Jump to content

Trial of Michael Jackson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 76.177.160.69 (talk) at 02:17, 1 June 2008 (→The charges). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

People v. Jackson (The People of the State of California v. Michael Joseph Jackson) was a child molestation trial involving pop icon Michael Jackson in 2005. The alleged victim was a boy, Gavin Arvizo, referred to as "The Accuser." Arvizo was 13 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Michael Jackson was indicted for conspiracy with five (unindicted) co-conspirators to abduct the accuser, his sister, and his brother, to falsely imprison and extort the same children and their mother, and for sexually molesting the accuser, all of which he strongly repudiated, stating that he was the victim of an extortion attempt. On June 13, 2005, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all 10 charges.

Early events

Bashir documentary

Main article: Living with Michael Jackson


A Granada Television documentary[1] about Jackson, in which he was extensively interviewed by British journalist Martin Bashir, was shown first in the UK on 3 February, 2003 and then in the U.S. three days later. The boy is seen holding hands with Jackson and resting his head on Jackson's shoulder. The boy later stated in the trial that the former encounter was by Jackson's initiative, the latter his own, because he was really close to Jackson and Jackson was his best friend. He and Jackson told about the two sleeping in the same room, but not in the same bed (they told about an occasion where each was happy to sleep on the floor and let the other have the bed). The boy later said that he had not realized that the footage would be broadcast all over the world. After the airing, he was teased by his friends. His mother claimed that she has not given Bashir permission to film her son, and was not even aware of that until the airing. Jackson stated in the documentary that "many children," (including Macaulay Culkin, his younger brother Kieran and sisters[2]) had slept in his bed and all maintain that nothing inappropriate occurred with Jackson.

Responding to concern after the airing, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. stated that, under California law, even if they had slept in the same bed, without "affirmative, offensive conduct," it wouldn't have been criminal.[3]

Jackson was accused of conspiracy with his aides to commit child abduction, false imprisonment, and extortion, in an attempt to control PR-damage caused by the documentary. Jackson was also indicted for child molestation; however the accuser alleged it occurred not before but after the documentary arose despite the fact the two had already been friends for several years. Jackson's defence and supporters argued that it made no "logical sense" that Jackson would have molested the accuser after the documentary aired because his lawyer said, "the whispering campaign was already well under way, there is no way in my view that Jackson molested Gavin Arzivo and certainly not after this broadcast aired."

Rebuttal video

In response to the Bashir documentary, Jackson's staff had a "rebuttal video" produced, called 'Take Two', and presented by Maury Povich. The production included an interview with the family, filmed on the night of February 19, 2003 in Moslehi's home. This part of the footage was not aired because the videographer Hamid Moslehi refused to hand it over, because of a financial dispute with Jackson [2] [3]. It was found by police in a search of Moslehi's home in November 2003, and it showed the accuser's family praising Jackson, Gavin insisted no molestation had occurred and that Jackson was "innocent".[4] Gavin, his sister Daveline, brother Star and mother Janet were "upfront" and said that inappropriate behavior had "absolutely not occurred" while also calling him a father figure.[4] They also insisted that they slept in Jackson's bed although Jackson himself always slept on the floor.[4] To further the rebuttal Janet Arvizo issued the statement: "The relationship that Michael has with my children is beautiful, loving, father-son and daughter one. To my children and me Michael is part of the family."[4]. She also stated that she was thinking of taking legal action against Martin Bashir.[4]

DCFS interview

Instead of going to police, Janet Arvizo decided on February 20, 2003 to take her family to be interviewed by the Sensitive Case Unit of L.A.'s Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), as part of an investigation jointly carried out with the LAPD. A school official (same official the Chandler family used in 1993) from the Los Angeles Unified School District had lodged a complaint out of concern for the boy who would later be Jackson's accuser, and his younger brother. The official did so out of general neglect by their mother and sexual abuse by Jackson, after watching the Bashir documentary. The entire family insisted that no inappropriate contact with Jackson occurred; moreover, the mother said that the children were never left alone with Jackson. The case was closed; the charges marked as "unfounded." Afterwards, in November 2003, when there was outside interest in connection with charges against Jackson, a report was made. [5]

Plans for a trip to Brazil, final departure from Neverland

A trip by the family to Brazil was planned and prepared. These plans play a role in the allegations. According to witnesses, the Jackson camp told the family that there were death threats related to the airing against the family. The Arvizos claim that Jackson planned to trap the family in Brazil to keep them from making allegations. However Defence brought up the question why would Michael Jackson buy the family a two-way ticket to and from Brazil if his plans were to 'trap' the family in another country?

