- Miss Cleo's lawyer went on the offensive Wednesday after
two months of near-silence, asserting his client has a gift of clairvoyance
and suggesting she's the subject of a latter-day witch hunt.
-
- "It does not take a crystal ball to see that the
allegations against Miss Cleo may be politically motivated," attorney
William Cone Jr. said in a statement. "Is this Florida politics, or
a bad remake of the Salem witch trials?"
-
- The state of Florida in February sued the TV infomercial
superstar, whose real name is Youree Dell Harris, of Southwest Ranches
in Broward County, alleging a pattern of deceiving consumers.
-
- Nine states, including Florida, as well as the Federal
Trade Commission have brought complaints against Miss Cleo's employer,
Access Resource Services, of Fort Lauderdale. Only Florida has named Miss
Cleo individually.
-
- Assistant Attorney General Dave Aronberg said he wouldn't
comment on Cone's statement. But he said he would oppose Cone's attempt
to dismiss the case against Harris at a scheduled May 8 hearing in Broward
County Circuit Court.
-
- At a news conference Wednesday, Cone declined to directly
answer personal questions about Harris, who was not present. Instead, he
offered hypothetical answers and left the life of the mysterious mystic
a mystery.
-
- "Who is she? She's for real," Cone said.
-
- Miss Cleo has become a household name in the more than
two years she worked the late-night infomercial circuit for Access Resource
Services, drumming up interest in a $5-a-minute psychic hotline. The
campaign
has drawn thousands of complaints nationwide - many focused on collection
tactics and alleged misrepresentations.
-
- Cone, speaking at his Fort Lauderdale office, declared
questions about Harris' birth certificate - and much of the rest of her
life for that matter - off limits. The birth certificate, made public by
the Attorney General's Office last month, indicates she was born in Los
Angeles to American-born parents, casting doubt on her claims of being
a psychic Jamaican shaman.
-
- "Does it make her any less Jamaican because she
may or may not have been born in the U.S.?" Cone asked, though not
stating that she was born in Jamaica.
-
- Rather than say the birth certificate was illegitimate,
Cone offered seven scenarios that could account for her having a Los
Angeles
birth certificate while still being the shaman she claims she is.
-
- Among them:
-
- * "A child is born in America and leaves shortly
after birth to live in Jamaica, returns many years later with the Jamaican
culture and accent."
-
- * "Child is born in a country where births and
deaths
are not recorded as efficiently as they are here. Child is raised from
4 years on in the United States."
-
- * "Biological father is Jamaican, mother is
American,
stepfather adopts the child at birth, and he is American. What goes on
the birth certificate?"
-
- When pressed, Cone said one of the seven scenarios is
true. He wouldn't say which.
-
- The Jamaican government has said it wants to wash its
hands of Miss Cleo - a spokesman noting there is no such thing as a shaman
in his country.
-
- Is she a psychic? Is she a shaman? Can she really see
the future?
-
- Yes on all counts, Cone said.
-
- "To prove that," however, "would be a
legal impossibility," he said.
-
- Although Harris ran an acting troupe in Seattle, Cone
denied she is an actress playing the part of Miss Cleo - a name he said
is owned by Access Resource Services.
-
- "She was chosen. She has talent," Cone said.
"She had the ability to be a shaman. She is a shaman. She has the
gift."
-
- Mitch Lipka can be reached at mlipka@sun-sentinel.com
or 561-243-6653.
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- Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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- http://www.sun-sentinel.com
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