By Maria Puente, USA TODAY
Visitors will be allowed to see the body on Friday and a private memorial service for family only will be held Sunday, the reports said, citing unnamed law enforcement sources preparing to handle traffic tie-ups from a 30-car motorcade.
Also on Tuesday, a seven-year-old draft of Jackson’s will surfaced for the first time; it reportedly leaves his estate to his mother, his three young children and some charities. On Monday, Jackson’s parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, filed court papers seeking control of his estate, declaring that they believe the pop star did not leave a valid will when he died suddenly last week in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, friends and fans in New York paid tribute at a public event at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater, where Jackson appeared as a child. An estimated 3,000 people people circled the block around the theater waiting to get in; some of them spent all night there. They sang their Jackson favorite songs and danced in the street. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a longtime friend of the Jacksons, was set to deliver a eulogy. Theater officials planned to people in 600 at a time to listen to his music, watch a video tribute and leave flowers and memorabilia.
“I want to come together with people who love him like I do,” said Shenia Rudolph, 45. “I took off work and I’m here for the day. The adrenaline inside is more powerful than the heat.”
Keisha Bonner, 32, of White Plains, NY, had been there since 6:30 a.m. “After all the music he’s given us, it would be a criminal not to come,” she said. “It’s a great crowd, it’s not too hot. This is history in the making.”
The latest purported will — there may be others — names as executors John Branca, who served as Jackson’s primary lawyer from 1980-2006, and a veteran music executive, John McClain, who was also a friend of Jackson, according to the Wall Street Journal. Neither man has come forward to comment publically. Jackson’s father, with whom Michael had a strained relationship at times, is not included in the will, drafted by Branca in 2002.
The value of Jackson’s estate has been unclear for years, after lawsuits, losses, debts and over-the-top spending by the pop star. The Associated Press obtained financial documents that show Jackson claimed to have a net worth of $236 million as of March 31, 2007. The documents show he had little cash on hand to finance his lavish lifestyle.
According to a statement of his financial condition prepared by a Washington accounting firm, Jackson had $567.6 million in assets, including his Neverland Ranch, his share of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog that includes the rights to songs by the Beatles, and an assortment of cars, antiques and collectibles.
If accurate, the documents offer the clearest account yet on the state of Jackson’s financial empire, which is expected to become the focus of legal battles between his estate and his creditors.
On another legal front in the aftermath of Jackson’s death, permanent custody of Jackson’s three children remained in question though Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship on Monday.
Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11, and Prince Michael Jackson II, 7, are living with their grandmother in the Jackson family compound in the Encino area of Los Angeles, pending a hearing on the family’s petition Aug. 3.
So far, Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe, who bore the two eldest, has not come forward to seek custody. Joe Jackson said at a news conference Monday that the children should remain with them. “We love these kids,” he said. “We’re going to take care of them and give them the education they are supposed to have.”
A journalist who spoke briefly with Rowe said she was grieving and wasn’t ready to discuss the children’s future. “She’s very upset. She really loved Michael,” says The Hollywood Reporter’s Roger Friedman
The case is clouded by Rowe’s unusual arrangement, in which she bore the two children, then signed a legal agreement relinquishing full custody to Jackson. An appellate court later ruled she still could assert parental rights.
“If Ms. Rowe steps forward and says she wants custody, there’s a reasonable chance she will be granted custody,” says Scott Altman, professor of family law at the University of Southern California. The case could hinge on how strong of a relationship she is able to show she had with the children over the years.
The mother of Prince Michael II has yet to be identified in public.
Some experts say the children should remain with the grandparents. “Grandparents stay focused on the children,” says Georgia Witkin, assistant professor of psychiatry at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center. “To send them to strangers is not a good idea.”
Also Monday, a judge granted Katherine Jackson limited control over some of her son’s property after the singer’s mother expressed concerns about who controls his business ventures and bank accounts.
The wording in Beckloff’s order is similar to language included in Katherine Jackson’s petition to get control of thousands of her son’s items removed from his Neverland Ranch.
Those items, which included some of the singer’s wardrobe, awards and other items described “priceless and irreplaceable,” were slated for auction earlier this year until Michael Jackson sued to block it. A settlement resulted in the goods being put on public display in Beverly Hills, but not put up for sale.
Sharpton told USA TODAY the Jackson family would announce funeral plans in the next two days. Sharpton met with the family at their Encino home for two hours Monday.
“They’ve not made the final decisions. My recommendation is that they do whatever they want — private or for close associates — and then at a later date let the whole world have a celebration, maybe around his birthday at the end of August,” he says. “They wanted to keep his legacy out there and focus on the positive.”
Jackson’s three children are staying at the house and were playing with their cousins, Sharpton says. “I saw them in the house. They seemed to be {hellip} happy where they were, given the circumstances.”
Sharpton says Joe Jackson’s news conference was held to clear up confusion over his comments at the BET Awards in promotion of a business venture. “He also didn’t want to make it seem like he was pushing his record company,” Sharpton says.
And promoter AEG Live said Monday that ticket holders for Jackson’s This Is It tour can receive full refunds or opt for the physical tickets, which have not yet been mailed. They feature lenticular-process images, inspired by Jackson, that appear to have motion and depth.
Details on refunds and ticket images will be posted Wednesday at MichaelJacksonLive.com.
Doctor’s lawyer: 911 call delayed
It took up to a half-hour for paramedics to be called to Michael Jackson’s home after the singer was found stricken in the bedroom of his rented mansion, an attorney for the firm representing the pop icon’s doctor said Monday.
Matt Alford, a partner in the Houston law firm representing Dr. Conrad Murray, said the physician was unfamiliar with his surroundings and that delayed the call.
“He didn’t know where he was, didn’t know the physical address,” Alford said in an interview with The Associated Press. “There was no land line, no phone in Jackson’s room that would have allowed him to call. It was all happening so fast.”
Alford said he doesn’t know how long Murray performed CPR on the singer before rushing downstairs to find someone to call 911.
AP: Jackson finished 3-D music video before death
Two weeks before he died, Michael Jackson wrapped up work on an elaborate production dubbed the “Dome Project” that could be the final finished video piece overseen by the King of Pop, The Associated Press has learned.
Jackson was apparently preparing to dazzle concert audiences in London with a high-tech show in which 3-D images — some inspired by his Thriller era — would flash behind him as he performed on stage.
“It was a groundbreaking effort,” said Vince Pace, whose company provided cameras for the shoot, a 3-D system he created with filmmaker James Cameron.
“To think that Michael’s gone now, that’s probably the last documented footage of him to be shot in that manner,” Pace said.
Two people with knowledge of the secretive project confirmed its existence Monday to the AP on condition they not be identified because they signed confidentiality agreements.
They said it was a five-week project filmed at Culver Studios, which 70 years ago was the set for the classic film Gone With the Wind. Four sets were constructed for Jackson’s production, including a cemetery recalling his 1983 Thriller video.
With 3-D technology “the audience would have felt like they were visiting the ‘Thriller’ experience, like they were there,” Pace said.
Shooting for the project lasted from June 1-9, with Jackson on the set most days. The project was in post-production, at the time of Jackson’s death, and had been expected to be completed next month. It was not immediately clear what would be made of the video footage now.
By USA Today
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