People v. Jackson
Encyclopedia
People vs. Jackson was a 2005 trial involving recording artist
Michael Jackson
. The accuser was a boy, Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Jackson was indicted for four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor in order to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation, and one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at his 2700 acres (10.9 km²) Neverland Ranch
, as well as conspiring to commit extortion and child abduction. He denied all counts and asserted that he himself was the victim of a failed extortion
attempt. On June 13, 2005, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all fourteen charges, which included all of the above plus four lesser-included misdemeanor counts.
documentary entitled Living with Michael Jackson
, British journalist Martin Bashir
interviewed Jackson extensively. The film was broadcast in the UK on February 3, 2003, and in the U.S. three days later. The boy is shown holding hands with Jackson and resting his head on Jackson's shoulder while they are interviewed. At trial, Gavin testified that Jackson initiated the hand-holding, but that he had put his head on Jackson's shoulder because he was "really close to Jackson" and Jackson was his "best friend". In the video, Gavin tells Bashir about a night when he slept in Jackson's bed. He says that he and Jackson both offered to sleep on the floor and give each other the bed, but in the end Jackson slept on the floor while Gavin and Star slept in the bed. Jackson and the Arvizo children also talk happily about Gavin's unexpected survival of his cancer. Jackson stated in the documentary
that many children, including Macaulay Culkin
, his younger brother Kieran, and his sisters had slept in Jackson's bed; all maintained that nothing inappropriate occurred.
Later, the boy complained that he had not realized that the footage would be broadcast all over the world and that, after it aired, he was teased by his friends. His mother stated that she had not given Bashir permission to film her son and was not even aware of it prior to broadcast.
Responding to the controversy, Santa Barbara County
District Attorney
Thomas W. Sneddon Jr.
stated that, under California
law, an adult sleeping in the same bed as a child is not a criminal offense, unless "affirmative, offensive conduct" occurs. Michael Jackson was initially charged in a criminal complaint by the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office. Before the case proceeded very far, Sneddon changed his strategy and obtained an indictment before a county grand jury. Jackson was indicted
for conspiracy
to commit child abduction
, false imprisonment
, and extortion
; and child molestation
, attempted child molestation, and providing alcohol to an underage person for purposes of molestation. His alleged co-conspirators were not indicted. Some sources were critical of the charges, believing them to be an attempt to ameliorate PR damage caused by the documentary. Jackson was indicted based on the accuser's allegations of events which allegedly began after the documentary aired, when he and Jackson had already been friends for several years. Part of the defense to this accusation was that it would be absurd for Jackson to only begin molesting the boy as soon he was suspected of the crime. As his attorney put it,
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. After watching the Bashir documentary, the official suspected sexual abuse by Jackson and general neglect by the mother. 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 and the charges marked as "unfounded." Afterwards, in November 2003, when there was outside interest in connection with charges against Jackson, a report was made.
After the child services interview, Janet Arvizo brought a Jackson employee to meet with Karen Walker of the Los Angeles DCFS. Walker advised the Jackson employee that the Arvizo family are being heckled by the media resulting from the Bashir Documentary and need an apartment suitable for a family as well as the children checked into school. The trip was disclosed to Walker and the apartment change and school district check-in would be made when on vacation in Brazil.
The family planned a trip to Brazil
. These plans play a role in the allegations and more specifically the conspiracy charge with the unindicted co-conspirators. The Arvizo family wanted to go to Brazil with Michael Jackson on vacation. After all of the preparations were made for the trip to Brazil and the move to a new apartment, Janet decided to call off the vacation and it was immediately called off. 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, the defense asked why Jackson would buy the family a two-way ticket to and from Brazil if his plans were to "trap" the family in another country.
The children went back to Jackson's Neverland ranch, and a day later, their mother came as well after making preparations for the trip to Brazil, although, she testified, she did not really want to go. From February 25 to March 2, 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 from Neverland to Kaiser Permanente Hospital with a urine sample of the accuser, Gavin, for a scheduled medical check-up. On the way to the hospital, Janet spilled the urine sample on the passenger side car floor. When asked by the Jackson employee what happened, Janet said that she spilled the urine accidentally. At the hospital, Gavin received numerous tests for his kidney including a dye test. The urine sample was not enough for one of the tests and it came back inconclusive. Afterward the accuser went back to Neverland, while the mother went to stay with her fiance. 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.
(first accuser) in 1993. This made some believe she was intent on getting money because she went to an attorney before the police. The child psychologist Stan Katz
told Santa Barbara sheriff's investigator Paul Zelis that "Mr. Feldman actually referred these kids to me. Because they had come to him in this lawsuit." Other people believe that she sought legal advice because she was afraid that she could be charged with child endangerment when the abuse accusations surfaced. It would have been difficult for Janet - or any other parent - to explain why they allowed their sons to sleep in the same room with a middle-aged man. It was also the same attorney who helped get an out-of-court settlement for Jordan Chandler for a reported $20 million. Feldman then sent the family to a psychologist, Dr. Stan Katz, who was the same psychologist that assisted the first accuser's family to uncover whether there might have been sexual abuse. The accuser's brother told him that he had witnessed Jackson touching his brother. Katz reported this to the authorities, as is compulsory for someone of his profession in such a case, being a "mandatory reporter of child abuse". He later said in his opinion Jackson was not a pedophile but a regressed 10 year old. Feldman and Katz were later focused on by the defense, stating that the mother (Janet) went to the same people that triggered the first investigation on Jackson back in 1993.
upon Jackson's Neverland Ranch. These actions were criticized because more law enforcement personnel 'raided' Neverland Ranch than for any murderer or serial killer in American history. The district attorney 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.
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 the security guard
s. The shoplifting charge was dropped, but Janet filed a lawsuit, saying that when she was detained she was "viciously beaten" by three security officers, one of whom was female. In her booking photo
from the arrest she appears uninjured, but for the lawsuit she submitted two pictures of her showing bruises
all over her body. The paralegal she hired would later testify at the Jackson trial that Janet told her the beating was actually inflicted by her husband. J.C. Penney hired a psychiatrist to evaluate Janet Arvizo and 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. 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 and pelvis area for "up to seven minutes," a claim which shocked her lawyer. Ultimately the department store settled out of court with the family for US $152,000.
and had his spleen and a kidney removed. Jackson organized a blood drive and accommodated transport for his chemotherapy
treatment. Soon thereafter, Jamie Masada, the owner of a comedy club called Laugh Factory, fulfilled his wish to meet Jackson, and the boy visited Neverland eight times, where in two occasions he and his family met Michael Jackson as on the other six times Jackson was not home or not available. In 2001, there were no visits but he and Jackson had 20 or so telephone conversations regarding his recovery as the cancer had remissed. In 2002, the documentary Living With Michael Jackson was filmed, and aired February 6, 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.
d, 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. After having completed classes in parenting
and anger management
, David Arvizo applied to have a three-year restraining order
against him temporarily lifted, to allow him to see his three children. He claimed he wanted to see for himself how his son's health was, and hoped to find out whether the boy and Jackson had sexual contact. He blamed his ex-wife for allowing the boy to sleep in the same room with Jackson, and also claimed that she had been in a mental hospital. As of late 2004, David insisted: "My children are routinely rehearsed by their mother Janet to do or say whatever she wishes."
reported, "it’s pretty clear that she’s mentally ill in some way" and that "when she firsts starts testifying, she’s very sedate, and as time goes by, and possibly medication wears off, she becomes crazier and crazier, and you can hear people in the courtroom saying 'here it comes.'" There were often instances when the court erupted in laughter over her answers. Her habit of snapping her fingers and staring at the jurors was criticized by jurors after the trial. She was often unresponsive even to the prosecution, was defensive over seemingly small issues, and was admonished by the judge for arguing. Questions were often answered with tangential speeches addressed directly to the jury or sometimes even the press or the defendant. Her cross-examiner, Tom Mesereau, refused to object to her rambling, emotional diatribes, which resulted in the prosecutor repeatedly objecting to his own witness's answers. She made repeated use of a few catch phrases, such as "It's burned inside my memory" and "Money doesn't buy happiness." Janet Arvizo was convicted for welfare fraud in February 2006. She had to serve 150 hours of community service and to pay US $8,600 in restitution.
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 greatest hits album 'Number Ones', 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 Municipal Airport and surrendered himself to California police. Driven by police to the Santa Barbara County Jail, he emerged from the police vehicle in handcuffs
. 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 police's actions. 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
, later requesting a reduction of that amount. The prosecution opposed this as they argued that Jackson might consider going to live in another country as a fugitive
, citing 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 high level of bail as Phil Spector
only had to pay $1 million in his murder trial; the high amount was seen as racist by some. The bail was later ordered returned by the judge after Jackson's acquittal.