After the interview, the children went back to Neverland, and a day later, their mother came as well after making preparations for the trip to Brazil, although, she says, she did not really want to go. From February 25th to March 2nd, the family and some of Jackson's staff stayed in a hotel in Calabasas, California, and they went shopping in preparation for the trip to Brazil. After that, they stayed at Neverland again. On March 10, the mother and the accuser went to the hospital with a urine sample of the accuser, for a scheduled medical check-up. Afterwards the accuser went back to Neverland, while the mother went to stay with her fiancé. It would be their last stay at the Neverland Ranch. Apparently, the accuser was very angry with his mother that she would not allow him to return to Neverland.

Janet approached Larry Feldman, the attorney who represented Jordie Chandler (first accuser) in 1993.[4] This made some believe she was intent on getting money because she went to an attorney before the police – it was also the same attorney who helped get an out-of-court settlement for Jordie Chandler for a reported $20 million. Larry Feldman then sent the family to psychologist Dr. Katz, which was also the same psychologist that assisted the first accusers family to uncover whether there might have been sexual abuse.[4] The accuser's brother told him that he had witnessed Jackson touching his brother, after which Katz reported this to the authorities, as is compulsory for someone of her profession in such a case, being a so-called "mandatory reporter of child abuse" although she later stated that in her opinion Jackson was not a pedophile but a regressed 10 year old.[4]

Larry Feldman and Dr. Katz were later focused on by the defense, stating that the mother (Janet) went to the same people that triggered the first investigation on Michael Jackson back in 1993. Obviously some type of research of the Chandler case must have occurred.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department investigation

In June 2003 the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department started an investigation. In July 2003 they first interviewed the family. On November 18, 2003, a team of more than 70 investigators from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office and Sheriff's Department descended upon Jackson's Neverland Ranch with a search warrant. These actions were criticized because of the fact that more law enforcements 'raided' Neverland Ranch than for any murderer or serial killer in American history.[4]

In over a decade of search of proof of molestation against Michael Jackson, there was more money spent than any other investigation in American history. District attorney flew to several different countries to interview people who would be willing to claim allegations against Michael Jackson. He opened a website for an 'open casting call' for anyone who has been molested by Michael Jackson and/or who has any information against Jackson.

Family and its dysfunctions

J. C. Penney: alleged assault, litigation and psychiatric analysis

In August 1998 the Arvizo family were detained on a shoplifting charge at a J. C. Penney department store in West Covina, California. According to J. C. Penney, Gavin and Star Arvizo were sent out of the store by their father with an armload of stolen clothes, the family was detained and Janet started a "scuffle" with security officers. The shoplifting charge was dropped, but Janet filed a lawsuit for $3 million, saying that when she was detained she was "viciously beaten" by three security officers, one of which was female.[4]

The psychiatrist hired by J. C. Penney to evaluate Janet Arvizo found her to have rehearsed her children into supporting her story and to be both "delusional" and "depressed," although Janet's own doctor found her to be only the latter.[4]

More than two years after the original alleged incident Janet added a further charge that one of the male officers had "sexually fondled" her breasts, twisting her nipples over twenty times and pelvis area for "up to seven minutes".[4] Ultimately the department store settled out of court with the family for $137,000.[4] Janet and Gavin also claimed to have been beaten, showing police photos of bruises.

When they first called the police from JC Penney, there was not any report of physical harm, or any medical attention that either needed.

Other claims

The family has gotten money from various celebrities from the lines of: Jay Leno, Chris Tucker, George Lopez, and Adam Sandler. For those who were brought into court, all have stated that the child seemed odd. Lopez and Tucker told the jury that the family would often try to get more 'things' and money by playing guilt trips regarding Gavin's health. At one point the family complained to Lopez that they did not have any money for Gavin's medical bills after a fun-raiser at the 'Laugh Factory'. Lopez wired money to their account. Within that same time the 'deprived' mother Janet attempted to buy a $28,000 SUV, which was turned down after her credit was too low.

Janet accused her ex-husband of beating her and sexually 'assaulting', molesting their daughter. In court the father claimed that Janet 'coached' the children to make these allegations against him for money. Interesting note that, several celebrities including Jay Leno stated that Gavin sounded to be 'coached' with his words to get money. This also came up again with the Jackson allegations.

Gavin Arvizo

Gavin Arvizo, the accuser, was born in December 1989. He was 13 years old in February and March of 2003 when the alleged crimes were said to have been committed. The accuser admits that he has often misbehaved in class at his middle school, and often failed to do his homework. At some stage he had problems with almost all teachers.

