Comedian’s testimony may bolster claim against Jackson

Santa Maria, Calif. — A comedian who gave $20,000 to the family of the boy now accusing Michael Jackson of molestation testified Tuesday she received a tearful phone call from the boy’s mother that led her to believe the family was being held against its will.

Comedian Louise Palanker said she tried to get in touch with the mother after seeing the TV documentary “Living With Michael Jackson” in which Jackson and his accuser held hands and Jackson acknowledged letting children sleep in his bed.

Palanker was called by the prosecution to support the charge that Jackson conspired to hold the family captive after the documentary aired on Feb. 6, 2003, in order to get them to make a rebuttal video praising Jackson.

On the witness stand, Palanker said soon after she left a message with the boy’s grandparents, the mother called her and sounded frightened.

“She was extremely agitated and she was almost whispering. … This was fear-based agitation,” Palanker said.

The mother told her not to call her back at the same number, the witness said. Palanker quoted the mother as saying: “Don’t call me back here. They’re listening to everything I say. These people are evil.”

“I said, ‘Are the children in school?’ She said, ‘No.’ That’s when she started crying,” Palanker said.

Palanker did not say where the mother was at the time of the call. The comedian said she called her attorney afterward because “I felt that they were being held against their will.” She did not call police.

Jackson, who is accused of molesting the boy in February or March 2003, arrived on time Tuesday.

The defense contends the boy’s mother exploited relationships with Palanker and other celebrities to get money. With Palanker’s testimony, the prosecution sought to show it was the now-estranged father who did that.

Palanker acknowledged the family “liked to make phone calls” to celebrities — including Jay Leno, who contacted Palanker. “He told me they had left three messages on his voice mail,” she said, acknowledging he asked her to tell the family to stop calling him.

Actor James Denton a dad

Los Angeles — It’s a girl for “Desperate Housewives” actor James Denton and his wife, Erin O’Brien Denton.

Malin O’Brien Denton was born early Tuesday at a Los Angeles area hospital, publicist Susan Madore said. The baby weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces.

“They are really great, really great,” Madore said.

Denton, 42, plays Mike Delfino on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.” The couple have a 22-month old son, Sheppard.

‘Growing Pains’ actress gets probation for DUI

Ventura, Calif.– Former “Growing Pains” actress Tracey Gold was placed on three years’ probation after she pleaded guilty to a second felony drunken-driving charge in a rollover crash that injured her husband and two of their three children.

Tracey Gold Marshall, 35, pleaded guilty in January to felony drunken driving.

On Monday, a Superior Court judge decided to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, but Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Gorrell objected and said an earlier plea bargain was off and he wouldn’t drop the child-endangerment charges against Marshall.

To avoid those charges, she pleaded guilty to the second felony drunken-driving charge.

Judge Bruce Clark then placed Marshall on three years’ probation, ordered her to complete 30 days of work release supervised by the jail and 240 hours of community service.

All-American judges

Baltimore — Michael Phelps and Sugar Ray Leonard are among the eight judges for the Miss USA 2005 pageant.

Joining Phelps and Leonard in Baltimore on April 11 will be Molly Sims, Raj Bhakta from “The Apprentice” and Brody Hutzler from “Days of Our Lives.” Pamela Dennis, model Nicola Breytenbach and Frederic Fekkai make up the rest of the panel.

This year, the public is invited to weigh in on the contest’s preliminary round through a virtual judging component. From April 1 to April 6, fans can log onto http://www.CoverGirl.com to view photographs and interviews of the 51 contestants and vote for their favorites. The public’s vote counts for less than 10 percent of the preliminary vote.

Suspect pleads not guilty in Letterman kidnapping plot

Choteau, Mont. — A man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to plotting to kidnap David Letterman’s 16-month-old son and nanny and hold them for $5 million ransom.

Kelly Frank, 43, faces felony charges of solicitation and theft and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction. The judge ordered him to remain jailed on $650,000 bail pending his next court appearance April 5.

Frank, a painter who had been hired do to work on Letterman’s ranch in north-central Montana, was arrested last week after an acquaintance told investigators he had planned to kidnap the talk show host’s son, Harry Joseph, and the child’s nanny.

The acquaintance said Frank talked about holding the two for 48 hours in the belief that he could extort $5 million from Letterman.