Flathead graduate a witness in trial of Jackson

She was a witness for the prosecution on Monday, but Flathead High School graduate Lauren Wallace actually thinks Michael Jackson is a pretty nice guy.

The larger-than-life singer once wrote a personal note to one of her family friends who was very sick.

He was kind, gracious and polite to Wallace, the sole flight attendant on many XtraJet private flights that the one-time King of Pop chartered between California, Florida and other points.

In fact, they had "developed a strong professional friendship, I guess you could say," Wallace said.

Despite these good impressions, Jackson stands accused of 10 charges that he sexually abused a young boy, plied him with alcohol and plotted to hold him and his family at his Neverland estate in 2003.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

"Honestly, I can't say how it will end up," Wallace said Tuesday, reflecting on her 25 minutes on the stand in the Santa Maria, Calif., courtroom that has become a global focus of celebrity fixation.

"I only pray that he is innocent and that the child was never, ever molested, just for the child's sanity," she said. "I don't think Michael knows if he is innocent."

Between the white wine that Wallace said she poured into Diet Coke cans for the alleged secretive drinker and the prescription-drug envelopes she found in his airplane seat after he flew, she admitted she had reason to wonder.

Combine that with Jackson's tardy appearance in court Monday, reportedly due to severe back pain and resulting medication, and Wallace's account to the Daily Inter Lake drew a divided picture of a wildly idolized pop singer under the microscope.

Suddenly thrust into the limelight herself, with Court TV and "Today Show" interviewers now bidding for her time, Wallace found she has traveled much further from the halls of Flathead High School than her U.S. and European flight logs might tell.

Wallace, who went by "Laurie" back in high school, moved from New York to Kalispell with her parents and two sisters in 1977.

Cross-country track events and basketball filled her high-school years until her 1988 graduation.

She followed with diverse jobs across the country, spending some time as an executive assistant in Florida, California and other locales.

In November 2001 she became an independently contracted flight attendant, and continues today working with various companies that charter private aircraft.

From March 2002 through July 2003 she worked with ExtraJet.

For six of those months, she flew Jackson's flights. They often went from Los Angeles or Las Vegas to Miami or West Palm Beach, once to New York, and another time to Gary, Ind., where he received the key to his hometown.

"He was wonderful, he was very kind, he was very humble, he was very gracious, very polite all the time," Wallace said. "Sometimes he would joke around. He appreciated the fact that what went on, stayed on the plane."

His three children, two nannies, other family, and security guards - always the security guards - were his typical traveling companions on the Gulfstream II jets, which seat 12 or 13 depending on configuration.

Wallace was the only flight attendant on those flights

"It was rare that we would sit down and chat, but on a couple occasions we would," she said.

They talked about his extreme fear of flying, she said. He filled her in on what his children like to eat, and they developed a generally positive relationship.

Then Monday - even though she was not the attendant on that flight in February 2003 on which Jackson is alleged to have gotten the defendant drunk - she was put on the stand to support Jackson's adversary.

"It was wonderful getting to see him again," she said, noting however that "it's hard to be in that position when I like him so much.

"It was a little disturbing because it was not under normal circumstances, and he was under medication and in pain."

But something stood out in her mind as she made eye contact with Jackson.

"I was very flattered that he remembered me and was very coherent and knew who I was," she said. "I was surprised. I expected him to be out of it. I was very surprised at his ability to recognize me."

As she was on the stand, she heard essentially the same questions a grand jury had put to her earlier. What kind of services are rendered on a private plane? How long have you been employed with XtraJet? Were you the supervisor of the flight attendant who worked the flight in question?

Were there any requests from Mr. Jackson? Did you ever witness Mr. Jackson giving alcohol to children or adolescents?

"I never did," she replied to the last query. "There was none of that on my flights."

She referred, however, to an account on The Smoking Gun's Web site.

According to that account, flight attendant Cynthia Bell, whom Wallace supervised, testified to a grand jury regarding the February 2003 flight from Miami to Santa Barbara that gave rise to some of the defendant's allegations.

"Bell testified that Jackson drank wine and vodka to the point of intoxication," the site reports. "She said that the performer was seated next to the alleged victim and that Jackson 'had his arm around him at times.'"

Both women had been given instructions to be sure Jackson had white wine on the flight.

"He likes to drink white wine out of a Diet Coke can," Wallace said. "I was preinformed before the flight, so I made sure they were half filled and "on ice" before he got on board."

In cross examination, Wallace said nearly all the questions posed by Jackson's attorney, Thomas Mesereau, were objected to, with the judge sustaining the objections.

Mesereau hammered home the point that in six months' time, Wallace never saw Jackson give alcohol to children. And, over dozens of flights that averaged five hours each, she said, "we spent some pretty good lengths of time together."

At the end of the day Monday, her courtroom duty finished, Wallace battled the Los Angeles freeway for a two-hour drive back home.

She packed her bags for her next duty, a flight to Paris.

And once again, she reflected on what had just happened.

"I've been happy to fly Mr. Jackson and his family from day one, and I will remain that way," she said. "It's been a wonderful journey and experience, and it will be again."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com