In 2000 he was diagnosed with cancer and had a kidney and his spleen removed. Jackson paid Gavin Arvizo's medical expenses and accommodated transport for his chemotherapy treatment.[4] Soon after that, through Jamie Masada [4], the owner of a comedy club called Laugh Factory, his wish was fulfilled to meet Jackson, and the boy often visited Neverland, also when Jackson was not home. In 2001 there were no visits but he and Jackson had many telephone conversations. In 2002 was the filming for the documentary, which was aired in 2003. Until February 2005, the accuser was officially anonymized as "John Doe" by the court and the media, although his full name was already available all over the Internet.

The father of Gavin Arvizo

His father, David Arvizo, visited Neverland several times in 2000, sometimes with the whole family, other times with just the children. According to witnesses the father has been persistent in begging celebrities for money for the family, and after receiving money, persistently asking for more.

After 2000, the accuser's parents were divorced, and his mother had custody over him and his older sister and younger brother. In 2002 David Arvizo pleaded no contest to spousal abuse and in 2003 pleaded no contest to child cruelty.[4] After having completed classes in parenting and anger management the father applied for having a three-year restraining order against him temporarily lifted, to allow him to see his three children.[4] He claims he wanted to see for himself how his son's health was, and hoped to find out whether the boy and Jackson have had sexual contact. He blames his ex-wife for allowing the boy to sleep in the same room with Jackson, and also claims that she has been in a mental hospital. He was featured in Bashir's documentary as one of many guests at the Neverland ranch; subsequent airings of the Bashir documentary on American VH1 after the 2003 allegations have blurred Jackson's accuser's and his siblings' faces, as well as muted out his name.

As of late 2004 David insists "my children are routinely rehearsed by their mother Janet to do or say whatever she wishes."[4]

The mother of Gavin Arvizo

When the Arvizo Family and Jackson were on good terms she encouraged all the children to call Jackson "Daddy" despite having three children of his own.[4] The accuser's mother, Janet Arvizo, who now uses Jay Jackson's last name, has been identified as the most problematic of the prosecution witnesses. Her behavior of snapping her fingers and staring at the jurors was criticized by jurors after the trial.[6] She was often unresponsive to questioning, even by the prosecution. She seemed to argue defensively over seemingly small issues, such as whether she had a body wax or only a leg wax. She even accused the defense of altering a receipt for the body wax. Questions were often answered with speeches or catch-phrases, rather than answers. She made repeated use of a few catch phrases, such as "It's burned inside my memory", "Money doesn't buy happiness",[7] and testified to the sheriff that Jackson wanted to kidnap her and the family with a "hot air balloon".[8] There were often instances when the court erupted in laughter over her answers.[7]

Arrest and investigation

Along with the warrant to search the premises was a warrant for the arrest of Jackson. Jackson was in Las Vegas, Nevada at the time recording a music video for his most recent hit single "One More Chance" from his Number Ones greatest hits album, which had been released at midnight, just hours before the warrants were issued and the allegations broke to the media. On November 20, Jackson flew in a leased jet to Santa Barbara Airport and surrendered himself to California police. Driven by police to the Santa Barbara County Jail, he emerged from the police vehicle in handcuffs. Images of Jackson handcuffed caused outrage around the world as it was viewed as unnecessary considering he had willingly handed himself into the police without hesitation and was clearly not going to cause violence or attempt escape. Many lawyers and Jackson supporters saw it as a police and media attempt to convince the public of Jackson's guilt, while some saw a racial element to the polices actions.[4][9][10] He was charged with "lewd or lascivious acts" with a child younger than 14 under section 288(a) of the California Penal Code.

Jackson posted $3 million bail which he later requested lowering of the bail. The prosecution was opposed as they argued that Jackson might consider going to live in another country as a fugitive: there are many countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where Jackson is adored, and several of those countries do not have extradition treaties with the United States. Also they cite Andrew Luster as an example: he fled to Mexico, notwithstanding his $1 million bail bond. Many argued that Jackson had good reason to be angered at the bail request as Phil Spector only had to pay $1 million in his murder trial and it was seen as racist by some.[11]

The judge was Rodney S. Melville, 62. Jackson's lawyers have included Mark Geragos (who also simultaneously defended Scott Peterson) and Benjamin Brafman (who won an acquittal on weapons and bribery charges for P. Diddy), until Jackson replaced them with Thomas Mesereau Jr. (who briefly represented actor Robert Blake) because a lawyer was needed who could give Jackson's case his full attention.

