Jeffrey Phillips who use to be with LaToya Jackson, Michael Jackson’s sister is demanding that his ex-mother-in-law takes the stand as he is currently fighting allegations that he took $1 million worth of memorabilia from the King of Pop.
via: Radar Online
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Phillips has demanded all future hearings be postponed until he can depose Jackson’s mother.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, last year, Jackson’s estate accused LaToya Jackson’s longtime ex-fiancée Jeffree Phillips of stealing the late pop star’s memorabilia.
The estate claimed that LaToya brought Phillips over to Jackson’s home on June 25, 2009. The singer had been rushed to the hospital where he would later be pronounced dead.
In court documents, the estate claimed Phillips had improperly taken items and attempted to sell the property years later.
The filings said the items included “roughly 109 CDs/DVDs, most of which either contain handwritten notes on them or are private special editions,” personal and legal papers, handwritten notes, 5 hard drives, a microphone set, a photo album with Jackson on the cover, 3 silver Mac laptops, two iPods, two Dictaphones with 2 micro-cassettes, and 3 standards cassette tapes.
In addition, the estate said Phillips also made off with a black bag with a skull on it, a signed, framed photograph of Jackson, a Michael Jackson doll, and roughly 11 framed platinum/gold record awards worth at least $1 million.
In response, Phillips, who was with LaToya from 1995 to 2015, denied he stole the property. He told the court that Jackson’s mother Katherine had instructed him to take the items because the home on Carolwood would be cleared out soon.
“I have never sold a single Carolwood Item nor have I publicly displayed them,” he said. “I have never lied about having the Carolwood Items or otherwise concealed the fact that I kept the Carolwood Items in storage. Jackson’s family members knew I had these items.”
He added, “had the Estate simply asked for the property and not resorted to the premeditated set-up and bullying tactics, I would have called La Toya to inform her that the Estate was requesting the items, and the two of us would have then called her mother. If Ms. Jackson instructed me to give the property back to the Estate, I would have done so. Although the property was given to me and belongs to me, I would not have refused a request for the property from the Jackson family.”
“Although the property was given to me and belongs to me, I would not have refused a request for the property from the Jackson family,” he said.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, the court ended up granting a temporary injunction prohibiting Phillips from selling off any of the items until a future court date.
In his recent motion, Phillips said Katherine provided a declaration to the estate as part of their legal action against him. He said she claimed to have never told him he could take the property.
However, he said Katherine’s attorneys have made her unavailable for a deposition.
