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Trial of Michael Jackson

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March 10, 2005: Michael Jackson (center) arrives one hour late to trial, and is escorted by father Joseph Jackson (right)

In 2005, Michael Jackson went to trial on child molestation charges. 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, falsely imprison and extort the same children and their mother, and for sexually molesting the accuser. On June 13, 2005, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all 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.

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Gavin Arvizo with Michael Jackson during the Bashir interview

Among other things, the documentary shows the twelve year old Gavin Arvizo. The boy is seen holding hands with Jackson and resting his head on Jackson's shoulder. The boy stated in the trial that the holding of hands was Jackson's initiative, the latter his own, because he was really close to Jackson, and Jackson was his best friend. He and Jackson tell about the two sleeping in the same room, though 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 has later told 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 claims 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", predominantly pre-adolescent boys (including Macaulay Culkin, when he was younger, his younger brother Kieran and sisters[2]) have slept in his bed, but he denies having had sex with any of them. Conversely, Jackson claimed he lets his children stay with his friends, for example with Barry Gibb. He emphasizes that children need and deserve lots of love — not sexual, but like having hot milk and cookies, tucking them in, telling a bed-time story, climbing trees with them, etc.

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Michael Jackson sparked an array of public response, ranging from outrage to pity

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 is alleged 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 is also indicted for child molestation; however, this would have taken place not before but after the concern arose.

Visit to Florida and subsequent stay at Neverland Ranch

After the documentary aired in the UK, Jackson, staying in Florida, asked the mother to allow the accuser to come there and meet him, supposedly for a press conference. The mother set the condition that the whole family come. Jackson agreed, and the family flew to Florida with Chris Tucker, a friend of Jackson, on a private plane.

The press conference never occurred.

During this three-day visit, the documentary aired in the US. The family alleges Jackson pressured them not to watch it.

When the accuser and his family returned home, Jackson was on the flight. He had asked the mother to take a commercial flight, but she insisted that she be on the same plane. The family alleges that Jackson gave the accuser alcohol and at one point licked the top of the side of his face.

After they returned to California the family again stayed at Neverland Ranch, from approximately 7 February to 11 February. They left at night with the help of the house manager Jesus Salas while other staff did not want them to leave, and went to stay with the mother's parents. Tyson (see below) called the mother repeatedly to ask her to come back, with the children, and saying that that would be safer for them. They did after the mother was told that "the Germans" Wiesner and Konitzer (see below), whom she did not like, would not be present. Because the Germans were there, she left again, but without the children. She claims that she had been told they had to stay. Salas told her he could not help her any more in this regard, because of instructions he had received.

Rebuttal video

In response to the Bashir documentary, Jackson had a so-called "rebuttal video" produced, called 'Take Two', and presented by Maury Povich.

The production included an interview with the family, filmed on the night of 19 February 2003 in Moslehi's home. Allegedly they were pressured by Jackson's aides to participate and say positive things.

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 [4] [5]. It was found by police in a search of Moslehi's home in November 2003, and it showed the accuser's family praising Jackson.

DCFS interview

On 20 February 2003 the family was 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 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, 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". Allegedly the family was put under pressure by Jackson's aides to say positive things.

Afterwards, in November 2003, when there was outside interest in connection with charges against Jackson, a report was made. [6]

Plans for a trip to Brazil, final departure from Neverland

A shorter or longer trip of the family to Brazil was planned and prepared, for protection of Jackson and/or the family against supposed or pretended danger, as a result of the Bashir documentary. 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, while later, allegedly, some of the Jackson camp came with threats themselves.

After the interview, the children went back to Neverland, and a day later, the mother came as well after cooperating in making preparations for the trip to Brazil, although, she says, she did not really want to go. From the 25th of February to the 2nd of March, 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 10 March, the mother and the accuser went to the hospital with a urine sample of the accuser, for a scheduled medical check-up. This was spilt, allegedly deliberately, by a Jackson aide in order to prevent detection of the accuser having been drinking alcohol. Afterwards the accuser went back to Neverland, while the mother went to stay with her fiancee.