Jackson had been temporarily exempted from the requirement to stay in the US, for a possible trip to Britain ending no later than January 6, but he did not end up using the exemption. Shortly after being arrested, Jackson was required to surrender his passport to Santa Barbara authorities. At the time of his booking, his weight was measured at 56 kilograms (120 lb), a notably low weight for a 1.8 metre (5 ft11 in) middle-aged man although the media tried to portray his poor health as an attempt to gain sympathy. A series of public vigils to protest his innocence, organized by fans, were held on November 23.

On November 25 2003 it was revealed that, unbeknownst to Jackson, the private jet that was chartered to take him and his attorney from Vegas to California was secretly wired with video and audio recording devices. A third party took recordings on this trip and attempted to sell them to major television and radio networks for an extremely large amount of money; all declined to purchase. A restraining order against the jet company has been issued prohibiting the videotape from being shown to any third parties; a massive lawsuit topping the $500,000,000 mark has been filed by Jackson's party against the perpetrators.

On November 26 2003, it was revealed that XtraJet, the company that found the recordings and hidden cameras on Jackson's plane, on Monday, showed the video to several news organizations on November 24. FOX News reported that the tape shows Jackson calm and relaxed on the plane. [5]

On December 18 2003, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit that felony, in February and March 2003, all regarding the same boy under 14.

The felony complaint stated that Jackson had seven times "willfully, unlawfully, and lewdly committed a lewd and lascivious act, upon and with the boy's body and certain parts and members thereof, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, and gratifying the lust, passions, and sexual desires" of Jackson and the boy and that this sexual conduct has been "substantial." Also, that on two of these occasions, Jackson had administered to the boy an intoxicating agent, with intent thereby to enable and assist himself to carry out the previously mentioned act. Jackson denied these allegations and said that the sleepovers were non-sexual. He still described the boy on whose statements the accusations were based as "a sweet child"; he said the boy was manipulated by greedy parents.

During a 60 Minutes interview with Ed Bradley, Jackson claimed that he was manhandled by police during his booking. Among other things, he claimed that his arms were dislocated, that he was locked in a dirty bathroom for over 45 minutes. He also showed the camera clearly visible large bruises on his arm which he says was a result of tight handcuffs. He has not formally filed his complaints.

The Santa Barbara County police then released video tape showing Jackson's arrest, which seems to go smoothly and without incident. They also released audio tape of his ride into the police station. In it Jackson complains about the handcuffs, and is politely told by an officer how he can relieve the discomfort. He is heard to be whistling (nervously) and he asks for the air conditioning to be turned on; it is. Police allege this proves Jackson's claims are false; Jackson (and his family) claim what is being shown is only a biased view of what occurred: it does not prove that his claims are false, and police avoids showing what would prove his claims to be true. California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer ordered an independent investigation into Jackson's complaints. After interviewing 163 witnesses the complaints were rejected in August 2004.

At the prosecution's request the judge issued a gag order which forbade the following parties to talk to the news media: the defendant, the prosecutor, defense counsel, any attorney working in their offices, their agents, staff, experts, any judicial officer or court employee, any law enforcement employee and any agency involved in the case, and any persons subpoenaed or expected to testify. The purpose was that people among whom a jury had to be selected were not influenced. However, he would consider proposals to allow either side to answer reporters' questions about rumors surrounding the case.

Jackson was arraigned January 16 2004, at the court of Santa Maria. He was admonished by the judge for turning up 20 minutes late. He entered a plea of "Not Guilty." Hundreds of fans and an international media circus surrounded the event, and Jackson responded with a dance atop a parked SUV, despite his back problems. Subsequently, police decided to enforce more order from the public for safety reasons.

Judge Melville turned down a media's request for publication of 82 pages of documents and related tape recordings because that would violate the parties' privacy rights and complicate the process of selecting an unbiased jury. It concerned the boy's accounts of what allegedly happened, interviews with his family, statements made during the child's psychological counseling and information about the Chandler's case.

In a court session on February 13, 2004 it was revealed that the defense had just received 400 pages of evidence from the lead prosecutor and that hundreds more are expected. The judge said he wanted the trial to begin before the end of 2004. Both sides agreed that was possible. Jackson was not present. He was also not at sessions where only prosecution witnesses were required to testify, to determine whether there was enough evidence to start the trial itself.

In the court session of April 2, 2004 the judge ordered papers to be released from the previous $3 million lawsuit started by the accuser's family against J.C.Penney department store (see above); Jackson's defense said they would be used to show Jackson's innocence.

At some stage between the arrest and the trial Nation of Islam members were playing a major role in Jackson's affairs, to the visible consternation of defense attorney Mark Geragos, in particular in the field of security. The Nation of Islam presence around Jackson suddenly and quietly disappeared upon the hiring of criminal defense attorney Thomas Mesereau in April of 2004.

