Offical 31st May 2005 Thread: No court today, just discussion about instru.

sistahlamb

New member
Yeah there is court today but I still have no idea if Michael has to be there today.

I don't think anything really worth reporting is gonna happen today.
 

sistahlamb

New member
Oh wait a minute I just found this:


http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3409521

Jackson judge, attorneys, discuss jury instructions today

SANTA MARIA, Calif. The Michael Jackson jury has a fourth day off today, while the judge and lawyers discuss what instructions to give the panel for deliberations.

Some rules are included in every criminal trial. Others are tailored to the charges and evidence.

One key rule involves witness credibility. If it's clear a witness lied in any part of their testimony, jurors are allowed to disregard the rest of what the person said.

Defense attorneys are sure to emphasize that when attacking the conspiracy charge against Jackson, and specifically the testimony of the accuser's mother. And if the attorneys can convince the jury the accuser lied about anything, the panel may decide he also lied about being molested.

The jury should get its instructions tomorrow. Closing arguments will likely begin Thursday.
__________________
 

frozen rose

New member
Shall I try and find some news for today?

Lawyers working on Jackson arguments

Web posted at: 5/31/2005 1:37:59
Source ::: AFP



SANTA MARIA: Michael Jackson’s lawyers are working on their final arguments in the star’s child sex trial that could go to the jurors within days, after three months of often graphic testimony.

Because yesterday was a US holiday, the trial judge, the prosecutors and the defence team won’t be back in court until today, when they will discuss the instructions they will give to the jurors. Now that both sides have rested their case, the rival lawyers could start delivering their closing arguments as early as tomorrow, before handing the case to the 12 men and women who will ultimately decide whether Jackson should spend as many as 20 years behind bars.

Chief prosecutor Tom Sneddon and lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau are expected to focus largely on the credibility of the 15-year-old accuser and his younger brother, who were the only ones to testify directly to the alleged sexual abuse.

The defence team has pointed to inconsistencies in the boys’ testimony, and savaged the mother when she took the witness stand, portraying her as a grifter who coached her children to lie under oath in a bid to extort Jackson.

The prosecution for its part depicted Jackson as a sexual predator with a long history of fondling boys aged eight to 13, who used porn and booze to lure his young victims into sex. Testimony concluded on Friday after jurors watched a videotaped police interview of the alleged victim who described in a hushed voice and graphic detail how Jackson allegedly molested him on about five occasions at Neverland ranch, the fantasy-themed California estate the star calls home.

In one of the most devastating moments in the video, the young cancer survivor described as “very drunk” Jackson served him alcohol, talked to him about sex and then “started masturbating me.” Jackson has pleaded innocent to all 10 charges that he fondled the boy two years ago, gave him alcohol and conspired to hold him and his family captive to prevent them from talking of the alleged crimes.

Police started investigating Jackson following the February 2003 airing of a British television documentary in which he expressed a fondness for having children in his bed and was seen holding hands with his future accuser. The prosecution claims Jackson and his aides feared the film would affect the star’s already fading career and finances, and forced the accuser’s family to deny anything untoward had happened, held them captive and even plotted to whisk them to Brazil.


http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_n...05053113759.xml
 

frozen rose

New member
5/31/05

By DAWN HOBBS


Legal teams face steep challenges in closing arguments


NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

By week's end, a Santa Maria jury of eight women and five men will retreat behind closed doors to decide whether Michael Jackson, the world-famous entertainer, is also a child molester.

But their decision won't come before his defense attorneys and those prosecuting him get one last chance to argue their case that either Mr. Jackson is a serial pedophile who has used his fame to prey on young boys or that he is a sensitive, giving man who has been targeted by grifters after his money.

Those closing arguments are crucial, the final chance for each side to make sense for jurors of the complicated marathon 13-week trial, which has included 140 witnesses and hours of videotaped evidence.