The Judge was Rodney Melville
, 62. Judge Melville had temporarily exempted Jackson from having to stay in the U.S. until January 6, 2004, so that he could make a possible trip to Britain. Jackson, however, did not use this 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 kilogram
s (120 lb), a notably low weight for a 1.8 metre (5 ft11 in) middle-aged man. 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 unknown to Jackson, the private jet that was chartered to take him and his attorney from Vegas to California was secretly wired with recording devices. A third party took recordings on this trip and attempted to sell them to major television and radio networks for a 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 lawsuit demanding $500,000,000 was 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 Channel
reported that the tape shows Jackson calm and relaxed on the plane. Jackson's legal team (at that point) were awarded $18 million in damages in 2008. The company went bankrupt.
interview with Ed Bradley
, Jackson claimed that he was manhandled by police during his booking. Among other things, he claimed that his shoulder was 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 said was a result of tight handcuffs.
The Santa Barbara County sheriff released video tape showing Jackson's arrest. 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 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 that what is being shown is only a biased view of what occurred. 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.
complaint
stated that Jackson had, on seven occasions, "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 had 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 sleepover
s 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.
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 subpoena
ed 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.
ed on January 16, 2004, at the court in Santa Maria
. He was admonished by the judge for turning up 20 minutes late. Jackson was represented by attorneys Mark Geragos, Ben Brafman, Steve Cochran and Robert Sanger. Jackson entered a plea
of "Not Guilty." Judge Melville turned down a media
request for publication of 82 pages of documents and related tape recordings on the grounds of violation of the parties' privacy
rights and complicating 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.
to begin before the end of 2004. Both sides agreed that was possible. Jackson was not present. 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. On April 5, 2005, Jackson posted a $3,000,000 bail bond from Plotkin Bail Bonds of Norwalk, California
, paying a bond fee of $300,000.
proceedings (without defense counsel and without a judge present) 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 witness
es 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 snuck 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 Grand Jury transcripts (1903 pages).
On April 25, 2004, Mark Geragos and Ben Brafman were replaced as Jackson's lead counsel, one-time Robert Blake defense attorneys Thomas Mesereau
and Susan Yu. Steve Cochran and Robert Sanger continued to represent Mr. Jackson, although Cochran left the team prior to trial (See transcripts for case no. 1133603). The second arraignment
was held on April 30, 2004. Brian Oxman was brought onto the team by Mesereau. The new charges, to which Jackson plead "not guilty", were similar to the earlier ones, allegedly "on or about and between" February 20 and March 12, 2003, but with the addition of conspiracy
involving child abduction, false imprisonment
and extortion
. 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 this to occur.
and British Sky Broadcasting
broadcast a re-enactment of the trial.
The first witness the prosecution called was Martin Bashir, who unsuccessfully fought his subpoena and brought an attorney with him from ABC
. His direct testimony was short; he gave some career background and testified that he had produced the show Living With Michael Jackson, which was then played in its entirety for the courtroom. In cross examination, Bashir's attorney objected to most of the questions, citing the California Constitution's journalist shield law and the First Amendment privilege for journalists, which he believed exempted Bashir from questions relating to unpublished footage of his documentary, or information about how it was prepared and produced. Judge Melville decided that he would overrule the objections, giving Bashir the choice to answer or follow his lawyer's advice, and Melville would review the testimony later to decide about charging Bashir with contempt of court
. Bashir refused to answer any of the questions his attorney objected to, which were mostly about what the defense suggested were examples of him deceiving and manipulating Jackson.
On the morning of March 10, 2005, Jackson was hospitalized due to a back injury. The judge threatened to issue an arrest warrant and forfeiture of the bail, if Jackson did not show up within an hour. Jackson was rushed to the courthouse still wearing pajama pants and slippers. This incident was heavily covered in the media, with Bill Fallon even suggesting Jackson's attire indicated his guilt, calling Jackson "a nut," "mentally ill," and saying, "if anybody has any question about Michael Jackson being able to commit this crime...this proves he doesn't listen to anybody."
The alleged first sexual act was Jackson masturbating Gavin on Jackson's bed. Jackson allegedly initiated the molestation by urging the accuser to masturbate, telling him that boys who didn't "might rape a girl." However, in a police interview before the trial, Gavin was asked what he knew about masturbation and he said, “My grandma explained it to me. She told me that...if men don’t do it...they might go ahead and rape a woman”. When asked about this coincidence, the accuser maintained that both his grandmother and Jackson had happened to tell him the same thing, but with different motives. The accuser testified that during that first sexual incident, he was wearing pajamas given to him by Jackson, and that the two of them "were under the covers." Jackson allegedly manipulated the accuser's genitals for about five minutes, causing the accuser to ejaculate
(count 2). Afterwards, the accuser said, Jackson told him "it was okay" and they "just went to sleep." The next night, Gavin testified, "the same thing happened again" (count 3), in Jackson's bed, both of them wearing Jackson's pajamas, but now they were on top of the covers, and maybe "watching T.V. or something." This time, Jackson allegedly also tried to guide the accuser's hand to Jackson's genitals, but the accuser pulled away (count 6). Gavin couldn't remember for sure if he ejaculated the second time but he thought he did. In an early interview with Sneddon, the accuser claimed he had been molested before the rebuttal video, but in court he testified that all the molestation was after the video was filmed. The number of times he claimed to have been molested is also unclear, as he only testified in court to two incidents, but he had previously told Sergeant Steve Robel that he thought it was "between five and seven times."
The accuser's 14-year-old brother Star testified that he'd walked into Jackson's bedroom and seen Jackson masturbating himself and the sleeping accuser. He testified that he'd meant to go to sleep in Jackson's room, had found the door "kind of locked, so [he] pushed it, and it opened" and walked some ways into the room and stopped when he saw what Gavin and Michael were doing. He testified they were on the bed "outside of the covers," Jackson was on his back with his eyes closed and Gavin was "curled up" facing away from Jackson and was "kind of snoring." Star couldn't remember what his brother had been wearing but said it might have been "pants or underwears," and that Jackson was wearing "socks, underwears and an undershirt," but later said Jackson's "hand was in his pants." He variously used the words "pants" and "underwears" for both Gavin and Jackson to describe what they were wearing. One aspect that made his testimony weak was that Star, the only witness to the alleged molestation, claimed he twice walked in on Jackson molesting Gavin and was completely unnoticed, even while tripping the alarm system in the hallway leading to Jackson's bedroom. There was an alarm or bell noise that sounded whenever someone approached, and Star claimed that on both occasions the alarm went off and Jackson just did not hear it, or see or hear the boy come and go. Star said he stood watching for about four seconds before he "just went back to the guest units." Star testified that two days later he had an almost identical experience. He allegedly walked into Jackson's bedroom and saw that "the same thing was happening," with Jackson "masturbating, stroking up and down" and his other hand moving around in Star's sleeping "brother's underwears." This time Star only stayed for three seconds before returning to the guest units. Star's account of the sexual act on the second occasion neither matched the description he gave during an interview with the psychologist Stanley Katz nor his statement given in police interviews in 2003. Star Arvizo said in an interview with the psychologist Stanley Katz on May 29, 2003, that he witnessed Jackson placing his hand on Gavin's crotch outside his clothes. On July 7, 2003, during his first interview with sheriff's investigators, Star's story changed. He claimed during the first alleged incident Jackson placed his left hand under the front of his brother's pajama pants. Star Arvizo changed his account a third time in a police interview on August 13, 2003, when he claimed Jackson had placed his hand inside the front of his brother's boxer shorts. Dr. Katz' grand jury testimony about what Star had told him included a story about Jackson "rubbing his penis against Gavin’s buttocks" and another about smelling marijuana. In court, Star denied that he'd made the allegations and refused Mesereau's offer to "refresh [his] recollection [by showing Star] that page of [Katz'] testimony."
The accuser and his brother both testified that on one brief occasion, they saw Jackson naked, but the boys described the incident differently. According to Star, the brothers were watching a movie on Jackson's bed and Jackson came in to fetch "something." Star testified that Jackson "had a hard-on," and that he told the boys, who were "grossed out," that nudity was natural. Star said Jackson stayed for two minutes and sat on the bed, but neither brother spoke a word during that time. According to Gavin, the boys were "just laying there" when Jackson "ran up there and got something and went back downstairs," without saying anything. Gavin did not describe Jackson as having an erection.
The accuser's mother, Janet Arvizo, testified that on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles, she "saw Michael licking Gavin’s head" while he was asleep. Before she testified about it, she turned to the jury and said, "please don't judge me." Jackson allegedly had an arm around the boy and licked his hair "over and over" while everyone else on the plane was asleep. Janet said she didn't tell any one what she'd seen, and she continued to let her children stay at Neverland, and she later testified that at a point weeks after that incident, she still didn't have "any concerns about Mr. Jackson at all". Star contradicted his mother when he testified that he had been awake to also witness Jackson lick Gavin's head on the plane; he didn't say anyone was asleep, just that the accuser was not feeling well and had leaned against Jackson's chest. Cynthia Bell, a flight attendant on that flight, testified that she'd been awake and could see everyone, and that she saw no inappropriate touching.
