The Official Michael Jackson Court Case Thread

[AzCards21]

I'm gonna go smoke a cigarette.


I'm spent.

lmao!

 

[Dback Jon]

part of me wants to drop to my knees, the other part is so mad I could spit.

 

[40yearfan]

The way I look at it, this jury spent months of their lives living with this trial and then reaching a verdict. Since I only got small snipets of what was happening from the newspapers, I won't presume to try and outguess them.

Whether each of us personally thinks he is guilty doesn't really matter. A jury of his peers found him innocent.

 

[Brian]

The way I look at it, this jury spent months of their lives living with this trial and then reaching a verdict. Since I only got small snipets of what was happening from the newspapers, I won't presume to try and outguess them.

Whether each of us personally thinks he is guilty doesn't really matter. A jury of his peers found him innocent.

Tell me exactly, where would one find a jury of Michael Jackson's "peers"?

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Tell me exactly, where would one find a jury of Michael Jackson's "peers"?

What do yo mean? I am sure there are--at least--12 other people out there who like to sleep in Hyperberic (BIM?) Chambers, have pet monkeys, and have gone way too far with their plastic surgerey in one square mile of West Hollywood.

 

[CardLogic]

Tell me exactly, where would one find a jury of Michael Jackson's "peers"?

Fifth grade class at Father Gropeus School for Wayward Boys!

 

[Chris_Sanders]

The moment it came out that the family has tried to rip people off before, the case was over. I am not suprised in the slightest.

 

[Lefty]

I have not read this entire thread so I don't know if this was posted, but does anyone know what the nationality of the family that took Jackson to court is?

 

[Brian]

I have not read this entire thread so I don't know if this was posted, but does anyone know what the nationality of the family that took Jackson to court is?

I'm sure they aren't virginians.

Maybe they're from Djibouti. (pronounced Ja Booty).

 

[40yearfan]

Tell me exactly, where would one find a jury of Michael Jackson's "peers"?

It appears the peers might not be peers after all. Looking at some of them, they weren't that far off. It was in CA. ya know.

 

[Southpaw]

This probably sums it all up.

By Michael Ventre
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 8:43 p.m. ET June 13, 2005

Let’s just hope he doesn’t celebrate by throwing a slumber party.

Then again, you never know with a celebrity.

Robert Blake probably went back to Vitello’s while packing heat. O.J. Simpson could have opened his own cutlery store and nobody would have blinked. It wouldn’t surprise me if Michael Jackson got into his jammies tonight and invited a Boy Scout troop over for a game of Twister.

A jury found Michael not guilty on all counts Monday. It’s impossible to look into the minds of the jurors to determine whether the King of Pop’s star power influenced their decision. I’m sure they’ll deny it did. I’m sure they’ll say how meticulously they scrutinized every shred of evidence and testimony, and how they followed the judge’s instructions to the letter.

rest of really good read is at

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8208406/

about says it all.

 

[40yearfan]

By Michael Ventre
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 8:43 p.m. ET June 13, 2005

Let’s just hope he doesn’t celebrate by throwing a slumber party.

Then again, you never know with a celebrity.

Robert Blake probably went back to Vitello’s while packing heat. O.J. Simpson could have opened his own cutlery store and nobody would have blinked. It wouldn’t surprise me if Michael Jackson got into his jammies tonight and invited a Boy Scout troop over for a game of Twister.

A jury found Michael not guilty on all counts Monday. It’s impossible to look into the minds of the jurors to determine whether the King of Pop’s star power influenced their decision. I’m sure they’ll deny it did. I’m sure they’ll say how meticulously they scrutinized every shred of evidence and testimony, and how they followed the judge’s instructions to the letter.

rest of really good read is at

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8208406/

about says it all.

I bet if the 12 members of the jury hadn’t had to serve, they would have been in the crowd helping to make signs that say, “Michael, on behalf of mankind, we’re sorry” and seeing that the doves had enough food and water

The article was OK, but I think the guy went overboard in talking about the jury.

 

[Southpaw]

The article was OK, but I think the guy went overboard in talking about the jury.

The jury?

40, I think you are turning into a Symp.

and it is from one of YOUR favorite sources MSNBC.

