Judge throws out Jackson abuse suit
NEW ORLEANS, April 18 (UPI) -- A federal judge tossed out a case filed in New Orleans by a man who filed suit in 2004 claiming Michael Jackson molested him in 1984.
The decision rendered last week by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon's ruling was posted on the court's Web site Monday without further details.
The attorney for the plaintiff, Louis Koerner, was quoted by E! Online saying: "I'm basically shocked."
The unidentified plaintiff claimed he was 18 during the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair when he was lured into Jackson's limousine and wound up being sexually assaulted for nine days.
Although the statute of limitations had passed when the suit was filed, Koerner had argued his client suffered from repressed memory and did not remember what happened until he saw publicity about child molestation charges leveled against Jackson in California.
Jackson's attorney said he was "pleased with the decision," adding, "it's time to get on to new and better things."
Jackson moved to Bahrain after he was acquitted in the California case last June.
Director pleads guilty in wiretapping case
LOS ANGELES, April 18 (UPI) -- "Die Hard" director John McTiernan has pleaded guilty a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to lying about hiring a private eye to spy on a film producer.
McTiernan was accused of lying to FBI agents about his 2000 hiring of Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano to wiretap producer Charles Roven, who he worked with on the film "Rollerball," The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
McTiernan entered into a plea agreement with federal authorities Monday, making him the sixth person to plead guilty in the widening investigation of Pellicano and his associates.
It was not revealed why McTiernan hired Pellicano to spy on Roven.
Although terms of McTiernan's plea deal were sealed, the newspaper speculated he agreed to be a cooperating witness in the probe.
In a related case, the ex-wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian has filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit against AT&T, the Times said.
The government's investigation revealed a former AT&T employee helped Pellicano listen in on Lisa Bonder Kerkorian's phone conversations during her dispute with her ex-husband over child support payments.
Man allegedly shot by rapper dies
DETROIT, April 18 (UPI) -- The man allegedly shot by Detroit rapper Proof before Proof himself was killed by a third party last week died early Tuesday.
Keith Bender, 35, of Detroit, had been in critical condition since the shooting and died one week later at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Police say Proof, whose real name was Deshawn Holton, shot Bender during an illegal after-hours party at the C.C.C. club.
Police and prosecutors say Proof was then gunned down by Bender's cousin, Mario Etheridge, who has been charged with weapons violations but not with the killing. Michigan law allows the use of lethal force to protect oneself or another person from a deadly attack, the Free Press noted.
Detroit police, meanwhile, said they would beef up security for Tuesday's viewing for the rapper at Fellowship Chapel.
"Anytime you have a funeral of a person who is publicly known, it calls for extra security to handle crowd control," police spokesman James Tate told the Free Press. "This definitely is not the first type of funeral we would handle in this type of manner."
City officials also announced Tuesday they would move to close C.C.C., which has been the site of several raids, and crack down on illegal after-hours drinking spots around Detroit.
Etheridge, Michaels expecting twins
LOS ANGELES, April 18 (UPI) -- Rocker Melissa Etheridge and her partner, actress Tammy Lynn Michaels, are expecting twins from an anonymous sperm donor.
"We are thrilled to announce that Tammy is pregnant, and expecting our twins sometime around this fall," they said in a joint statement on Etheridge's official Web site. "To answer the obvious question: We used an anonymous donor from a bank."
The women noted the twins will be their first children since their 2003 wedding in Malibu, Calif., but it is "not our first time mothering together."
Etheridge has a daughter and a son from her previous relationship with Julie Cypher. Both children were conceived with sperm donated by rocker David Crosby.
Etheridge, who underwent chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, will be the speaker at Boston's Berklee College of Music's graduation ceremony May 13 and receive an honorary doctor of music degree.
