizona," ordered to rest away from phones and computers.
"We are not inventing or plotting anything," Jermaine added on Sunday (July 22) night. "We are following doctor’s advice. Period."
The doctor who reportedly dished out the advice was Dr. Allan Metzger, the former physician of both Michael and Janet Jackson. Metzger served as a defense expert witness for Dr. Conrad Murray last year, though his testimony largely helped the prosecution's case. (Murray was subsequently convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson’s death.)
According to Katherine Jackson's attorney Sandra Ribera... Dr. Metzger was brought into Jackson’s Calabasas, California, home “under false pretenses” by saying he was sent by her primary care physician. “We came to find out that her doctor has no association with Dr. Metzger.”
Katherine Jackson's primary physician and her regular doctor was not aware of Metzger's house call until concerns about the 82-year-old's whereabouts were raised, Ribera said.
Source - CNN
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Michael Jackson's kids missed school, Wednesday, because "concerning" individuals showed up at 3 A.M., says lawyer
TJ Jackson's attorney Charles Shultz revealed in court filings (July 25) that pop star Michael Jackson's three children were forced to miss school because of concerns about their security.
Shultz wrote in a filing that around 3:30 a.m., Wednesday, a new security team arrived at the Jackson home in suburban Calabasas claiming they had been authorized by Katherine Jackson to take charge. (At the time, Katherine Jackson was still on a "mini vacation" in Arizona. She had no contact with her three grandchildren, whom she is legally responsible for, since July 15; several family members stated their fear that Jackson had been taken out-of-state under "false pretenses" and "held against her will.")
Shultz wrote that the mysterious new guards asked about the children's school.
"That last inquiry caused the head of security to be concerned and he advised that (the children) stay home from school on Wednesday."
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled the Jackson children could not leave California without court approval.
This report came after a shocking incident (Monday), in which Randy and Janet Jackson arrived at the children's home and told them they could finally speak with their grandmother -- after over a week of no contact -- but had to leave with them.
Surveillance footage (obtained by ABC and TMZ) showed Janet and Randy Jackson holding cameras, personally filming the bizarre family encounter. Janet Jackson repeatedly attempted to take niece Paris' phone away and asked for the children's passports, said Katherine Jackson's attorney Sandra Rivera.
"This was odd and disturbing to me and (the children) and heightened our concern that our grandmother was being prohibited from returning home," TJ Jackson wrote in a sworn statement. The incident turned into a confrontation between two male adults at the house and sheriff's officials say it remains an ongoing battery investigation.
Source - AP
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Plus, in case you missed it last week (and you might have, since my post got buried before I added this update) . . .
'I'm very angry and hurt' -- Prince Jackson blasts aunts, uncles over grandmother's treatment