Cab defendant: I feared driver would kill me

Cab defendant: I feared driver would kill me
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
BY ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporter
August 18, 2006


Michael Jackson feared Haroon Paryani would kill him, so he commandeered Paryani's taxi to get away -- not knowing he had run the cabdriver over, Jackson said Thursday.

His voice quaking with emotion, Jackson insisted he drove over Paryani's body "unintentionally" while trying to escape the cabdriver.

Jackson, 38, faces charges of murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking in Paryani's death on Feb. 4, 2005. Defense lawyers claim the former city Department of Public Health employee was trying to flee a violent man and never had control of the car.

"I have never, ever been as scared as I was that night," Jackson said. "First he tried to trap me in his car, and then he said he was going to kill me."

Earlier in the trial, witnesses who lived near the corner of Briar Place and Cambridge Avenue in Lake View described hearing a heated argument on the street. Several people saw Paryani collapse, then saw Jackson climb into the cab and drive over Paryani's body three times. On Wednesday, a woman wept as she said Jackson "aimed" the car at Paryani's body.

Admits he was drunk

A Peoria native trained as an accountant, Jackson stopped to buy his HIV medication, a bottle of Ketel One Vodka and other items on his way home that night, he said. Later, he took a cab to visit friend Doug Ferguson on the 600 block of West Sheridan Road. Jackson drank several vodkas and was intoxicated, he admitted.

About 11:30 that night, Jackson left and hailed Paryani's cab to go home to the 500 block of West Briar Place. Jackson said Paryani was driving recklessly and cursing at other drivers, with "a lot of accelerating and slamming on brakes."

"I said, 'Take it easy. You're going to get us killed'," Jackson said.

When they arrived at Jackson's corner, Paryani, 62, told him the fare was more than the $4 Jackson expected. When Jackson protested, Paryani shouted, " 'You f------ faggot. You're not going to Jew me out of this'," according to Jackson.

Fled because 'I was scared'

Jackson's alarm turned to "panic," he said, when he realized he had left his money in his apartment. Paryani slammed the door on Jackson's leg and punched him in the eye, then threatened to kill him, he said.

"At one point he actually said, 'They'll never even find your body when I'm done'," Jackson testified.

Thinking he could not return safely to his apartment, Jackson climbed behind the wheel of Paryani's cab and struggled to get the car in drive, causing it to lurch back and forth, Jackson said. While he felt bumps, Jackson said he thought he had hit a car, not Paryani.

On cross examination, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mercedes Luque-Rosales noted Jackson could have honked the cab's horn for help, and asked Jackson why he did not go to the police after the incident.

"I was scared" Jackson repeated, explaining why he fled the scene.

Earlier Thursday, Stephan Argent of Toronto described an altercation with Paryani in 2001. After a disagreement about directions, Paryani got out and "grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and my shirt collar," and began twirling him around, Argent said.

"I was alarmed. I had gone from a quiet dinner with friends into a combat situation," Argent said.

Testimony resumes today.

eherman@suntimes.com