P.S. Wonder if that jury ever met a pedophile who reformed.

 

[Dback Jon]

Juror Raymond Hultman said he and two others didn't initially share that opinion, but the majority eventually convinced the three that the evidence wasn't strong enough to convict Jackson on the charges they were deciding.

"That's not to say he's an innocent man," Hultman said late Monday in an interview with The Associated Press, standing on the front porch of his Santa Maria home. "He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with."

He said the prosecution presented ample evidence that Jackson had a pattern of inappropriate behavior with boys, but not with the boy who had accused him.

"We had our suspicions, but we couldn't judge on that because it wasn't what we were there to do," said Eleanor Cook, a 79-year-old grandmother.

 

[40yearfan]

The jury?

40, I think you are turning into a Symp.

and it is from one of YOUR favorite sources MSNBC.

P.S. Wonder if that jury ever met a pedophile who reformed.

Wally, look at it this way. There was no way for that jury to win. If the prosecutor had put on even a marginally good case, they would have convicted Jackson on one or more charges and been chastized by half the population. But since Sneddon was so inept, they had no choice other than to find him not guilty. Now the other 50% is on their butts.

If you're in the half who believes he's guilty, point the finger at Sneddon. He let his vendetta and personal ego get in the way and blew the case. This isn't just my personal opinion, but the opinion of a lot of big time lawyers that were interviewed after the trial.

 

[Southpaw]

The 79 year old grandmother " didn't like the way she pointed her finger at me and snapped her fingers". Juror Paul Rodrigues didn't like the mother's infernce that "our culture ( hisanic )isn't like that" . Guess he showed her.

This is the jury that wanted anonymity yet succumbed to the lure of fame and sat at the post trial interview table and "shared".

These clowns put the mother on trial and forgot about Jackson. Masereau had it all figured out when he told his P I to do a "Bonnie Lee Blake" on the mother and concentrate on nothing else.
O J had his Mark Furman, Robert Blake had Crazy Bonnie, Michael had the mother. Distortion by distraction. Gotta love those juries.

 

[Brian]

The 79 year old grandmother " didn't like the way she pointed her finger at me and snapped her fingers". Juror Paul Rodrigues didn't like the mother's infernce that "our culture ( hisanic )isn't like that" . Guess he showed her.

This is the jury that wanted anonymity yet succumbed to the lure of fame and sat at the post trial interview table and "shared".

These clowns put the mother on trial and forgot about Jackson. Masereau had it all figured out when he told his P I to do a "Bonnie Lee Blake" on the mother and concentrate on nothing else.
O J had his Mark Furman, Robert Blake had Crazy Bonnie, Michael had the mother. Distortion by distraction. Gotta love those juries.

Everyone should cash in all of their life insurance policies right NOW, me and Wally agree on something 100%.

This is what I was thinking but couldn't state as eloquently.

Nice post.

 

[Dback Jon]

E, me and Wally agree on something 100%.

 

[Southpaw]

Everyone should cash in all of their life insurance policies right NOW, me and Wally agree on something 100%.

This is what I was thinking but couldn't state as eloquently.

Nice post.

Thanks man.

 

[Djaughe]

lol...alot of funny headlines throughout the world...

How Jackson beat it

 

[Russ Smith]

Juror Raymond Hultman said he and two others didn't initially share that opinion, but the majority eventually convinced the three that the evidence wasn't strong enough to convict Jackson on the charges they were deciding.

"That's not to say he's an innocent man," Hultman said late Monday in an interview with The Associated Press, standing on the front porch of his Santa Maria home. "He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with."

He said the prosecution presented ample evidence that Jackson had a pattern of inappropriate behavior with boys, but not with the boy who had accused him.

"We had our suspicions, but we couldn't judge on that because it wasn't what we were there to do," said Eleanor Cook, a 79-year-old grandmother.

Yeah that's what the issue really seemed to be, several of them felt he probably HAD molested children, but they weren't convinced he'd molested THIS child.

I saw a quote from one female juror who said something like "you have to realize the judges instructions were is he guilty of THESE allegations, not would you trust him with your own 12 year old son. I wouldn't trust him with my kid, but that wasn't what we were deciding here."

