Cab passenger says he feared for his life
A visibly shaken Michael Jackson took the witness stand Thursday in his murder trial and denied knowing that he had run over a cab driver with the driver's own vehicle.
On the third day of his trial, Jackson said he feared for his life on Feb. 4, 2005, after Haroon Paryani, 62, threatened to kill him over an $8 fare.
According to Jackson, Paryani said: "You're not leaving here."
A former Chicago Public Heath Department employee, Jackson said Paryani slammed the cab's door on his leg as he tried to leave and run to his Lakeview apartment on the 500 block of West Briar Place.
"I stumbled back, and then he punched me in the eye," Jackson told a Cook County jury. "I knew he was going to kill me. The only way I was going to live was to get away from him."
Jackson, 39, said he got into the driver's seat after seeing the cab door open. He said he did not know where Paryani was at the time.
Jackson admitted that as he began to drive away he hit something, but said he thought it was another car.
"I was trying to get the hell out of there," Jackson said repeatedly.
During cross-examination, Jackson denied hitting Paryani because he was angry.
"You went to your friend's house because you knew what you had done?" Assistant State's Attorney Mercedes Luque-Rosales asked Jackson, to which he responded, "No."
Earlier in the trial, witnesses testified that Jackson repeatedly ran over Paryani, a Pakistani immigrant who have been a cabdriver for 20 years, after Paryani had gotten out of his taxi and fell to the ground.
After running over Paryani three times, Jackson drove into the intersection of Briar Place and Cambridge Avenue, dragging Paryani's body and leaving him in a pool of his own blood, Luque-Rosales said.
Todd Pugh, one of Jackson's attorneys, said Paryani had a history of violence and was the aggressor. He also said Paryani shouted racial slurs at Jackson for being Jewish and gay.
Jackson, who worked for the health department's sexually transmitted disease/HIV/AIDS division as a policy and communications specialist, also is charged with vehicular hijacking.
On the third day of his trial, Jackson said he feared for his life on Feb. 4, 2005, after Haroon Paryani, 62, threatened to kill him over an $8 fare.
According to Jackson, Paryani said: "You're not leaving here."
A former Chicago Public Heath Department employee, Jackson said Paryani slammed the cab's door on his leg as he tried to leave and run to his Lakeview apartment on the 500 block of West Briar Place.
"I stumbled back, and then he punched me in the eye," Jackson told a Cook County jury. "I knew he was going to kill me. The only way I was going to live was to get away from him."
Jackson, 39, said he got into the driver's seat after seeing the cab door open. He said he did not know where Paryani was at the time.
Jackson admitted that as he began to drive away he hit something, but said he thought it was another car.
"I was trying to get the hell out of there," Jackson said repeatedly.
During cross-examination, Jackson denied hitting Paryani because he was angry.
"You went to your friend's house because you knew what you had done?" Assistant State's Attorney Mercedes Luque-Rosales asked Jackson, to which he responded, "No."
Earlier in the trial, witnesses testified that Jackson repeatedly ran over Paryani, a Pakistani immigrant who have been a cabdriver for 20 years, after Paryani had gotten out of his taxi and fell to the ground.
After running over Paryani three times, Jackson drove into the intersection of Briar Place and Cambridge Avenue, dragging Paryani's body and leaving him in a pool of his own blood, Luque-Rosales said.
Todd Pugh, one of Jackson's attorneys, said Paryani had a history of violence and was the aggressor. He also said Paryani shouted racial slurs at Jackson for being Jewish and gay.
Jackson, who worked for the health department's sexually transmitted disease/HIV/AIDS division as a policy and communications specialist, also is charged with vehicular hijacking.
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