Many witnesses testified that the Arvizo children were poorly behaved and demanding. Jackson staff members gave evidence that they broke into Mr. Jackson's wine cellar, and had been caught in Jackson's bedroom on their own and going through his things. The housekeeper Kiki Fournier testified that the guest quarters that were assigned to the boys were trashed by them and at one point the accuser's brother pointed a knife at her in Jackson's kitchen. Cynthia Bell, a flight attendant on a plane carrying the Arvizo children, Jackson and others, testified that Gavin was "very rude" and "obnoxious" during the flight, started a food fight, and bragged to her that Jackson would buy him anything.
Witness George Lopez
, who has been a friend of the accuser's family, gave the family money, but had a falling out when the father kept asking for more. Lopez also described an incident when the Arvizos allegedly tried to con
Lopez by framing him for stealing $300 from Gavin's wallet. This allegation was used to illustrate a pattern of family behavior. However, the accuser's sister, Davellin, testified that these problems were all caused by her father, before the divorce. Other popular comedians testified about their run-ins with the Arvizos. Chris Tucker
claimed he had felt sorry for them and had taken them out, bought them things, and given them money. He felt the Arvizos expected too much, calling him their "brother" and taking advantage of him. He testified that he had warned Michael Jackson about the family, who he called "cunning." Jay Leno
testified that Gavin Arvizo called him and praised him lavishly with a woman directing him in the background. He was suspicious and ordered his staff not to let any more of these calls through.
On the first day of her testimony, the accuser's mother, Janet Arvizo, took the Fifth Amendment
regarding welfare fraud
and perjury allegations. Melville ruled that she could testify without being questioned about the fraud and perjury allegations. The defense would later have the opportunity to present other evidence for the welfare fraud. She admitted that she had lied under oath in the J.C. Penney case, and other witnesses testified that Janet had lied about the alleged sexual assault by J.C. Penney employees, and that she had coached her children to corroborate her story.
After leaving Neverland, the accuser told his school administrator that Jackson had not molested him. During the trial, he claimed that this was a lie as he was teased after Living with Michael Jackson aired and reasoned that he didn't want them to think anything really happened. The timeline is unclear, because the alleged molestation did not occur until after the documentary aired. The accuser testified that he always happy at Neverland, and that only as he was leaving did he realize he didn't want to be there anymore.
to commit child abuduction, false imprisonment
, and extortion
. Janet Arvizo claimed she and her family had been held captive at Neverland as well as at a couple of hotels when traveling with Jackson. She expressed her mistrust of "the Germans," Deiter Weisner and Ron Konitzer. She testified that they pretended to want to protect her, telling her the rebuttal video "would appease the killers," but that "Michael, Ronald, Dieter...Frank, and Vinnie...ended up being the killers." At one point, Janet testified that she'd known what questions she'd be asked in the rebuttal video, that Frank "went over" them with her on the phone beforehand and told her to praise Michael. On another day of her testimony, she claimed "the Germans" had scripted every word of the video, even the hand-holding, laughing, and the outtakes when they appear to think the camera isn't on, and the Germans had "worked with [them] daily, numerous times" to learn it all. 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. Other staff testified that the idea that the family were prisoners of Neverland was ludicrous, that there was no fence surrounding the property and that the guards did not carry weapons. During their alleged captivity, the Arvizos took shopping trips into town, billing $3,312.05 worth of purchases to Michael Jackson. They also met with their lawyer and visited a Federal building during this time, and made phone calls to various people, though never the police. Janet testified that she was dropping hints "in code" about her kidnapping during the calls, and explained that she never openly asked anyone for help because of the death threats Jackson's co-conspirators allegedly made towards her parents. Janet and Star claimed Jackson was preventing them from knowing the time or date. When Mesereau pointed out that there were clocks visible "almost everywhere" in Neverland, including a giant "flower clock" on a prominent hill, Star admitted that he was surrounded by clocks but claimed that they had the wrong times. Janet's claims included that she was restricted to "one meal per day," and that Jackson's associates had threatened to make her children "disappear" via hot-air balloon. The Arvizos "escaped" Neverland three times (in Rolls-Royces
and limos
) but were "convinced" to return each time. When the prosecution presented a complicated chart of phone calls between Jackson's "unindicted co-conspirators" trying to show that they were scheming about the Arvizos' captivity, they accidentally proved that Jackson was not even at Neverland for several of the days of the 2 1/2 week time-frame given for the alleged molestation, and may have been in Miami the day the molestation and conspiracy were alleged to have started.
to children at Neverland, including the accuser and his brother. The raids on Neverland produced an accumulation of twelve years' worth of heterosexual adult magazines
such as Playboy
, Penthouse and Hustler
. The prosecution alleged these were used for grooming
young victims. Brett Barnes and Wade Robson
, two men who have been friends with Jackson since childhood, testified that they had not been "aware that [Jackson] possessed sexually explicit material" until the trial. There were also a few books seized (from a library of thousands) that the prosecution suggested were evidence of homosexuality and/or pedophilia. Boys Will Be Boys included pictures of boys, many naked, in various non-sexual activities such as climbing a tree or sitting on a bench. The book had an inscription reading, "To Michael: From your fan. Love XXXOOO Rhonda – 1983, Chicago." Wade Robson testified he considered Boys Will Be Boys "not a pornographic book," and said he would not be concerned about its owner being in the same bed as a 12-year-old. Another book, The Boy: A Photographic Essay was inscribed, "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. MJ." The pictures were taken during the filming of the 1963 Lord of the Flies movie
and showed the boys on the set, usually clothed but sometimes nude, playing in the sand, reading comic books, and having pillow fights. The only book depicting sex acts was a rare out-of-print book called A Sexual Study of Man which featured many images of adult men engaged in all kinds of homosexual intercourse. Robson said he would be concerned if the book's owner were to share his bed with a boy, but amended that he would not mind if he considered the total picture of all the material in question. Robson testified that he believed Jackson had a "sexual interest in women," and that he had never seen "anything that suggested pedophilia" at Neverland. Jackson's multiple residences were searched multiple times by multiple agencies over a period of decades, without any child pornography
ever being found. The FBI
analyzed sixteen computers and found "nothing notable" according to their files.
Gavin and Star Arvizo testified that Jackson had introduced them to pornography. Star described a time when he, his brother, Frank Tyson and Michael Jackson had looked at "pornography sites" on Gavin's computer. The alleged pictures were of naked women and Jackson allegedly whispered to his sleeping son, "you're missing some pussy," before they all watched The Simpsons
and went to sleep. Star also testified to twice looking through adult magazines with Gavin, Jackson, and Aldo Cascio. He identified a picture of a particular Barely Legal
magazine that he said Jackson showed the boys, until Mesereau pointed out that the magazine had not been published until August 2003, five months after the Arvizos had left Neverland. Fingerprints of Gavin and Michael were found on a particular magazine, but it was only analyzed for fingerprints after the 2004 grand jury proceeding when Gavin handled the magazine without gloves.
), or without (a misdemeanor
). All three Arvizo children testified that Michael Jackson had served them alcohol. Gavin testified that the first time he ever drank alcohol was in the wine cellar with Jackson, where he allegedly swallowed a quantity of vodka
thinking it was water. He testified that after the Miami trip, he was drinking (wine, vodka, rum, bourbon) every night that Jackson was home. However, in an early police interview, he said he "didn't drink a lot" at Neverland. The prosecution's "grooming" theory held that Jackson used alcohol to lower Gavin's inhibitions in order to molest him, and the accuser testified that the first time he was molested, he and Jackson had just come "back from drinking in the arcade." He also described a time when he was undergoing urine tests
related to his cancer treatment, and he worried alcohol would be detected, but was allegedly pressured by Jackson to drink anyway and not take the test. Star's first time drinking alcohol, he claimed, was on the flight back from Miami. Jackson allegedly handed him a Diet Coke
can filled with wine. Star testified he did not know what the drink was when he tasted it, and that it reminded him of the smell of rubbing alcohol
(a comparison Gavin also made) but it seems unlikely Star would not have recognized the taste of wine, because, as his brother said, they drank wine in church. Star said Gavin and Michael were sharing the soda can and acting "really weird." However, Cynthia Bell, a flight attendant who had served Jackson on the Miami flight and others, testified that she never saw him share his drink with Gavin or anyone else. She testified that she had come up with the tradition of serving Jackson wine in Diet Coke cans during flights, because "Michael Jackson is a very private drinker" who didn't want the children to see him with alcohol.