Both sides face steep challenges. For prosecutors, they must convince jurors that the testimony of key witnesses is credible. For the defense team, it must show that although Mr. Jackson regularly slept with adolescent boys, he did not molest them.

Before the jury begins its deliberations, the prosecution and defense will confer today with Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville and decide the fine points of how the judge will instruct the jurors on the law.

This process, conducted in open court but outside of the presence of jurors, will take at least one day. Jurors will likely return to court sometime on Wednesday. Judge Melville has yet to decide whether he will deliver those instructions to jurors before closing arguments or immediately after.

District Attorney Thomas Sneddon has charged Mr. Jackson with child molestation, administering alcohol to a minor to commit a felony, and conspiracy, charges which bring up to 18Êyears in state prison if convicted. He has remained free on $3 million bail since his surrender on Nov. 20, 2003.

Prosecutors introduced compelling testimony about Mr. Jackson's alleged history with adolescent boys to lend weight to the current accuser's statements. Defense lawyers aggressively attacked the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses, including the accuser and his family.

The primary challenge for Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen will be to persuade jurors that possible credibility problems of key witnesses don't matter -- what matters is that Mr. Jackson allegedly molested the boy and that the entertainer and his associates conspired to abduct, falsely imprison and extort the accuser and his family.

The main hurdle for lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau will be to convince jurors that although his client shares his bed with children, he does not molest them. The prosecution's conspiracy theory will be presented as a fabrication created by a greedy mother and blindly accepted by a vindictive district attorney.

Mr. Zonen will paint Mr. Jackson as a serial predator who built Neverland Valley Ranch to lure adolescent boys into a fantastical world where there are no inhibitions so that he can more easily seduce them.

Prosecutors allege Mr. Jackson and his associates conspired to keep a vulnerable family against their will until they agreed to participate in a video designed to defuse the public relations nightmare created by a British documentary which aired here Feb. 6, 2003. In "Living with Michael Jackson," the entertainer is seen holding hands with the boy as he states he innocently shares his bed with children.

Prosecutors insist the documentary threatened the entertainer's career and finances, motivating him to orchestrate the conspiracy. The mother testified that Jackson associates told her that her family's life was in danger if she did not cooperate. She said the family was ordered to follow a script for a rebuttal video and that when she strayed from the script, Mr. Jackson's associates planned to ship the family to Brazil.

The accuser, now 15, testified Mr. Jackson plied him with alcohol and then molested him in early March 2003. The boy's brother testified he witnessed two of four alleged incidents of molestation.

Mr. Mesereau will portray the accuser and his family as conniving grifters who have a history of targeting wealthy celebrities. They insist the mother concocted the allegations after a failed attempt to get money from Mr. Jackson and then coached her children to follow suit.

The defense lawyers paint their client as a musical genius and sensitive intellectual. They describe him as inspired by the purity of children. He revels in balloons fights and late-night sleepovers because his younger years were compromised by the rigors of his career, they maintain. The defense says Neverland remains what it was intended to be -- a magical haven for troubled, sick and underprivileged youth, a fairy-tale refuge where they can forget their woes and enjoy the innocence of childhood.

The defense lawyers point to the millions of dollars Mr. Jackson has contributed to children's charities as evidence of his good heart. They say it is his trusting and giving nature that make him an easy mark. They insist their client is the victim -- of a woman who they say has repeatedly lied to welfare authorities, law enforcement, lawyers and celebrities, all for attempted financial gain.

In the end, the case comes down to a matter of credibility. Will the jurors believe the accuser and his family? Or will they believe Mr. Jackson? The world is waiting to find out.
 

frozen rose

New member
Michael THEORY

By KATE SHEEHY

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/47462.htm

May 31, 2005 -- Accused child molester Michael Jackson thinks he'll be convicted – thanks to a massive conspiracy by ex-Sony honcho Tommy Mottola aimed at nabbing his multimillion-dollar Beatles music catalog, a shocking new article claims.