Grand jury proceedings and indictment

Grand jury proceedings (without defense and without judge) in Santa Barbara, starting in March 2004, led to Jackson's indictment on April 21 2004. The grand jury was composed of nineteen jurors; the indictment required the votes of at least twelve jurors. Prosecution witnesses testified without defense cross-examination. The judge ruled that witnesses before the grand jury could talk to defense attorneys about their knowledge of the case as long as the witnesses did not tell what they saw in the grand jury room or what questions they were asked and their answers. Many grand jury witnesses were sneaked into the building where the grand jury was meeting, sometimes covered in blankets to hide their identities. In February 2005 The Smoking Gun published the secret transcript, thus pre-trial hearings to prepare a preliminary hearing were no longer needed.

A sudden change of the Jackson defense team was announced in late April, 2004. Ben Brafman and Mark Geragos were replaced by Robert Blake's defense attorney Thomas Mesereau. Brafman and Geragos learned of their replacement through telephoned press inquiries into the dramatic shake-up.

The second arraignment was on April, 30, and attended by defense counsel Mark Geragos. The new charges, to which Jackson pleaded not guilty, were similar to the earlier ones, allegedly "on or about and between" 20 February and 12 March 2003, but with the addition of conspiracy involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. Apparently the first two referred to the allegation that the accuser, although he was free to move within Neverland, was at some stages not allowed to leave the ranch, even when his mother wanted that.

News organizations' cases for releasing evidence were heard at a hearing on 28 May 2004. The judge refused to release the full indictment or grand jury testimony and on July 28, 2004 judge Melville granted a delay in the trial. On December 3 and 4, 2004, Neverland was searched again. Causing many to speculate that the police were trying to garner more media support and furthermore in that month Jackson's DNA was taken.

Geraldo Rivera, a longtime friend of the Jackson family, explained that Michael Jackson will never have sleepovers with children not related to him again, because he understands that, however innocent his conduct has been, it violates a social norm.

Alleged co-conspirators

The indictment named five alleged co-conspirators (not indicted themselves):

  • Frank Tyson (also called Frank Cascio), 23, who was Jackson's personal assistant, and allegedly threatened the accuser's younger brother, who was a witness of part of the alleged crimes. Tyson and Jackson have been friends since Tyson was a small boy. Tyson's father was the concierge at a NY hotel where Jackson stayed. Right after the 1993 allegations, Cascio and his younger brother were seen traveling the world with Jackson.
  • Vince Amen (also called Vinnie), 24, who worked for Jackson's production company and allegedly held the family at Neverland against their will – got acquainted with Jackson through Tyson
  • Marc Schaffel – producer of the unreleased song What More Can I Give featuring various celebrities on vocals in an attempt to raise funds for disaster relief following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack; his house was searched by the police in 2004.
  • Dieter Wiesner
  • Ronald Konitzer

The charges

The following is a list of the 10 counts for which Jackson was found not guilty:[6]

  1. Conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion
  2. Lewd act on a child under 14
  3. Lewd act on a child under 14
  4. Lewd act on a child under 14
  5. Lewd act on a child under 14
  6. Attempted lewd act on a child under 14
  7. Administering alcohol to enable child molestation
  8. Administering alcohol to enable child molestation
  9. Administering alcohol to enable child molestation
  10. Administering alcohol to enable child molestation

Judge Rodney Melville said they could decide Mr. Jackson gave teenager Gavin Arvizo alcohol but did not abuse him, a misdemeanor with a penalty of up to a year in prison. However, the jury acquitted the singer on all counts.[7]

The trial

The jury selection for the jury trial started on January 31, 2005, and lasted less than a month. Twelve out of about 200 people were selected for the final list of jurors in the 2005 Michael Jackson trial.

The final 12 Jurors consisted of 8 women and 4 men with 8 alternate jurors which consisted of 4 men and 4 women. There were no African-American jurors in the final 12, however there was 1 African-American juror among the alternate jurors.

There were 91 prosecution and 50 defense witnesses, although fewer than planned. Melville allowed Jay Leno, defense witness, to continue making jokes about Jackson and the case as long as they were not related to an incident about which he would act as a witness in the trial. Because no television cameras were allowed inside the courtroom, E! and British Sky Broadcasting broadcasted a re-enactment of the trial. It aired Monday through Friday at 7:30 and 9pm.

Bashir refused to answer any question regarding unpublished footage of his documentary, or anything about how it was prepared and produced. This refusal was based on the California Constitution's journalist shield law and the First Amendment privilege for journalists. Melville decided that the defense could submit a motivated request to Melville to have Bashir return to testify more, against which Bashir could file opposition. Also Melville agreed that before possibly charging Bashir with contempt of court for refusing to answer, Bashir would be heard.