, Brett Barnes, and Wade Robson
, all testified that they were long-time family friends of Jackson and had slept in his bed, but that Jackson never molested them or did anything sexual with them. Culkin said he'd "never seen him do anything improper with anybody" and called the allegations "absolutely ridiculous" and Barnes said they made him "very mad." All three men described the time they spent in Jackson's 2-story bedroom as childish fun, with video games, movies, and many people sleeping in the room at one time. Culkin added that he'd "never seen [Jackson] do anything improper with anybody" and that he was shocked the prosecution would put on witnesses who said Jackson molested him without even asking Culkin if it was true. Those witnesses, who had testified that they'd seen Jackson molest these young men were Ralph Chacon, Kassim Abdool and Adrian McManus, three ex-employees at Neverland Ranch. These three people had credibility issues, because they were part of a group of five ex-employees who sued Michael Jackson for wrongful termination in 1995. Jackson counterclaimed
that they had stolen property and sold some of it to tabloids, Jackson won and was awarded $60,000 in damages; the ex-employees were fined for lying in court and were ordered to pay $1.4 million for Jackson's legal fees.
Jason Francia, the son of a former Neverland maid, was the only alleged prior victim to testify. Francia described three times he had been playing with Jackson, they were tickling
each other, and Jackson ended up tickling Francia's "little private region" outside of his clothes, for a few minutes at a time, with Francia laughing all the while. Francia testified that the third time, Jackson had reached up the leg of Francia's shorts and touched his testicles. Francia claimed he needed five years of therapy because of the ordeal. He received settlement money from Jackson, and testified that he thought he deserved even more money from him. Francia also admitted that he and his mother had sold stories of his alleged inappropriate tickling to the tabloids
. When Jason Francia originally talked to the police after the 1993 allegations, he told them he had never been touched inappropriately. He made that claim only after extensive police questioning in which they repeatedly called Jackson a "molester" and told Jason that Macauley Culkin was being molested right then and Jason could put a stop to it if he confessed. Francia also testified that Jackson gave him money after each tickling incident, which is similar to something Francia said in his original police interview, that Jackson would give him money each time he finished reading a book or got an 'A'.
The final alleged victim was Jordan Chandler, who received a settlement from Jackson in the 1993 case
. Ralph Chacon, who had declared bankruptcy
because of what he owed Jackson, testified that he had watched through a window as Jackson performed oral sex
on Chandler in the showers of a rec room. Chacon never reported this to the police, even when less than a year later, they investigated allegations of Jackson abusing Chandler. Adrian McManus testified that she'd seen Chandler and Jackson kiss on the mouth and Jackson put his hand on the boy's crotch. During the 1993 investigation, McManus told the police, under oath, that she had never seen any molestation and that she trusted Jackson with her own son. Jordan Chandler, who was 25 by the trial, chose to leave the country rather than testify, and the only person in his family who showed up was his mother, June. She denied ever having seen any molestation, but talked about Jordan and Michael sleeping in the same room on numerous occasions, including that she initially didn't want them to, but was persuaded by Jackson, who allegedly cried and was hurt that she didn't trust him. She testified about Jackson buying all kinds of gifts for the family, the trips they'd been on together, and how fun it was to be part of Jackson's world. She said she'd been concerned that her son was starting to dress like Jackson and wanting to spend all his time with him. When asked about the lawsuits that ended up coming from her family's involvement with Michael Jackson, June Chandler made the distinction that (even though she was listed as a plaintiff and received settlement money) it was not she who sued Jackson, but Jordan and his father Evan. She claimed not to recall that Jackson had counter-sued for extortion, or that her second husband Dave Schwartz had sued Jackson, or that Evan Chandler had sued Jackson a second time. Thomas Mesereau said in a Harvard lecture later that year, "the prosecutors tried to get [Jordan] to show up and he wouldn't. If he had, I had witnesses who were going to come in and say he told them it never happened and that he would never talk to his parents again for what they made him say. It turned out he'd gone into court and got legal emancipation from his parents." June Chandler testified that she had not spoken to her son Jordan in 11 years, since 1994.
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 RadioShack
in October 2003, Subway sandwich shop
in August 2004, a KB Toys
store in January 2005, and a Jack in the Box restaurant in February 2005. He refused to testify. Adrian McManus, a former maid in Neverland, one of the "Neverland Five" who lost their suit against Jackson, was convicted of stealing a sketch of Elvis Presley
made by Jackson and selling it to a tabloid for $30,000. Philippe Lamarque, a potential witness who ultimately did not testify, was the host of a porn site called Virtual Sin. Tapes of a conversation he had with Paul Baressi showed that for $100,000, Lamarque would say he saw Jackson touch Macaulay Culkin's crotch outside of his shorts, but for $500,000, the hand would go inside the shorts. Matt Taibbi wrote for Rolling Stone:
called One of the Most Shameful Episodes In Journalistic History, in which he detailed the story, as he saw it, of why "the trial that was relayed to us didn't even resemble the trial that was going on inside the courtroom." During the trial, Matt Drudge
accused the media of largely ignoring testimony and evidence that exonerated Jackson and said, "Out here...Michael Jackson is being literally crucified...I think if you did a pulse poll, of people listening to these local talk shows, they would say 95% that Michael Jackson did all this...because it’s based on the coverage." Crime reporter Aphrodite Jones
wrote about what she saw as extreme media spin in her 2007 book Michael Jackson Conspiracy, which she self-published because, she said, all of the publishers she talked to were unwilling to touch a pro-Jackson book.
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:
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. The accuser was a boy, Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Jackson was indicted for four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor in order to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation, and one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at his 2700 acres (10.9 km²) Neverland Ranch
Neverland Ranch
Neverland Valley Ranch is a developed property in Santa Barbara County, California, most famous for being a home of American entertainer Michael Jackson from 1988 to 2005. Jackson named the property after Neverland, the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up...
, as well as conspiring to commit extortion and child abduction. He denied all counts and asserted that he himself was the victim of a failed extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
attempt. On June 13, 2005, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all fourteen charges, which included all of the above plus four lesser-included misdemeanor counts.
Bashir documentary
In a Granada TelevisionGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
documentary entitled Living with Michael Jackson
Living with Michael Jackson
Living with Michael Jackson is a Granada Television documentary, in which British journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Michael Jackson over a span of eight months, from May 2002 to January 2003...
, British journalist Martin Bashir
Martin Bashir
Martin Bashir is a British journalist and media personality, currently with NBC News as a contributor for its Dateline program, and an afternoon anchor for MSNBC, hosting Martin Bashir...
interviewed Jackson extensively. The film was broadcast in the UK on February 3, 2003, and in the U.S. three days later. The boy is shown holding hands with Jackson and resting his head on Jackson's shoulder while they are interviewed. At trial, Gavin testified that Jackson initiated the hand-holding, but that he had put his head on Jackson's shoulder because he was "really close to Jackson" and Jackson was his "best friend". In the video, Gavin tells Bashir about a night when he slept in Jackson's bed. He says that he and Jackson both offered to sleep on the floor and give each other the bed, but in the end Jackson slept on the floor while Gavin and Star slept in the bed. Jackson and the Arvizo children also talk happily about Gavin's unexpected survival of his cancer. Jackson stated in the documentary
Television documentary
Documentary television is a genre of television programming that broadcasts documentaries.* Documentary television series, a television series which is made up of documentary episodes....
that many children, including Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
, his younger brother Kieran, and his sisters had slept in Jackson's bed; all maintained that nothing inappropriate occurred.
Later, the boy complained that he had not realized that the footage would be broadcast all over the world and that, after it aired, he was teased by his friends. His mother stated that she had not given Bashir permission to film her son and was not even aware of it prior to broadcast.
Responding to the controversy, Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...
District Attorney
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
Thomas W. Sneddon Jr.
Thomas W. Sneddon Jr.
Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. was the district attorney of Santa Barbara County, California. He had 22 years experience as a District Attorney and 35 years experience in prosecution...
stated that, under California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
law, an adult sleeping in the same bed as a child is not a criminal offense, unless "affirmative, offensive conduct" occurs. Michael Jackson was initially charged in a criminal complaint by the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office. Before the case proceeded very far, Sneddon changed his strategy and obtained an indictment before a county grand jury. Jackson was indicted
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
for conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit child abduction
Child abduction
Child abduction or Child theft is the unauthorized removal of a minor from the custody of the child's natural or legally appointed guardians....
, false imprisonment
False imprisonment
False imprisonment is a restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. False imprisonment is a common-law felony and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention...
, and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
; and child molestation
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, attempted child molestation, and providing alcohol to an underage person for purposes of molestation. His alleged co-conspirators were not indicted. Some sources were critical of the charges, believing them to be an attempt to ameliorate PR damage caused by the documentary. Jackson was indicted based on the accuser's allegations of events which allegedly began after the documentary aired, when he and Jackson had already been friends for several years. Part of the defense to this accusation was that it would be absurd for Jackson to only begin molesting the boy as soon he was suspected of the crime. As his attorney put it,
The Bashir documentary was aired in the US on February 6, 2003; Gavin Arvizo's given time frame for the alleged molestations was February 20, 2003 – March 12, 2003. The family was acquainted with Michael Jackson for almost 2 years, but the alleged victim claimed he was molested after the footage was filmed and at a time "the whole world was already watching".