"He believes the judge, the DA and the Sony guys are [in] a conspiracy to take over his money," said Gordon Novel, a private eye who claims Jackson hired him to give advice amid his sensational child-molestation trial.

In the heat of the Los Angeles trial, Jackson "acted like he was scared silly," Novel says in an explosive interview with Vanity Fair set to hit city newsstands next week.

"He kept asking me what prison was like. Can he watch TV and movies there? He wanted me to stop the show."

"I want this trial stopped," a pouty Jackson demanded, spouting cries of conspiracy as the pair tooled around the star's Neverland ranch March 17 in a beat-up pickup truck, with Jackson at the wheel, according to Novel.

"I told him, 'Get rid of this weird persona,' " Novel says in the interview with VF scribe Maureen Orth.

" 'You look like the weird pedophile. I'm talking about the hair, lipstick, eyebrows. Just be yourself and say why you're doing it. Say that's your showbiz personality. It's just what you do to sell LPs.'



"He said, 'No, I just want to be me.'

"He didn't want to go with girls, do the romantic thing, either," the private eye added.

"I said, 'Why didn't you stop fooling around with kids?' He said, 'I didn't want to.' "

Novel, who once worked for famed former New Orleans DA Jim Garrison on Garrison's Kennedy-assassination conspiracy case, said Jackson believes he is the tragic victim of a nefarious scheme at least partly masterminded by longtime foe Mottola.

At stake is the linchpin of Jackson's financial empire: ownership of half the rights to the Beatles music catalogue, estimated as worth more than $200 million. Sony owns the other half.

As the theory goes, if a disgraced, convicted Jackson was forced to default on his mortgaged share, Sony has dibs on buying it.

Neither reps for Mottola nor Jackson immediately responded to requests for comment.

Novel said he came forward with his tale now because Jackson stiffed him on a $5,000 consulting fee.

In another scandal, the magazine also said an unnamed prosecution witness has told authorities that renegade Jackson lawyer Brian Oxman once promised the singer's 1993 accuser "he could write his own check if he would refuse to testify" in the current case.

That young man had already settled a sex-fueled civil suit against Jackson, reportedly for millions.

The man wound up not testifying. Oxman said a gag order barred him from responding to the charge.

Stacy Brown, the author of a Jackson book, also told the mag that Jackson siblings Janet, Tito, Rebbie and Randy flew to New York to stage an emergency intervention for their bizarro bro in 2001.

"He told them to leave him alone," she said. "He said, 'Look, I'll be dead in a year anyway.' "
 

frozen rose

New member
http://eurweb.com/story.cfm?id=20610

EUR Web

THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: Celebrity, Sex and Race Lessons in The Jackson Trial--Pt.1
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

One in an occasional series on the Issues in The Michael Jackson saga. The week after jury selection began in her son's child molestation trial, a plainly piqued Katherine Jackson told Fox News "He loves children. You don't molest anything that you love." That's of course what a mother would say about her son. It was not the first time she said it about the ex-pop king.

She vigorously defended Michael Jackson for a decade in news interviews. Each time she said practically the same words, namely that he would never hurt a child. Though the prosecution fumbled and bumbled in its case, and never established smoking gun proof of Jackson's guilt, legions of others still did not share Katherine's unyielding faith in her son's innocence. They believed that the one-time pop king did, or at least was capable of doing, the terrible things to children that Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon prosecuted him for. But did he? If so, how did the world's best known pop entertainer sink to become the world's best-known criminal defendant?

That plunge insured that his trial would again dump the issues of celebrity, sex, and race on to the press and the nation's table. Jackson for decades was not just an entertainer but also the reigning king of the pop entertainment world. He was fabulously rich. Many regarded him as an artistic and creative genius. He was the man that energized and revolutionized pop music and dance. Millions bought his records, thousands of frenetic fans worldwide engaged in an orgy of idolatrous worship of him, and the celebrity gossip shows, tabloid rags, and even much of the mainstream press played up Jackson's foibles as big news.

