Jackson to Testify in Auction Case

Tito Jackson has vowed to testify in court to support his pal David Gest's war against a Los Angeles auction house.

Music mogul Gest is suing Julien's Auctions for more than $1 million (£625,000) in damages after the company offered up 21 Jackson family items - including a Platinum Riaa Record Award for Thriller - telling clients they were from Gest's personal collection.

He claims he knew nothing of the sale in Las Vegas, which took place just days after the King of Pop's death in June (09) - and Jackson 5 singer Tito is prepared to take to the stand to support his pal.

Jackson says, "I am amazed that an auction house like Julien's Auctions would use David Gest's name to sell an item that was not his. There are a number of the items that they listed in their Michael Jackson catalogueon June 26-27 that never even belonged to David Gest. I will also testify in court that this Riaa Award Disc for Thriller Presented to Steve Manning never belonged to David Gest".

Jackson 5 publicist Manning has also agreed to fight Gest's corner, adding "I personally consigned this disc to the Gotta Have It store in New York. They gave it to Julien's Auctions knowing that I owned it. When the catalogue came out, it listed this item 'From The Collection Of David Gest'. I even questioned them about it and never got a real response.

"They obviously and intentionally used David Gest's name to attract more publicity to the auction, especially in the U.K. where Gest is a huge reality television star.

Nothing was done to change this in the catalogue. This was definitely my record and I will testify in court that Julien's Auctions misled the public by fraudulently saying it was 'From The Collection Of David Gest' when it was not".