Adult materials found at Neverland included over 70 magazines of heterosexual porn, including publications dedicated to mature and overweight women (all were legal). However, some had fingerprints of the two brothers on them; both boys claimed that Jackson showed these adult materials to them for the purpose of grooming, and gave them alcohol (which he called "Jesus juice"). Both were allegedly for the purpose of lowering inhibitions to sexual behavior. Jackson denied this; he claimed that the accuser and his brother were sometimes “out of control” at Neverland, they found some magazines and drank alcohol in his absence.

On March 10, 2005, the judge was on the brink of issuing an arrest warrant and forfeiture of the bail, when Jackson was an hour late for the trial (see also WikiNews).

The accuser's brother testified that on two occasions, from hiding and over the course of a few seconds, he had seen Jackson have outercourse with the sleeping accuser (counts 4 and 5). Details of the sexual act on the second occasion contradict what the accuser's brother told psychologist Katz, according to Katz' testimony before the Grand Jury. He explained this by saying that there were actually three occasions.

The boy's brother claimed that Jackson had showed them pornography, both via the Internet and magazines. Allegedly, he showed them photographs of topless women, while stating "Got milk?". Apparently he also leaned in and whispered to Prince Michael II, who was sleeping nearby, "Prince, you're missing some pussy" while the accuser and the accuser's brother stared at the images on the computer screen. Other accusations include coercing the boys into "cussing," and swearing them to secrecy, insisting that they do not tell anyone "even if they have a gun to your head." The boy admitted that he had lied under oath in an unrelated court case.

During the alleged sexual incidents, Jackson wore underpants, and the accuser wore underpants or pajamas. On one brief occasion the accuser and his brother claimed they saw Jackson naked. But both boys described the incident differently. According to the brother, Jackson purposefully exposed himself and his penis was erect, but according to the accuser, Jackson only came up the stairs from the bathroom to the bedroom while unclothed, retrieved something and went downstairs. Even if the incident was non-sexual, this was significant to the brothers, because they had never seen a naked adult before.

The accuser told a school administrator at a date after he had left Neverland that Jackson had not molested him. Later, at the trial, he said that this was not true, that he had lied because he was already teased after the airing of the Bashir documentary, and he feared that the teasing would get worse if he would have told the truth, which, as he now said, is as follows: on one occasion Jackson manipulated the accuser's genitals for about five minutes, causing the accuser to ejaculate (count 2); the next day Jackson started it again (count 3) and also tried to guide the accuser's hand to Jackson's genitals, but the accuser pulled away (count 6). The accuser said that he was happy at Neverland, and that only after leaving did he realize he didn't want to be there anymore.

Witness George Lopez, who has been a friend of the accuser's family, gave the family money, but the father kept asking for more. It was alleged by the defense that the family tried to extort money from Lopez, by claiming that Lopez stole $300 from the family. This allegation was used to illustrate a pattern of family behavior. However, the prosecution says these problems were caused by the father, before the divorce.

House manager Jesus Salas testified that the accuser's mother was at no time held at Neverland against her will and that she had never complained of her children being taken advantage of at Neverland. The accuser's mother, Janet Arvizo, took the Fifth regarding welfare fraud she has committed. For that reason the defense asked Melville not to allow her as a witness at all, but Melville ruled that she could testify without being questioned about the fraud. The defense would later have the opportunity to present other evidence for the welfare fraud (which is relevant for the credibility of the witness). She admitted that she had lied under oath in an unrelated court case.

In May 2005 the witnesses for the defense testified. Closing arguments of both sides were presented in the beginning of June. Jackson's defense team had to be on 10-minute notice throughout jury deliberations. The jury reached a verdict of not guilty on all counts and all lesser offenses for those counts, announced at 2:13 pm PDT (21:13 UTC), June 13 2005.

Alleged prior sexual crimes (Evidence Code 1108)

Melville allowed the prosecution to present evidence regarding five men (out of seven requested [8]) who, as boys, had allegedly been involved in sexual behavior with Jackson (see also n:Past Jackson abuse claims to be used in court). The prosecution called a total of nine people to testify regarding this, including only one of these five alleged victims: Jason Francia (one other of the five, Macaulay Culkin, testified for the defense). The purpose was to demonstrate a pattern of behavior by Jackson. Bringing in evidence of so-called "prior bad acts" to suggest that a defendant had a propensity to commit certain crimes is only allowed in a few US states, and only for sex crimes; in California this is Evidence Code 1108.