But Jackson was tried on multiple counts of kidnapping and child molestation. This is the one charge that instantly stirs revulsion, disgust, and deep passions in millions. Jackson pleaded innocent and battled for months to try to win acquittal. The trial played out in fits and starts. There were dull moments and bizarre moments. There was the parade of witnesses that convicted and acquitted him in the same breath. There were tales of "Jackson Juice" drugging, conspiracy plots, aborted planned kidnappings, and an alleged Beatle song book vendetta against him. There were serio-comic moments when Jackson stumbled into court in his pajamas, did a jig on his SUV, and revved up adoring fans from his hospital room window.

Jackson also took his fight outside court. He claimed that his celebrity and fame made him the target of a wrathful DA, envious and malicious former employees and a doubtful public. There was no evidence that any of this was true, but it made good press, and was a good fallback for a man battling for his freedom, and to salvage what was left of his badly tainted professional reputation. His fans took up his defense chant.

Many blacks went further and claimed that he was victimized by a racist system out to bring down another prominent black man down. They cited the examples of Jackson, O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson, and even Clarence Thomas and railed that they were the victims of a "legal lynching." There no evidence that this was true either. Simpson was tried and acquitted of a double murder. Tyson raped a black woman. Thomas was grilled about sexual harassment charges but he was still confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. In an interview midway through the trial, Jackson flipped the race card. He cast himself in the mold of Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, and Jack Johnson, all high profile blacks that allegedly wound up on the legal hot seat because they were black.

He claimed that he was on the hot seat for the same reason. Jackson made even better copy as a celebrity defendant than as a celebrity entertainer. The cable networks, tabloids, and even mainstreams newspapers and magazines filled news pages and TV programs with rumors, half-truths and gossip to titillate and tantalize the public about Jackson's legal travails. A relatively new player on the media block, the smokinggun.com scooped them all and got any and every morsel and tidbit of testimony and information about Jackson's alleged evil doings from grand jury testimony. This was greater grist for the tabloid mill. That mill churned relentlessly during the trial and Jackson was more than happy to help churn the wheel
 

frozen rose

New member
Attorneys to discuss jury instructions in Jackson case

TIM MOLLOY
Associated Press


SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Jurors in the child molestation case against Michael Jackson will get a day off Tuesday as attorneys argue over what instructions they should receive before beginning deliberations.

Both sides rested their cases Friday after prosecutors played jurors a tape of the first law enforcement interview with the singer's accuser. Defense attorneys had said they might call the boy, his mother, and others back to the stand to question them about the tape, but made the surprise decision to rest instead.

Closing arguments in the case could begin as early as Wednesday, and jurors could get the case before the week is out.

Jackson's attorneys were expected to ask Judge Rodney S. Melville for standard jury instructions, saying the panel may reject the entire testimony of a witness they think has lied about a key point.

The defense has tried since the beginning of the case to portray the boy and his family as dishonest gold-diggers.

Because jurors will not be present for the arguments Tuesday, they will have four days to think about the videotape - a final, dramatic finish for the prosecution as they try to get the panel to sympathize with the boy.

On the tape, the boy slumped in his chair described the alleged molestation in a low, halting voice. He also asked investigators not to tell his mother what he had told them.

Prosecutors were expected to argue that the request undercuts the defense's claim that the mother prompted her son to lie as part of a scheme to get Jackson's money.

Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting the then-13-year-old boy in February or March 2003, giving him wine and conspiring to hold his family captive to get them to rebut a documentary in which Jackson said he let children into his bed but it was non-sexual.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisob...ws/11777174.htm
 

frozen rose

New member
I have been left devastated

As abuse trial nears end, Jackson's dad tells his story

BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


As the Michael Jackson trial draws to a close, the superstar's father tells for the first time how the accusations have devastated his family.