Rebuttal video
In response to the Bashir documentary, a second video called Take Two or The Footage You Were Never Meant to See, was aired. The production included Bashir praising Michael's qualities as a father and his relationship with children in general, while in the other production Bashir said he was "disturbed" about Michael's relationship with children. Further, an interview with the family was filmed on the night of February 19, 2003, in Moslehi's home. This part of the production was not aired because the videographer Hamid Moslehi refused to hand it over, following a financial dispute with Jackson. It was found by police in a search of Moslehi's home in November 2003, and it showed the accuser's family praising Jackson, with the accuser insisting no molestation had occurred and that Jackson was "innocent". Gavin Arvizo, his sister Davellin, brother Star and mother Janet were "upfront" and said that inappropriate behavior had "absolutely not occurred" while also calling him a father figure. They also insisted that although they had slept in Jackson's bed, Jackson himself always slept on the floor. Janet talks 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." She also stated that she was thinking of taking legal action against Martin Bashir.
DCFS interview
On Feb 20, 2003, Janet Arvizo was interviewed by the Sensitive Case Unit of the Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), as part of an investigation jointly carried out with the LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
. A school official from the Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
had lodged a complaint out of concern for the boy who would later be Jackson's accuser, and his younger brother. After watching the Bashir documentary, the official suspected sexual abuse by Jackson and general neglect by the mother. 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 and the charges marked as "unfounded." Afterwards, in November 2003, when there was outside interest in connection with charges against Jackson, a report was made.
Plans for a trip to Brazil, final departure from Neverland
In mid February 2003, Marc Schaffel, Michael Jackson and Janet Arvizo decided on taking a trip to Brazil for one week while the Arvizo family was to be moved into a new apartment and children checked into a new school district. This was a result of the negative attention received by Michael Jackson and the Arvizo family after the Bashir Documentary. Marc Schaffel instructed Jackson's employees to help with preparations for the Brazil trip and the new apartment move and Arvizo children being checked into a new school district.After the child services interview, Janet Arvizo brought a Jackson employee to meet with Karen Walker of the Los Angeles DCFS. Walker advised the Jackson employee that the Arvizo family are being heckled by the media resulting from the Bashir Documentary and need an apartment suitable for a family as well as the children checked into school. The trip was disclosed to Walker and the apartment change and school district check-in would be made when on vacation in Brazil.
The family planned a trip to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. These plans play a role in the allegations and more specifically the conspiracy charge with the unindicted co-conspirators. The Arvizo family wanted to go to Brazil with Michael Jackson on vacation. After all of the preparations were made for the trip to Brazil and the move to a new apartment, Janet decided to call off the vacation and it was immediately called off. 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, the defense asked why Jackson would buy the family a two-way ticket to and from Brazil if his plans were to "trap" the family in another country.
The children went back to Jackson's Neverland ranch, and a day later, their mother came as well after making preparations for the trip to Brazil, although, she testified, she did not really want to go. From February 25 to March 2, the family and some of Jackson's staff stayed in a hotel in Calabasas, California
Calabasas, California
Calabasas is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California in the western United States. It is located in the hills in the southwestern San Fernando Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains between Woodland Hills, Agoura Hills, West Hills, and Malibu, California. As of the 2010 census, the city...
, 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 from Neverland to Kaiser Permanente Hospital with a urine sample of the accuser, Gavin, for a scheduled medical check-up. On the way to the hospital, Janet spilled the urine sample on the passenger side car floor. When asked by the Jackson employee what happened, Janet said that she spilled the urine accidentally. At the hospital, Gavin received numerous tests for his kidney including a dye test. The urine sample was not enough for one of the tests and it came back inconclusive. Afterward the accuser went back to Neverland, while the mother went to stay with her fiance. 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.
Mother of accuser seeks legal advice
Janet approached Larry Feldman, the attorney who represented Jordan Chandler1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson
In 1993, Evan Chandler accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing his thirteen-year-old son, Jordan. The relationship between Jackson and Jordan began in May 1992. Evan initially welcomed and encouraged the friendship, and bragged about his connection to a celebrity. The friendship became well...
(first accuser) in 1993. This made some believe she was intent on getting money because she went to an attorney before the police. The child psychologist Stan Katz
Stan Katz
Dr Stan J Katz is an American clinical and forensic psychologist. A critic of the codependency movement, Katz co-authored The Codependency Conspiracy: How to Break the Recovery Habit and Take Charge of Your Life...
told Santa Barbara sheriff's investigator Paul Zelis that "Mr. Feldman actually referred these kids to me. Because they had come to him in this lawsuit." Other people believe that she sought legal advice because she was afraid that she could be charged with child endangerment when the abuse accusations surfaced. It would have been difficult for Janet - or any other parent - to explain why they allowed their sons to sleep in the same room with a middle-aged man. It was also the same attorney who helped get an out-of-court settlement for Jordan Chandler for a reported $20 million. Feldman then sent the family to a psychologist, Dr. Stan Katz, who was the same psychologist that assisted the first accuser's family to uncover whether there might have been sexual abuse. The accuser's brother told him that he had witnessed Jackson touching his brother. Katz reported this to the authorities, as is compulsory for someone of his profession in such a case, being a "mandatory reporter of child abuse". He later said in his opinion Jackson was not a pedophile but a regressed 10 year old. Feldman and Katz were later focused on by the defense, stating that the mother (Janet) went to the same people that triggered the first investigation on Jackson back in 1993.
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 executed a search warrantSearch warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
upon Jackson's Neverland Ranch. These actions were criticized because more law enforcement personnel 'raided' Neverland Ranch than for any murderer or serial killer in American history. The district attorney 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.
Arvizo family
Jackson's attorney alleged that the charges were made in retaliation by the family after the family members realized that Jackson was not going to continue supporting them financially indefinitely. The family was portrayed during trial as exhibiting a long history of attempting to extort celebrities and abusing legal and governmental systems.J.C. Penney: alleged assault, litigation and psychiatric analysis
In August 1998, the Arvizo family was detained on a shopliftingShoplifting
Shoplifting is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common property crimes dealt with by police and courts....
charge at a J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
department store in West Covina, California
West Covina, California
West Covina is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. Located some east of Downtown Los Angeles in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, it is a mostly middle class suburb of Los Angeles...
. 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 the security guard
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
s. The shoplifting charge was dropped, but Janet filed a lawsuit, saying that when she was detained she was "viciously beaten" by three security officers, one of whom was female. In her booking photo
Mug shot
A mug shot, mugshot or booking photograph, is a photographic portrait taken after one is arrested. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of the arrested individual to allow for identification by victims and investigators. Most mug shots are two-part,...
from the arrest she appears uninjured, but for the lawsuit she submitted two pictures of her showing bruises
Bruise
A bruise, also called a contusion, is a type of relatively minor hematoma of tissue in which capillaries and sometimes venules are damaged by trauma, allowing blood to seep into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Bruises can involve capillaries at the level of skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle,...
all over her body. The paralegal she hired would later testify at the Jackson trial that Janet told her the beating was actually inflicted by her husband. J.C. Penney hired a psychiatrist to evaluate Janet Arvizo and 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. 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 and pelvis area for "up to seven minutes," a claim which shocked her lawyer. Ultimately the department store settled out of court with the family for US $152,000.
Gavin Arvizo
Gavin Arvizo was born in December 1989. He was 13 years old between February 20 and March 12, 2003, when the alleged crimes were said to have been committed, two weeks after Bashir's documentary aired in the US. In 2000, the accuser was diagnosed with cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and had his spleen and a kidney removed. Jackson organized a blood drive and accommodated transport for his chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
treatment. Soon thereafter, Jamie Masada, the owner of a comedy club called Laugh Factory, fulfilled his wish to meet Jackson, and the boy visited Neverland eight times, where in two occasions he and his family met Michael Jackson as on the other six times Jackson was not home or not available. In 2001, there were no visits but he and Jackson had 20 or so telephone conversations regarding his recovery as the cancer had remissed. In 2002, the documentary Living With Michael Jackson was filmed, and aired February 6, 2003. Until February 2005, the accuser was officially anonymized
Anonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
as "John Doe
John Doe
The name "John Doe" is used as a placeholder name in a legal action, case or discussion for a male party, whose true identity is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons. The name is also used to refer to a male corpse or hospital patient whose identity is unknown...
" by the court and the media, although his full name was already available all over the Internet.