  • Jason Francia (born May 30 1980) is the son of Jackson's former maid Blanca Francia, who moved from El Salvador to the US in 1975. She worked for Jackson in the period 1986–1991 at the Jackson family home in Encino, Los Angeles, at Jackson's Century City, Los Angeles apartment called "The Hideout," and at Neverland. She often brought Jason along to her work. Jason was a friend of Jackson in the period 1987–1991, when he was 7–10 years old. Jason claimed Jackson touched his crotch twice over his shorts, and once touched his testicles from under his shorts, on each of these three occasions for a few minutes during a tickling game. On the first two occasions he received $100 each for not telling his mother. In 1996 Jackson paid the family $2,000,000 to settle the case. Blanca Francia also received $20,000 for a TV interview, which Jason claimed to have no knowledge of the amount. She testified too, in spite of the settlement. She did not see sexual activity, just an occasion where Jackson and Jason were lying together partly on, partly in a sleeping bag.
  • Jordan Chandler, who allegedly was molested by Jackson in 1993 (see Michael Jackson: 1993 allegation of child sexual abuse) has, according to his uncle Ray Chandler, left the country to avoid testifying. Former security guard Ralph Chacon says that at Neverland he saw Jackson putting Chandler's penis in his mouth on one occasion, and touching Chandler's crotch with his hand on another occasion. However, Chacon's reliability is disputed, as he has had past conflicts with Jackson. Chacon's testimony also contradicted Chandler's affidavit, he claimed having seen Jackson molest Chandler in early 1993, while according to Chandler's own testimony Jackson didn't start abusing him until May 1993 in Monaco. Chandler's mother has also testified and contradicted known facts about the case, claiming that she was the one to alert authorities about the relationship between Jackson and her son in September 1993, although authorities were alerted by Jordan's father in August 1993. Former maid Adrian McManus says she once saw Jackson touch Chandler's crotch over his clothes. Bob Jones, who worked for Jackson from 1987–2004 as PR-man and Stacy Brown has written the book "The Man Behind the Mask," that which was published in May 2005.
  • Macaulay Culkin – Phillip LeMarque stated that he once saw Jackson with his hand resting on the pants of Culkin when the two were playing video games. Adrian McManus only saw that once Jackson kissed Culkin on his cheek, and had his hand "kind of by his leg, kind of on his rear end." However, Culkin denounced the molestation allegations as "absolutely ridiculous" and said that nothing inappropriate had happened. Culkin testified that he slept in Jackson's bed several times between the ages of 10 and 14, sometimes with other boys as well. He said the sleepovers weren't planned and that he and others would just fall asleep when they were tired.
  • Wade Robson – He has confirmed that he has slept in the same bed with Jackson, but he denies that anything inappropriate has happened. Wade's mother, Joy, admitted in cross-examination, that her son went missing for three days with Jackson, causing the police to get involved. But, like the sleepovers, she was confident this was all innocent and her son confirmed it. [9]
  • Brett Barnes – Like Robson, he has confirmed that he has slept in the same bed with Jackson, but he, also, denies that anything inappropriate has happened. Brett's sister, Karlee, testified that he slept 365 nights with her brother. [10]

Charlie Michaels and Charmayne Sternberg were also planned prosecution witnesses, but they did not testify. The witnesses included some of the "Neverland Five" (former security guards Ralph Chacon, Kassim Abdool, and Melanie Bagnall, former office manager Sandi Domz, and former maid Adrian McManus) who lost a lawsuit in 1995 against Jackson. The two boys of whom Melville did not allow evidence are Jimmy Safechuck and Jonathan Spence.

As part of the evidence to show attraction to boys, the prosecution introduced two books featuring nude prepubescent boys. The books were seized from Jackson in 1993 and never returned [11]. The prosecution portrayed them as being child erotica or pornography, showing a sexual attraction to boys. However, the defense characterized them as wholly non-sexual, non-pornographic, art books. The defense pointed out that the books were legal to possess, and Jackson was therefore never charged with owning them. While both featured nudity, neither book contains any depictions of sexual acts. Jackson lost possession of the books long before meeting the current accuser, which is why the books were a part of the 1108 evidence. He has never been accused of showing these two books to any boys.

One book, "The Boy: A photographic Essay" features many pictures of nude boys, including some explicit pictures of genitalia. The pictures were of boys who took part in the 1963 film adaptation of the book Lord of the Flies. One book had an inscription saying it was from a fan. While the other book read this inscription : "Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys' faces. This is the spirit of boyhood, a life I never had and will always dream of. This is the life I want for my children."