Prosecutors don't get to pick their clients unfortunately, the family had no credibility because they appeared to be trying to shake down a bunch of celebrities and unfortunately Jackson walked as a result.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Jackson website hails verdict
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) —

Michael Jackson's Web site trumpeted his courtroom vindication Tuesday, linking it with such historic events as the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., while his lawyer vowed his client wouldn't be sharing his bed with boys anymore.

"He's not going to do that anymore," attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told NBC's Today. "He's not going to make himself vulnerable to this anymore."

Jackson was acquitted Monday of child molestation, conspiracy and other counts by jurors who said the accusations of a young boy and his family were not credible — a legal victory that triggered jubilation among the pop star's fans and embarrassment for the district attorney's office.

The Jackson Web site mjjsource.com featured graphics declaring "Innocent" and showing a hand giving a victory sign as a fanfare plays. A scrolling calendar highlights historic events such as "Martin Luther King is born," "The Berlin Wall falls," "Nelson Mandela is freed," and finally, "June 13, 2005, Remember this date for it is a part of HIStory." The reference was to Jackson's 1995 album "HIStory: Past, Present, and Future Book I."

Mesereau said Jackson didn't eat during the trial, didn't sleep and lost weight. "It was a terrible ordeal for him," Mesereau said.

"He's going to take it one day at a time. It's been a terrible, terrible process for him," Mesereau said Tuesday.

A raucous welcome greeted Jackson as he returned to his Neverland Ranch on Monday afternoon. As a convoy of black SUVs carrying him and his entourage pulled through the gates, his sister LaToya rolled down a window, smiled widely and waved. The crowd responded with a euphoric cheer.

"All of us here and millions around the world love and support you," proclaimed a banner strung across a fence by the compound in Los Olivos that Jackson said he created to provide himself with the childhood he never enjoyed.

"It's victory," said Tracee Raynaud, 39. "God is alive and well."

Aside from the Web site message, there was no comment from Jackson or his family Tuesday. He has no media representative since Raymone Bain was dismissed last week, and neither he nor his family issued any statements Tuesday morning.

The acquittals marked a stinging defeat for Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon, who displayed open hostility for Jackson and had pursued him for more than a decade, trying to prove the rumors that swirled around Jackson about his fondness for children.

Sneddon sat with his head in his hands after the verdicts were read.

"We don't select victims of crimes and we don't select the family. We try to make a conscientious decision and go forward," Sneddon said afterward, adding "I'm not going to look back and apologize for anything that we've done."

Jurors may have acquitted Jackson of all charges of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor, but not all of them were convinced the King of Pop had never molested a child.

"He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with," said Ray Hultman, who told The Associated Press he was one of three people on the 12-person panel who voted to acquit only after the other nine persuaded them there was reasonable doubt about the entertainer's guilt in this particular case.

Prosecutors presented testimony about Jackson's allegedly improper relationships with several boys in the early 1990s, including the son of a maid who testified that Jackson molested him during tickling session between 1987 and 1990. Another, Brett Barnes, took the stand to deny that he was molested during sleepovers at Neverland.

But Hultman said he believed it was likely that both boys had been molested. He said he voted to acquit Jackson in the current case because he had doubts about his current accuser's credibility.

"That's not to say he's an innocent man," Hultman, 62, said of Jackson.

Some jurors noted they were troubled by Jackson's admission that he allowed boys into his bed for what he characterized as innocent sleepovers.

"We would hope first of all that he doesn't sleep with children anymore and that he learns that they have to stay with their families or stay in the guest rooms or the houses or whatever they're called down there," jury foreman Paul Rodriguez said. "And he just has to be careful how he conducts himself around children."

Some jurors acknowledged they flatly disliked the accuser's mother, portrayed by the defense as a welfare cheat who brought a trumped-up lawsuit against J.C. Penney, accusing store guards of roughing her and her family up. "I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us," said one juror, a woman, who declined to give her name.

Another woman juror said she felt sorry for the accuser and his siblings, believing they had been trained by their mother to lie. "As a mother, the values she has taught them, it's hard for me to comprehend," she said. "I wouldn't want any of my children to lie for their own gain."

The verdict means Jackson will be free to try to rebuild his blighted musical career. But his legal victory came at a terrible price to his image.