David Arvizo
Gavin's father, David Arvizo, visited Neverland several times in 2000, sometimes with the whole family, other times with just the children. After 2000, the accuser's parents were divorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d, and his mother had custody
Child custody
Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...
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. After having completed classes in parenting
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
and anger management
Anger management
The term anger management commonly refers to a system of psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger & aggression can control or reduce the triggers, degrees, and effects of an angered emotional state...
, David Arvizo applied to have a three-year restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against him temporarily lifted, to allow him to see his three children. He claimed he wanted to see for himself how his son's health was, and hoped to find out whether the boy and Jackson had sexual contact. He blamed his ex-wife for allowing the boy to sleep in the same room with Jackson, and also claimed that she had been in a mental hospital. As of late 2004, David insisted: "My children are routinely rehearsed by their mother Janet to do or say whatever she wishes."
Janet Arvizo
When the Arvizo family and Jackson were on good terms, Janet Arvizo encouraged all the children to call Jackson "Daddy," even though he had three children of his own. Janet has been identified as the most problematic of the prosecution witnesses. Aside from her credibility issues, her behavior in the courtroom was widely criticized. Roger FriedmanRoger Friedman
Roger Friedman is an American entertainment news journalist. Friedman created and wrote the FOX411 news column on Foxnews.com for 10 years. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz 411, an entertainment news column.-Career:...
reported, "it’s pretty clear that she’s mentally ill in some way" and that "when she firsts starts testifying, she’s very sedate, and as time goes by, and possibly medication wears off, she becomes crazier and crazier, and you can hear people in the courtroom saying 'here it comes.'" There were often instances when the court erupted in laughter over her answers. Her habit of snapping her fingers and staring at the jurors was criticized by jurors after the trial. She was often unresponsive even to the prosecution, was defensive over seemingly small issues, and was admonished by the judge for arguing. Questions were often answered with tangential speeches addressed directly to the jury or sometimes even the press or the defendant. Her cross-examiner, Tom Mesereau, refused to object to her rambling, emotional diatribes, which resulted in the prosecutor repeatedly objecting to his own witness's answers. She made repeated use of a few catch phrases, such as "It's burned inside my memory" and "Money doesn't buy happiness." Janet Arvizo was convicted for welfare fraud in February 2006. She had to serve 150 hours of community service and to pay US $8,600 in restitution.
Warrant and arrest
Along with the warrant to search the premises was a warrant for the arrestArrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
of Jackson. Jackson was in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
at the time recording a music video for his most recent hit single "One More Chance
One More Chance (Michael Jackson song)
"One More Chance" is a song written by R. Kelly for Michael Jackson and used on his Number Ones compilation album. It was released as a single on November 20, 2003, reaching #83 in the U.S., #5 in the UK and reaching #1 in Venezuela, Moldova and Turkey....
" from his greatest hits album 'Number Ones', 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 Municipal Airport and surrendered himself to California police. Driven by police to the Santa Barbara County Jail, he emerged from the police vehicle in handcuffs
Handcuffs
Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a person's wrist...
. 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 police's actions. He was charged with "lewd or lascivious
Lascivious
"Lascivious" is a word synonymous with lustful or lewd or unruly .- Legal usage :In American legal jargon, lascivious is a semi-technical term indicating immoral sexual thoughts or actions. It is often used in the legal description of criminal acts in which some sort of sexual activity is...
acts" with a child younger than 14 under section 288(a) of the California Penal Code
California Penal Code
The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of criminal law in the American state of California. It was originally enacted in 1872 as one of the original four California Codes, and has been substantially amended and revised since then....
.
Jackson posted $3 million bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, later requesting a reduction of that amount. The prosecution opposed this as they argued that Jackson might consider going to live in another country as a fugitive
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
, citing Andrew Luster
Andrew Luster
Andrew Stuart Luster is the great-grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor, Sr. and an heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune. He grew up in Malibu, California and attended Windward School in Santa Monica. Luster had been supported by a $3.1 million trust fund as he traveled and surfed at various...
as an example: he fled to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, notwithstanding his $1 million bail bond. Many argued that Jackson had good reason to be angered at the high level of bail as Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
only had to pay $1 million in his murder trial; the high amount was seen as racist by some. The bail was later ordered returned by the judge after Jackson's acquittal.
The Judge was Rodney Melville
Rodney Melville
Rodney Melville is a presiding judge in Santa Barbara County's superior court. He is most notable for being the judge in Michael Jackson's 2005 child molestion trial, in which Jackson was acquitted.-Biography:...
, 62. Judge Melville had temporarily exempted Jackson from having to stay in the U.S. until January 6, 2004, so that he could make a possible trip to Britain. Jackson, however, did not use this 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 kilogram
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
s (120 lb), a notably low weight for a 1.8 metre (5 ft11 in) middle-aged man. 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 unknown to Jackson, the private jet that was chartered to take him and his attorney from Vegas to California was secretly wired with recording devices. A third party took recordings on this trip and attempted to sell them to major television and radio networks for a 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 lawsuit demanding $500,000,000 was 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 Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
reported that the tape shows Jackson calm and relaxed on the plane. Jackson's legal team (at that point) were awarded $18 million in damages in 2008. The company went bankrupt.
Jackson complains against the police
During a 60 Minutes60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
interview with Ed Bradley
Ed Bradley
Edward Rudolph "Ed" Bradley, Jr. was an American journalist, best known for twenty-six years of award-winning work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes...
, Jackson claimed that he was manhandled by police during his booking. Among other things, he claimed that his shoulder was 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 said was a result of tight handcuffs.
The Santa Barbara County sheriff released video tape showing Jackson's arrest. 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 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 that what is being shown is only a biased view of what occurred. California State Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Bill Lockyer
Bill Lockyer
William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer is an American politician. He is the current 32nd State Treasurer of California, elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He has also served as California Attorney General and President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate...
ordered an independent investigation into Jackson's complaints. After interviewing 163 witnesses, the complaints were rejected in August 2004.
Charging
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 felonyFelony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
complaint
Complaint
In legal terminology, a complaint is a formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons that the filing party or parties In legal terminology, a complaint is a formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties In...
stated that Jackson had, on seven occasions, "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 had 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 sleepover
Sleepover
A sleepover, also known as a pajama party or a slumber party, is a party most commonly held by children or teenagers, where a guest or guests are invited to stay overnight at the home of a friend, sometimes to celebrate birthdays or other special events...
s 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.
At the prosecution's request the judge issued a gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
which forbade the following parties to talk to the news media; the defendant
Defendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
, the prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
, defense counsel
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, any attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
working in their offices, their agents, staff, experts, any judicial officer or court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
employee, any law enforcement employee and any agency involved in the case and any persons subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
ed or expected to testify
Testimony
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...
. The purpose was that people among whom a jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
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.
Arraignment
Jackson was arraignArraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
ed on January 16, 2004, at the court in Santa Maria
Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria is a city in Santa Barbara County, on the Central Coast of California. The 2010 census population was 100,062, putting it ahead of Santa Barbara for the first time and making it the largest city in the county...
. He was admonished by the judge for turning up 20 minutes late. Jackson was represented by attorneys Mark Geragos, Ben Brafman, Steve Cochran and Robert Sanger. Jackson entered a plea
Plea
In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a criminal defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response to a criminal charge, whether that...
of "Not Guilty." Judge Melville turned down a media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
request for publication of 82 pages of documents and related tape recordings on the grounds of violation of the parties' privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
rights and complicating the process of selecting an unbiased
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
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.
Court sessions
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 were expected. The judge said he wanted the trialTrial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
to begin before the end of 2004. Both sides agreed that was possible. Jackson was not present. 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. On April 5, 2005, Jackson posted a $3,000,000 bail bond from Plotkin Bail Bonds of Norwalk, California
Norwalk, California
Norwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 census, up from 103,298 at the 2000 census, making it the 58th most populous city in California and the 255th nationally....
, paying a bond fee of $300,000.
Grand jury proceedings and indictment
Grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
proceedings (without defense counsel and without a judge present) in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, starting in March 2004, led to Jackson's indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
on April 21, 2004. The grand jury was composed of nineteen jurors; the indictment required the votes of at least twelve jurors. Prosecution witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
es testified without defense cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
. 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 snuck into the building where the grand jury was meeting, sometimes covered in blankets to hide their identities. In February 2005 The Smoking Gun
The Smoking Gun
The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources...
published the Grand Jury transcripts (1903 pages).
On April 25, 2004, Mark Geragos and Ben Brafman were replaced as Jackson's lead counsel, one-time Robert Blake defense attorneys Thomas Mesereau
Thomas Mesereau
Thomas Arthur Mesereau, Jr. is an American attorney best known for defending Michael Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial.-The Robert Blake murder trial:...
and Susan Yu. Steve Cochran and Robert Sanger continued to represent Mr. Jackson, although Cochran left the team prior to trial (See transcripts for case no. 1133603). The second arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
was held on April 30, 2004. Brian Oxman was brought onto the team by Mesereau. The new charges, to which Jackson plead "not guilty", were similar to the earlier ones, allegedly "on or about and between" February 20 and March 12, 2003, but with the addition of conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
involving child abduction, false imprisonment
False imprisonment
False imprisonment is a restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. False imprisonment is a common-law felony and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention...
and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
. 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 this to occur.