By pretending that her father was seriously ill, and promising that two days later the family would return to Neverland, and then go to Brazil, she persuaded Jackson's aides to bring the children for a visit to their grandfather. After that she and her children never returned. At first the accuser was very angry at his mother that she did not allow him to return to Neverland.

Meanwhile the old apartment of the accuser's mother, who partly lived with her fiancee and partly with her parents, was emptied, her belongings stored, and the remaining rent paid, by Jackson's staff. It is not clear whether this was at her request. Afterwards, she had trouble getting her belongings returned. This was one of her reasons for seeking legal advice.

The second reason was to prevent re-airing of the Bashir documentary with her son in it.

The lawyer referred the family to a second lawyer, who sent the family to psychologist Katz, to find out whether there might have been sexual abuse. The accuser's brother told him that he had witnessed Jackson and the accuser having sex, after which Katz reported this to the authorities, as is compulsory for someone of his profession in such a case, being a so-called "mandatory reporter of child abuse".

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.

Searches

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 warrant to search the premises. They were reportedly looking for evidence to corroborate the account of the then 13-year-old accuser that Jackson had sex with him.

Also searched on the same day were the office of Bradley Miller, a private investigator working for Jackson, and the L.A. home of Hamid Moslehi, Jackson's videographer (see also above).

Miscellaneous allegations

On April 14 2004 it was announced that the LAPD was investigating another allegation of child abuse, possibly committed by Jackson. The only information the LAPD was willing to release about this new case was that the incident allegedly occurred in the late 1980s. If it happened before 1988, California's statute of limitations may have expired on the case. Attorneys for Jackson claim that the new allegation is groundless. The LAPD has stated that "no charges will be sought" in the case, after a two-month investigation found "no evidence that any crime occurred".

Gavin Arvizo

Gavin Arvizo, the accuser, was born in December 1989, hence he was 13 years old in February and March 2003, when allegedly the crimes were 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. Soon after that, through Jamie Masada [7], the owner of a comedy club, 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.

His father was several times at Neverland 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, his mother has custody over him and his older sister and younger brother. After having completed classes in parenting and anger management, the father has applied for having a restraining order against him temporary lifted, to allow him to see his three children. He claims he wants to see for himself how his health is and hopes to find out whether the boy and Jackson have had sex. He blames his ex-wife for having allowed the boy to sleep in the same room with Jackson and claims that she has been in a mental hospital, and that she sometimes coaches her children to lie.

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. 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.

Arrest and investigation

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Police photograph of Michael Jackson, November 20, 2003

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 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. He was charged with "lewd or lascivious acts" with a child younger than 14 under section 288(a) of the California Penal Code. He posted US$3 million bail.

Later Jackson requested lowering of the bail. The prosecution was opposed as they argued that Jackson might well consider going to live in another country as a fugitive: there are several countries of Europe, the Near 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.

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 not later than January 6, but he did not use the exemption after all. Shortly after being arrested, Jackson was made to surrender his passport to Santa Barbara authorities. At the time of his booking, his weight was measured at 56 kg (120 pounds), a notably low weight for a 178 cm (5' 11") middle-aged man. A series of public vigils to protest his innocence, organised by fans, were held on November 23, but were notable for the low turn-outs.

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 toppling the $500,000,000 mark has been filed by Jackson's party against the perpetrators. Jackson has not paid his travel agent for the flight and is in 2004 being sued over that.

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. [8]

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 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. Amongst other things, he claimed that his arms were dislocated, the handcuffs bruised his forearms, and that he was locked in a dirty bathroom for over 45 minutes. 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 forbode 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 alleged back problems. Subsequently, police decided to enforce more order from the public for safety reasons, and Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau reportedly counseled his client to tone down his theatrical behavior in and around the courthouse.

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 that came out during the child's psychological counseling and information about the Chandler's case.

It was contained in an affidavit in which authorities explained their reasons for seeking a search warrant for Neverland Ranch.