In an emotional and sometimes moving interview, Joe Jackson revealed the Prince of Pop has stopped eating and barely sleeps.

And the notoriously insensitive dad said he was relieved he couldn't cry as he watched the trial's effect on his son.

"It's the worst experience I've ever had," he told international journalist Daphne Barak.

"I look around and everybody else is crying. I'm wide-eyed and wondering, 'How come I can't cry?'

"If I started crying, I would probably never stop."

The Gloved One has been left physically wasted by accusations that he molested a 13-year-old boy in 2003, gave him wine and conspired to hold his family captive, said his dad.

"[If] you've got a problem like he has, it bothers you when you get ready to eat," he said. "He probably doesn't eat enough and doesn't get enough sleep.

"I'm trying to tell him to stay strong and eat so he can get through this, yet he has lost a lot of weight. Even his fans are saying, 'Michael should eat.' They want him to eat. I want him to eat, too.

"We always mention to him about it, but he says, 'I'm going to eat. I'll eat some.' But he doesn't eat enough. He takes a couple of bites.

"He doesn't sleep a bit, and that bothers me. In his situation, he should be getting plenty of rest and eating plenty of wholesome food to keep him strong. It's very important."

"He's taking it pretty hard, because a lot of stones have been hurled at him," said his father.

Closing arguments in the 13-week trial are set to start this week.

"I'm always telling him, 'Michael, stick with this, you be strong and you'll get through it.'

"Every day is difficult. To sit up there all that time and listen to all that stuff that you know is not true. Sometimes I have to hold [Jackson's mother Katharine] to keep her from jumping up and yelling."

He said Michael Jackson, who did not testify in the trial, wanted to take the stand - but was advised not to by others.

"Michael wants to get up there on the stand," said his dad. "He said, 'I can handle it, because I didn't do anything and they're trying to do this to me.' So he wants to defend himself."

In fact, his father blames many of Jackson's problems on the people who surround him.

"My biggest fear is trying to keep honest people around me," he said. "That's been Michael's problem.

"I'm talking about the 'handlers,' the people that are involved with this situation. They weren't too loyal to him like they were supposed to be. They didn't take care of him like they were supposed to."

He places most of the blame on interviewer Martin Bashir, whose documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson," brought attention to his friendships with young boys.

"We probably wouldn't be here if he hadn't done that Bashir documentary," he said.

"Michael didn't ever want to give interviews to nobody. As soon as he gave one to Bashir, he got into trouble. And Bashir knows it wasn't fair. He knows what he did.

"I knew what Bashir was about. He'll try anything to make money. That's money for him, they don't care who they hurt.

"I know what happened, and I know it didn't happen like that. I'm with him all the time, that's my son. He wasn't raised that way. It's just not right."

He said the trial may frighten the superstar out of future friendships with children.

"He's not against the kids," said his dad. "He's helped so many kids all over the world.

"But what he's afraid of, somebody may try something, try to make money. Plan something. He knows that all kids are pure in heart. They don't know anything about any dirty stuff, that comes from the grownups."

Michael Jackson has described his father as an emotionless bully who beat him and forced him and his brothers to work long hours on singing and dance routines. But Joe Jackson said the trial had brought father and son closer together.

"I've had so many people come up to me and say, 'I wish I had a father who had made me do well in music and in some kind of profession,'" he said.

"They said I didn't do anything wrong by working with them very hard to achieve the goals that they have achieved.

"I probably gave him a hug once in a while, but not every day like some people do. Because I had to work. I was working two jobs. I'm not sorry that I worked with them so closely, because they're known all over the world.

"Blood is thicker than water. Michael has Katharine's and my blood running through his veins. It means that I'm by him. I'm for him.

"He's going through a lot that he shouldn't have to go through, because they're trying to accuse him of something he didn't do. I will stick up for him all day long, because he is not that way.