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 were friends since Tyson was a small boy. Tyson's father was the concierge at a New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
hotel where Jackson stayed. After the 1993 allegations, Tyson and his younger brother were seen traveling with Jackson. - Vince Amen (also called Vinnie "Black"), 24, who worked for Jackson's production company and allegedly held the family at Neverland against their will – was 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 attacks. His house was searched by the police in 2004.
- Dieter Wiesner
- Ronald Konitzer
The trial
The jury selection for the trial started on January 31, 2005, and the trial ended on June 13, 2005, when the jury returned a unanimous Not Guilty verdict on all fourteen charges. Of the twelve jurors, eight were women and four were men. There were eight alternate jurors, consisting of four men and four women. Ron Zonen conducted jury selection for the prosecution; Tom Mesereau for the defense. Tom Sneddon gave the opening statement for the prosecution; Tom Mesereau for the defense. Ron Zonen gave the closing argument for the prosecution; Tom Mesereau for the defense. Tom Sneddon, Ron Zonen, Mag Nicola and Gordon Auchinloss examined witnesses for the prosecution; Tom Mesereau and Robert Sanger for the defense. Brian Oxman was eventually removed from the defense team in the middle of the trial by Mesereau and Yu. Outside the courtroom, there were 2,200 reporters covering the trial, more than the O.J Simpson and Scott Peterson trials combined. Because no television cameras were allowed inside the courtroom, E!E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
and British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
broadcast a re-enactment of the trial.
The first witness the prosecution called was Martin Bashir, who unsuccessfully fought his subpoena and brought an attorney with him from ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. His direct testimony was short; he gave some career background and testified that he had produced the show Living With Michael Jackson, which was then played in its entirety for the courtroom. In cross examination, Bashir's attorney objected to most of the questions, citing the California Constitution's journalist shield law and the First Amendment privilege for journalists, which he believed exempted Bashir from questions relating to unpublished footage of his documentary, or information about how it was prepared and produced. Judge Melville decided that he would overrule the objections, giving Bashir the choice to answer or follow his lawyer's advice, and Melville would review the testimony later to decide about charging Bashir with contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
. Bashir refused to answer any of the questions his attorney objected to, which were mostly about what the defense suggested were examples of him deceiving and manipulating Jackson.
On the morning of March 10, 2005, Jackson was hospitalized due to a back injury. The judge threatened to issue an arrest warrant and forfeiture of the bail, if Jackson did not show up within an hour. Jackson was rushed to the courthouse still wearing pajama pants and slippers. This incident was heavily covered in the media, with Bill Fallon even suggesting Jackson's attire indicated his guilt, calling Jackson "a nut," "mentally ill," and saying, "if anybody has any question about Michael Jackson being able to commit this crime...this proves he doesn't listen to anybody."
The alleged first sexual act was Jackson masturbating Gavin on Jackson's bed. Jackson allegedly initiated the molestation by urging the accuser to masturbate, telling him that boys who didn't "might rape a girl." However, in a police interview before the trial, Gavin was asked what he knew about masturbation and he said, “My grandma explained it to me. She told me that...if men don’t do it...they might go ahead and rape a woman”. When asked about this coincidence, the accuser maintained that both his grandmother and Jackson had happened to tell him the same thing, but with different motives. The accuser testified that during that first sexual incident, he was wearing pajamas given to him by Jackson, and that the two of them "were under the covers." Jackson allegedly manipulated the accuser's genitals for about five minutes, causing the accuser to ejaculate
Ejaculation
Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the male reproductory tract, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. It is usually the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential component of natural conception. In rare cases ejaculation occurs because of prostatic disease...
(count 2). Afterwards, the accuser said, Jackson told him "it was okay" and they "just went to sleep." The next night, Gavin testified, "the same thing happened again" (count 3), in Jackson's bed, both of them wearing Jackson's pajamas, but now they were on top of the covers, and maybe "watching T.V. or something." This time, Jackson allegedly also tried to guide the accuser's hand to Jackson's genitals, but the accuser pulled away (count 6). Gavin couldn't remember for sure if he ejaculated the second time but he thought he did. In an early interview with Sneddon, the accuser claimed he had been molested before the rebuttal video, but in court he testified that all the molestation was after the video was filmed. The number of times he claimed to have been molested is also unclear, as he only testified in court to two incidents, but he had previously told Sergeant Steve Robel that he thought it was "between five and seven times."
The accuser's 14-year-old brother Star testified that he'd walked into Jackson's bedroom and seen Jackson masturbating himself and the sleeping accuser. He testified that he'd meant to go to sleep in Jackson's room, had found the door "kind of locked, so [he] pushed it, and it opened" and walked some ways into the room and stopped when he saw what Gavin and Michael were doing. He testified they were on the bed "outside of the covers," Jackson was on his back with his eyes closed and Gavin was "curled up" facing away from Jackson and was "kind of snoring." Star couldn't remember what his brother had been wearing but said it might have been "pants or underwears," and that Jackson was wearing "socks, underwears and an undershirt," but later said Jackson's "hand was in his pants." He variously used the words "pants" and "underwears" for both Gavin and Jackson to describe what they were wearing. One aspect that made his testimony weak was that Star, the only witness to the alleged molestation, claimed he twice walked in on Jackson molesting Gavin and was completely unnoticed, even while tripping the alarm system in the hallway leading to Jackson's bedroom. There was an alarm or bell noise that sounded whenever someone approached, and Star claimed that on both occasions the alarm went off and Jackson just did not hear it, or see or hear the boy come and go. Star said he stood watching for about four seconds before he "just went back to the guest units." Star testified that two days later he had an almost identical experience. He allegedly walked into Jackson's bedroom and saw that "the same thing was happening," with Jackson "masturbating, stroking up and down" and his other hand moving around in Star's sleeping "brother's underwears." This time Star only stayed for three seconds before returning to the guest units. Star's account of the sexual act on the second occasion neither matched the description he gave during an interview with the psychologist Stanley Katz nor his statement given in police interviews in 2003. Star Arvizo said in an interview with the psychologist Stanley Katz on May 29, 2003, that he witnessed Jackson placing his hand on Gavin's crotch outside his clothes. On July 7, 2003, during his first interview with sheriff's investigators, Star's story changed. He claimed during the first alleged incident Jackson placed his left hand under the front of his brother's pajama pants. Star Arvizo changed his account a third time in a police interview on August 13, 2003, when he claimed Jackson had placed his hand inside the front of his brother's boxer shorts. Dr. Katz' grand jury testimony about what Star had told him included a story about Jackson "rubbing his penis against Gavin’s buttocks" and another about smelling marijuana. In court, Star denied that he'd made the allegations and refused Mesereau's offer to "refresh [his] recollection [by showing Star] that page of [Katz'] testimony."
The accuser and his brother both testified that on one brief occasion, they saw Jackson naked, but the boys described the incident differently. According to Star, the brothers were watching a movie on Jackson's bed and Jackson came in to fetch "something." Star testified that Jackson "had a hard-on," and that he told the boys, who were "grossed out," that nudity was natural. Star said Jackson stayed for two minutes and sat on the bed, but neither brother spoke a word during that time. According to Gavin, the boys were "just laying there" when Jackson "ran up there and got something and went back downstairs," without saying anything. Gavin did not describe Jackson as having an erection.
The accuser's mother, Janet Arvizo, testified that on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles, she "saw Michael licking Gavin’s head" while he was asleep. Before she testified about it, she turned to the jury and said, "please don't judge me." Jackson allegedly had an arm around the boy and licked his hair "over and over" while everyone else on the plane was asleep. Janet said she didn't tell any one what she'd seen, and she continued to let her children stay at Neverland, and she later testified that at a point weeks after that incident, she still didn't have "any concerns about Mr. Jackson at all". Star contradicted his mother when he testified that he had been awake to also witness Jackson lick Gavin's head on the plane; he didn't say anyone was asleep, just that the accuser was not feeling well and had leaned against Jackson's chest. Cynthia Bell, a flight attendant on that flight, testified that she'd been awake and could see everyone, and that she saw no inappropriate touching.
Many witnesses testified that the Arvizo children were poorly behaved and demanding. Jackson staff members gave evidence that they broke into Mr. Jackson's wine cellar, and had been caught in Jackson's bedroom on their own and going through his things. The housekeeper Kiki Fournier testified that the guest quarters that were assigned to the boys were trashed by them and at one point the accuser's brother pointed a knife at her in Jackson's kitchen. Cynthia Bell, a flight attendant on a plane carrying the Arvizo children, Jackson and others, testified that Gavin was "very rude" and "obnoxious" during the flight, started a food fight, and bragged to her that Jackson would buy him anything.