Prosecutors branded him a deviant who used his playland as the ultimate pervert's lair, plying boys with booze and porn. Prosecution witnesses described other bizarre behavior by Jackson: They said he licked his accuser's head, simulated a sex act with a mannequin, kept dolls in bondage outfits on his desk.

Defense lawyers described Jackson as a humanitarian who wanted to protect kids and give them the life he never had while growing up as a child star. The boy had asked to meet the star when he thought he was dying of cancer.

The defense said the family exploited the boy's illness to shake down celebrities, then concocted the charges after realizing Jackson was cutting them off from a jet-set lifestyle that included limo rides and stays at luxurious resorts.

Jackson was cleared of 10 charges in all, including four counts that he molested the boy in early 2003. Jackson also was charged with providing the boy with wine — "Jesus juice," the pop star called it — and conspiring with members of his inner circle to hold the accuser and his family captive to get them to rebut a damaging documentary. Jurors also had to consider four lesser charges related to the alcohol counts, forcing them to render 14 verdicts in all.

The case was set in motion by the 2003 broadcast of the British TV documentary Living With Michael Jackson that Jackson had hoped would actually improve his image. In the program, Jackson held hands with the boy who would later accuse him, and he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual.

After the verdict, a weary Jackson retreated to Neverland where, according to his family, he went straight to bed. The entertainer, who appeared exhausted as he shuffled out of court, is "trying to get back his strength," said his father, Joe Jackson.

"I feel justice was done," Jackson's father said. "We thank the fans for supporting us."

As the verdict was read, Jackson sat motionless, as he did throughout the trial, only dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. One of his lawyers, Susan Yu, burst into tears. Some of the women on the jury also wept.

"I'm shaking," said Emily Smith, 24, of London, who was among the few lucky fans in Santa Maria who got courtroom passes to hear the reading of the verdicts. "I believe justice has been done today. I can't tell you how good it feels."

 

[Southpaw]

Pedophiles can't turn it off like a switch, so that excuse will be useless. No more sleepovers!!!!!!!!

Pedophile priests and Pedophile celebrities. They all walk.

P.S. Now the civil suit will begin by about 20 of the abused. It will be a race to file the fastest before he runs out of money.

 

[SouthNZoneFan]

P.S. Now the civil suit will begin by about 20 of the abused. It will be a race to file the fastest before he runs out of money.

YEP you can expect that in about five, four, three, two, one...

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Jackson's Love Letter
Mon Jun 27, 2005

Michael Jackson has been heard from, but still not seen.

Almost two weeks to the day since he was acquitted of child molestation and other charges, the pop star issued his first post-trial comment Sunday.

Titled "A Message for My Fans," the brief missive on the official Jackson Website MJJSource.com thanks the faithful who, in a presumed methaphorical sense, "held me, dried my tears and carried me through."

"Your love, support and loyalty made it all possible," the statement says. "You were there when I really needed you. I will never forget you."

"I will treasure your devotion and support forever. You are my inspiration. Love, Michael Jackson."

The note gives no hint as to Jackson's plans or whereabouts. The singer, who was in and out of the hospital as the trial entered its final days, has not been seen in public since exiting the Santa Maria, California, courthouse a vindicated, but wan man on June 13. A family-sponsored victory party for fans the following weekend made due with Jackson's mother Katherine and brother Tito.

Jackson, 46, faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges facing him. But the 12-member jury resoundingly rejected the prosecution's case, and more specifically, the prosecution's star witnesses, including the 15-year-old boy who accused Jackson of molestation.

Criminal charges behind Jackson or no, fairytales still seem in short supply at Neverland. Last week, the singer's ex-publicist, promoting a new book about his former boss, took to the airwaves to accuse Jackson of being a selfish, family-shunning man with a fixation for thrones.

"We spent a fortune communicating with the Queen [of England's] people to make him a knight, and they weren't interested," Bob Jones told TV's Access Hollywood.

Then there's the matter of Flash. On June 7, a Los Angeles woman filed a lawsuit suit against Jackson, claiming Flash, a husky who lives at a home in Encino, California, owned by the entertainer, bit her. The lawsuit, made public last week by the Smoking Gun, seeks unspecified damages and medical expenses.