"I'd tell him, 'Michael, I'm there for you 100%, and I always had a good feeling and believed in you. I love you, and all these things that have been talked about me. Hey, people are going to talk. I still love you.'"

Joe Jackson talked about high points in the trial - but also of lows, including the time his son appeared in court looking bedraggled and dressed in pajamas.

The judge had ordered him to attend, despite his claims he'd been hospitalized due to illness.

"We didn't care," he said. "We'd go in there barefoot in that courthouse. We're Jacksons. We don't care what people say. We had to be there."

But he said he felt the trial had largely been favorable to his son.

"Most of the days have been good," he said. "All we're looking for is the jury to be fair."

And he said his son was optimistic about his chances of acquittal, even preparing for a return to the pop charts.

"I'm thinking he did write some things and put down something," he said. "I think he shouldn't release something as soon as court is over with because everybody's waiting on something."


Kids know nothing about ordeal

Michael Jackson's kids know nothing about the accusations that could send him to prison, the star's father said.

Paris, 7, and Prince Michael, 8, have been shielded from TV and news coverage of one of the most high-profile trials ever.

"They don't know what's going on," Joe Jackson said.

"They don't need to be knowing all of that stuff. We don't want to interrupt their day with being worried about all of that stuff.

"There's no TV to be watching. If they want to watch television, they've got videos.

"These are kids. You have to treat them as kids," he told international journalist Daphne Barak.

Even though their father lost weight because of the stress of the 13-week trial, the children's lives continue as normal, Joe Jackson said.

"During the day, the nanny's there with them," he said.

"We came back from the courthouse, I had to go and walk with them that evening. I was watching them out there, playing around, walking and carrying on. They were having a good time."

And, despite uncertainty about his future, the pop star behaves as normal with his children.

"He's always got energy enough for those kids, and that's fantastic," said Jackson.

"The one thing I noticed, when we leave for the courthouse, I guess it's about 7:30 a.m., they'll be up, waving out the window."

"I just think they know we leave every morning and they see us when we come back. But, actually, they don't know."

Adam Nichols

Originally published on May 31, 2005


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file...1p-268982c.html
 

sistahlamb

New member
This is something cool an administator said on MJNO:

This is the one instruction I love the most. And since this is a credibility case, it's the most important one. This means the majority of the State's case could be thrown out! haha!!
 

frozen rose

New member
excuse me? I rarely post articles anyway. It was just one of the news articles in the list! I didn't relize it was so badly written, until I posted it. I'm sorry, if I upsetted you in anway. I only posted one STUPID article, once...its not like I do it every second of the day is it?... and I know Michael Jackson won't be convicted
 

MJISHOT

New member
Originally posted by frozen rose
I have been left devastated

As abuse trial nears end, Jackson's dad tells his story

BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


As the Michael Jackson trial draws to a close, the superstar's father tells for the first time how the accusations have devastated his family.

In an emotional and sometimes moving interview, Joe Jackson revealed the Prince of Pop has stopped eating and barely sleeps.

And the notoriously insensitive dad said he was relieved he couldn't cry as he watched the trial's effect on his son.

"It's the worst experience I've ever had," he told international journalist Daphne Barak.

"I look around and everybody else is crying. I'm wide-eyed and wondering, 'How come I can't cry?'

"If I started crying, I would probably never stop."

The Gloved One has been left physically wasted by accusations that he molested a 13-year-old boy in 2003, gave him wine and conspired to hold his family captive, said his dad.

"[If] you've got a problem like he has, it bothers you when you get ready to eat," he said. "He probably doesn't eat enough and doesn't get enough sleep.

"I'm trying to tell him to stay strong and eat so he can get through this, yet he has lost a lot of weight. Even his fans are saying, 'Michael should eat.' They want him to eat. I want him to eat, too.

PLEASE STOP POSTING THESE ARTICLES!!!!!!!!!!! its breaking my heart!
 
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