Prosecution witnesses' credibility

There is question not only of the credibility of the main accuser, the mother, but also of the many witnesses called to testify in the trial. Prosecution witness Chris Carter, who has been Jackson's bodyguard from August 2002 – August 2003, was arrested in Las Vegas on February 19, 2005 after police searched his mother's house and found a handgun, and had been accused of robbing a Radio Shack in October 2003, Subway sandwich shop in August 2004, a KB Toy Store in January 2005, and a Jack in the Box restaurant in February 2005.

Another witness, a former maid in Neverland, was convicted for stealing a sketch of Elvis Presley made by Jackson. A housekeeper whose son claims he was molested once sold stories about Jackson to Hard Copy, and a chef was found to be the host of a porn site called Virtual Sin.[12]

Jackson's finances

The prosecution sought to have Jackson's financial records exposed in the trial. They claimed that Jackson is a "spendaholic" who was, from 1999 to 2001, spending $35 million a year while earning $11 million to $12 million a year, and as a result is on the brink of bankruptcy. They argued that this could have been a motive for Jackson to resort to the alleged conspiracy to control the PR damage of the Bashir documentary, and thus control the resulting financial damage. Jackson's defense questioned the valuations of Jackson's estate by prosecution experts, citing that their appraisals were conducted on a "when bought" basis and did not include investments in those assets or an "actual market" value. The judge ruled that the prosecution could subpoena the financial records, but that they would only be opened in the trial after he heard testimony that they are relevant.

Court dates

2005:

As of April 15 2005, all weekdays from February 28, 2005 were court days, except:

A few court days were without jury and without Jackson. On these days motions were discussed and ruled about. These were on March 11 and 18, and the first part of March 28.

There were also several days in which Michael Jackson was unable to attend. These are:

  • February 15 – Questioning of potential jurors was postponed until February 22, after Michael Jackson was hospitalized with flu like symptoms.
  • March 21 – Court was delayed for 45 minutes, after Michael Jackson showed up late again complaining of back trouble. After meeting with attorneys and the doctor, Melville resumed the court into session without threatening to revoke Michael Jackson's bail.

See [12].

Verdict

At approximately 2:25pm PDT (21:25 UTC) on June 13, 2005 the jury of the Superior Court of the State of California, held in and for the County of Santa Barbara, determined that Michael Jackson was not guilty on any of the charges he had been accused with. The not guilty verdicts on all ten charges, including four lesser substitute charges, were read aloud by court clerk Lorna Frye. Fans cried from happiness outside of the courthouse as the verdicts were announced. The investigation and trial lasted for 574 days.

Allegations of juror misconduct

Since the trial was over there has been some controversy over the conduct of jurors during deliberations. Juror #5 (Eleanor Cook) admitted to illegally bringing in a medical text to show "Jackson fit the book's definition of a pedophile to a T."[13]. She also claimed to having winked at Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, even though jurors are supposed to avoid all such communication, no matter how innocent. She also claimed that there were three devoted fans of Michael Jackson, who made clear, early on, they would never convict Jackson, (with one referring to him affectionately as "my Michael") while she herself allegedly came in on the jury with the sole intent of convicting Jackson and later writing a book about it. When he was acquitted, her book deal fell through.

Jurors Cook and Hultman have claimed that the juror foreman threatened to remove them from the jury, unless they agreed to acquit Jackson, even though jurors cannot be removed from a jury simply because they don't agree with the others. Both jurors expressed regret about the verdict while still trying to sign book deals and sell T-Shirts about the case. Hultman later tried to get out of a book deal by claiming he had been coerced to sign it just like he had been coerced to acquit Jackson. [14]

Reports also came out that several members of the jury made fun of an alleged victim who burst into tears on the stand while talking about having been tickled by Jackson 15 years ago.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Michael Jackson (2003). Living with Michael Jackson: A Tonight Special. IMDb.
  2. ^ "Living with Michael Jackson". Michael Jackson's House.
  3. ^ "PR Michael Jackson" (PDF) (Press release). County of Santa Barbara, CA. February 6, 2003.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Headline. ISBN 1-55972-064-6. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15615502%255E28737,00.html[dead link]
  7. ^ a b Davis, Matthew (2005-06-13). "Profile: The Arvizo Family". BBC News.
  8. ^ "I feared my kids would vanish in a hot air balloon: Jackson accuser's mum". Agence France-Presse. MyWire. 2005-04-18.
  9. ^ Jackson says sex abuse charges 'a big lie' – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  10. ^ Michael Jackson News on Yahoo! Music
  11. ^ Michael Jackson News on Yahoo! Music
  12. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/michaeljackson/articles/story/7394906/the_nation_in_the_mirror

News

Wikinews has related news:
Wikinews has related news:

Police and courts

Interviews

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trial_of_Michael_Jackson&oldid=216314843"