In a court session on February 13, 2004 it was revealed that the defence 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 a previous unrelated lawsuit started by the accuser's family; 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, and allegedly at the request of Jackson's brother Jermaine, a convert to Islam. The Nation of Islam presence around Jackson suddenly and quietly disappeared upon the hiring of criminal defense attorney Thomas Mesereau in April of 2004, a move, ironically, at the behest of Randy and Jermaine Jackson.

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 is 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, and allegedly at the behest of Jermaine and Randy Jackson. According to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, tension from the Jackson family from not having Geragos' full attention, because of the Scott Peterson death penalty case being at trial, and quick responses to their questions regarding media coverage of Michael's case were the reasons for the dismissal. Brafman and Geragos learned of their replacement not directly from the family but through telephoned press inquiries into the dramatic shake-up.

The second arraignment was on April, 30, and attended by lame-duck 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 organisations' 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.

On July 28, 2004 judge Melville granted a delay in the trial.

On December 3 and 4, 2004, Neverland was searched again. Also in that month Jackson's DNA was taken.

Jackson intends not to place himself in so vulnerable a position again. Geraldo Rivera, a longtime friend of the Jackson family, explained that Michael Jackson will never have sleepovers with boys 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 might have 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 might have been holding 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; former producer of homosexual pornography - his house was searched by the police in 2004
  • Dieter Wiesner - German
  • Ronald Konitzer - German-born Canadian

None of them agreed to testify during the grand jury proceedings.

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.

Both the prosecution and the defense had many 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 thru 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 were both heterosexual and homosexual, though legal. However, some had fingerprints of the two brothers on them; Jackson is alleged to have shown these adult materials to the brothers for the purpose of grooming, and gave them alcohol. 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, and read his magazines and drank his alcohol without permission, though it could be reasoned that these items could easily have been made unavailable.

On 10 March 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, each during a few seconds, while not been seen, he had seen that Jackson had outercourse with the apparently 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, "You're missing some goddamn pussy, you crazy little bastard! Wake up! Wake up, and smell the puss-ay! You don't wanna be no goddamn faggot, do ya Blanket? Come on, grow up big and strong, just like your old man! Ol' M.J sure loves his pussy, Lil' Blanket, and I'll be a goddamned bad motherfucking son-of-a-bitch if any kid of mine grows up to become some little faggot. C'mon Blanket, sit up and look at the pussy! You like that don't you, you filthy little bastard, yeah you do, huh? Good ol' Blanket, Daddy's little man likes the pussy too! Hey, look I've a huge boner, Blanket... you're a little too young for that shit, bu one of these days you'll be hung like a goddamned bull, just like your dear old daddy"", while the accuser and the accuser's brother stared at the images on the computer screen. Other accusations include co-ercing 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 brothers saw Jackson naked. According to the accuser's brother, Jackson's penis was erect, but according to the accuser it was not. Even if the incident was non-sexual this was special 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 defence 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 14:13 PDT (21:13 UTC), June 13 2005.

Alleged prior bad acts (Evidence Code 1108)

Melville allowed the prosecution to present evidence regarding five men (out of seven requested [9]) who, as a boy, allegedly have been involved in bad behavior of Jackson (see also n:Past Jackson abuse claims to be used in court). Regarding this, the prosecution called a total of nine people to testify, 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 of 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 30 May 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 which he called "The Hideout", and at Neverland. She often brought Jason along to her work. Jason was a friend of Jackson in the period 1988-1991, when he was 7-10 years old. Allegedly Jackson touched Jason's 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. Ca. 1996 Jackson paid the family an additional $2,000,000 to settle the case. Blanca Francia also received $20,000 for a TV interview. 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, he has had a conflict with Jackson. Chandler's mother has also testified, see the other article. 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 have written the book "The Man Behind the Mask," to be published in May 2005. As a witness Jones was hesitant whether he did or did not remember Jackson licking Jordy's head.
  • 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 has 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. Blanca Francia only said that she once saw that they took a shower together, but even that has not happened, according to Robson. 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.[10]
  • 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. Adrian McManus only saw that once Jackson kissed Barnes on his cheek, and put his hand on Barnes' rear end. Brett's sister, Karlee, testified that he slept 365 nights with her brother.[11]

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 about 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 [12]. The defense 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, which the defense suggested means Jackson might never have even seen it. However, the other book had an inscription on it from Jackson himself, showing he did view this book. The prosecution asked Wade Robson about one of the books, and Robson replied "This is a young boy with his legs open and he's naked"[13]. However, Robson insisted these books were not pornographic.

Accuser's mother

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 behaviour of snapping her fingers and staring at the jurors, was criticized by jurors after the trial. [14] 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, more than answers. She made repeated use of a few catch phrases, such as "It's burned inside my memory" and "Money doesn't buy happiness". [15] There were often times when the court erupted in laughter over her answers.

Depending on which side one supports, her testimony either shows how unreliable she was as a witness, or it shows the accused picked a troubled family.

Chris Carter

Prosecution witness Chris Carter, who has been Jackson's bodyguard from August 2002 - August 2003, has been put in jail in Las Vegas. He is 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. He was arrested on 19 February 2005 after police searched his mother's house, and found a handgun. He has pleaded not guilty.

In 2000, Carter was convicted of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and therefore not allowed to possess a gun. [16]

In 2004 Carter has been questioned before the Grand Jury [17]. He appealed the decision that he would be sent to Jackson's trial to testify. He announced that if he had to go, he would take the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. The prosecution, after first having him brought to a California prison, and after convincing Melville to allow him as a witness, did not have him testify after all.

Carter witnessed family members at Neverland and when he acted as their driver on a few occasions, and he was on the plane from Miami.

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. Defense argued that $7 million, which television paid for the rebuttal documantary would no way influence situation with loan, so there was never sense to commit crime for those money. Also, defense questioned prosecution's expert estimations of Jackson's assets value, citing that this estimation was done on "when bought" basis and did not include investments in those assets, as well as 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 days

As of 15 April 2005, all weekdays from 28 February 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 11, 18 March, and the first part of 28 March.

See [18].

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 all counts.

The not guilty verdicts on all ten charges, plus four lesser substitute charges, were read aloud by court clerk Lorna Frye. Fans celebrated outside of the courthouse, cheering, waving signs, and even releasing white doves and confetti as the verdicts were announced. The investigation and trial lasted for 574 days.

After the trial, some jurors claimed that while they did not have enough evidence (a "smoking gun") to give a guilty verdict, 3 jurors believed that Jackson probably did molest children (but not Gavin Arvizo; the 2003 accuser). [19] The most critical of Michael Jackson was Juror #1 Raymond Hultman. After his comments, Juror #3 Susan Derr Drake made clear she thought that Michael Jackson was innocent of all accusations of molestation, including prior allegations.[20]

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."[21]. She also admitted to frequently winking at Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, even though juror s are supposed to avoid all such communication, no matter how innocent. Allegedly 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".

Jurors Cook and Hultman have claimed that the juror foreman threatened to remove them from the jury, unless they agreed to acquit Jackson. So, they voted to acquit, even though they were both sure Jackson was guilty. They both expressed regret about the verdict, despite prior expressions of support for it[22]

After the trial

Janet Arvizo, the mother of the accuser, was charged with welfare fraud on August 23, 2005 for allegedly collecting nearly $19,000 in payments while making false claims. During her testimony at the Jackson trial, Arvizo cited the Fifth Amendment against criminal self-incrimination in refusing to answer questions about how she succeeded in illegally obtaining welfare payments while having more than $30,000 in the bank. During the defense case, a Jackson lawyer walked a California Department of Social Services representative through Arvizo's welfare applications, pointing out how she repeatedly failed to disclose, as required by law, assets and financial assistance she was receiving. Among many devastating brickbats tossed at Arvizo during the Jackson trial, the welfare fraud allegations were particularly damaging since they appeared to be backed by government documents (not to mention that Arvizo refused to address them for fear of incriminating herself). She has plead not guilty to all charges brought against her. A status hearing has been set for October 28, 2005.

Jurors have also come out to say that they believed that michael Jackson did abuse the children, but the evidence just wasnt there and it couldn't of been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

See also

News

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Police and courts

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Interviews

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