Witness George Lopez
George Lopez
George Lopez is an American comedian, actor, and talk show host. He is mostly known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including the Mexican American culture...
, who has been a friend of the accuser's family, gave the family money, but had a falling out when the father kept asking for more. Lopez also described an incident when the Arvizos allegedly tried to con
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
Lopez by framing him for stealing $300 from Gavin's wallet. This allegation was used to illustrate a pattern of family behavior. However, the accuser's sister, Davellin, testified that these problems were all caused by her father, before the divorce. Other popular comedians testified about their run-ins with the Arvizos. Chris Tucker
Chris Tucker
Christopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:...
claimed he had felt sorry for them and had taken them out, bought them things, and given them money. He felt the Arvizos expected too much, calling him their "brother" and taking advantage of him. He testified that he had warned Michael Jackson about the family, who he called "cunning." Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
testified that Gavin Arvizo called him and praised him lavishly with a woman directing him in the background. He was suspicious and ordered his staff not to let any more of these calls through.
On the first day of her testimony, the accuser's mother, Janet Arvizo, took the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
regarding welfare fraud
Welfare fraud
Welfare fraud refers to various intentional misuses of state welfare systems by withholding information or giving false or inaccurate information. This may be done in small, uncoordinated efforts, or in larger, organized criminal rings...
and perjury allegations. Melville ruled that she could testify without being questioned about the fraud and perjury allegations. The defense would later have the opportunity to present other evidence for the welfare fraud. She admitted that she had lied under oath in the J.C. Penney case, and other witnesses testified that Janet had lied about the alleged sexual assault by J.C. Penney employees, and that she had coached her children to corroborate her story.
After leaving Neverland, the accuser told his school administrator that Jackson had not molested him. During the trial, he claimed that this was a lie as he was teased after Living with Michael Jackson aired and reasoned that he didn't want them to think anything really happened. The timeline is unclear, because the alleged molestation did not occur until after the documentary aired. The accuser testified that he always happy at Neverland, and that only as he was leaving did he realize he didn't want to be there anymore.
Conspiracy and False Imprisonment
Count 1 of the charges was ConspiracyConspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit child abuduction, false imprisonment
False imprisonment
False imprisonment is a restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. False imprisonment is a common-law felony and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention...
, and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
. Janet Arvizo claimed she and her family had been held captive at Neverland as well as at a couple of hotels when traveling with Jackson. She expressed her mistrust of "the Germans," Deiter Weisner and Ron Konitzer. She testified that they pretended to want to protect her, telling her the rebuttal video "would appease the killers," but that "Michael, Ronald, Dieter...Frank, and Vinnie...ended up being the killers." At one point, Janet testified that she'd known what questions she'd be asked in the rebuttal video, that Frank "went over" them with her on the phone beforehand and told her to praise Michael. On another day of her testimony, she claimed "the Germans" had scripted every word of the video, even the hand-holding, laughing, and the outtakes when they appear to think the camera isn't on, and the Germans had "worked with [them] daily, numerous times" to learn it all. 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. Other staff testified that the idea that the family were prisoners of Neverland was ludicrous, that there was no fence surrounding the property and that the guards did not carry weapons. During their alleged captivity, the Arvizos took shopping trips into town, billing $3,312.05 worth of purchases to Michael Jackson. They also met with their lawyer and visited a Federal building during this time, and made phone calls to various people, though never the police. Janet testified that she was dropping hints "in code" about her kidnapping during the calls, and explained that she never openly asked anyone for help because of the death threats Jackson's co-conspirators allegedly made towards her parents. Janet and Star claimed Jackson was preventing them from knowing the time or date. When Mesereau pointed out that there were clocks visible "almost everywhere" in Neverland, including a giant "flower clock" on a prominent hill, Star admitted that he was surrounded by clocks but claimed that they had the wrong times. Janet's claims included that she was restricted to "one meal per day," and that Jackson's associates had threatened to make her children "disappear" via hot-air balloon. The Arvizos "escaped" Neverland three times (in Rolls-Royces
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
and limos
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
) but were "convinced" to return each time. When the prosecution presented a complicated chart of phone calls between Jackson's "unindicted co-conspirators" trying to show that they were scheming about the Arvizos' captivity, they accidentally proved that Jackson was not even at Neverland for several of the days of the 2 1/2 week time-frame given for the alleged molestation, and may have been in Miami the day the molestation and conspiracy were alleged to have started.
Pornography
The prosecution alleged that Jackson had showed pornographyPornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
to children at Neverland, including the accuser and his brother. The raids on Neverland produced an accumulation of twelve years' worth of heterosexual adult magazines
Pornographic magazine
Pornographic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines, sex magazines or top-shelf magazines are pornographic magazines that contain content of a sexual nature. Adult magazines are mainly aimed towards men, and in some parts of the world, many men's first sight of a naked woman has been in an...
such as Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, Penthouse and Hustler
Hustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...
. The prosecution alleged these were used for grooming
Child grooming
Child grooming refers to actions deliberately undertaken with the aim of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child, in order to lower the child's inhibitions in preparation for sexual activity with the child, or exploitation .Child grooming may be used to lure minors into...
young victims. Brett Barnes and Wade Robson
Wade Robson
Wade Jeremy William Robson is an Australian dance prodigy, director, producer, songwriter, and award-winning choreographer. He began performing as a dancer at the age of five. He has directed music videos and world tours for numerous music artists such as 'N Sync and Britney Spears...
, two men who have been friends with Jackson since childhood, testified that they had not been "aware that [Jackson] possessed sexually explicit material" until the trial. There were also a few books seized (from a library of thousands) that the prosecution suggested were evidence of homosexuality and/or pedophilia. Boys Will Be Boys included pictures of boys, many naked, in various non-sexual activities such as climbing a tree or sitting on a bench. The book had an inscription reading, "To Michael: From your fan. Love XXXOOO Rhonda – 1983, Chicago." Wade Robson testified he considered Boys Will Be Boys "not a pornographic book," and said he would not be concerned about its owner being in the same bed as a 12-year-old. Another book, The Boy: A Photographic Essay was inscribed, "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. MJ." The pictures were taken during the filming of the 1963 Lord of the Flies movie
Lord of the Flies (1963 film)
Lord of the Flies is a 1963 film adaptation of William Golding's novel of the same name. It was directed by Peter Brook and produced by Lewis M. Allen, known since for producing films based on modern-classic novels. The film was in production for much of 1961 though the film was not released until...
and showed the boys on the set, usually clothed but sometimes nude, playing in the sand, reading comic books, and having pillow fights. The only book depicting sex acts was a rare out-of-print book called A Sexual Study of Man which featured many images of adult men engaged in all kinds of homosexual intercourse. Robson said he would be concerned if the book's owner were to share his bed with a boy, but amended that he would not mind if he considered the total picture of all the material in question. Robson testified that he believed Jackson had a "sexual interest in women," and that he had never seen "anything that suggested pedophilia" at Neverland. Jackson's multiple residences were searched multiple times by multiple agencies over a period of decades, without any child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
ever being found. The FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
analyzed sixteen computers and found "nothing notable" according to their files.
Gavin and Star Arvizo testified that Jackson had introduced them to pornography. Star described a time when he, his brother, Frank Tyson and Michael Jackson had looked at "pornography sites" on Gavin's computer. The alleged pictures were of naked women and Jackson allegedly whispered to his sleeping son, "you're missing some pussy," before they all watched The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
and went to sleep. Star also testified to twice looking through adult magazines with Gavin, Jackson, and Aldo Cascio. He identified a picture of a particular Barely Legal
Barely Legal (magazine)
Barely Legal is the name of an adult magazine targeted primarily at heterosexual men.-Overview:The magazine features explicit photos of naked young women, all of whom are at least 18 years old. The models are selected and photographed to emphasize their youth...
magazine that he said Jackson showed the boys, until Mesereau pointed out that the magazine had not been published until August 2003, five months after the Arvizos had left Neverland. Fingerprints of Gavin and Michael were found on a particular magazine, but it was only analyzed for fingerprints after the 2004 grand jury proceeding when Gavin handled the magazine without gloves.
Alcohol
The charges included four counts of administering alcohol to a minor, which the jury could either find was done with intent to molest (a felony chargeFelony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
), or without (a misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
). All three Arvizo children testified that Michael Jackson had served them alcohol. Gavin testified that the first time he ever drank alcohol was in the wine cellar with Jackson, where he allegedly swallowed a quantity of vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
thinking it was water. He testified that after the Miami trip, he was drinking (wine, vodka, rum, bourbon) every night that Jackson was home. However, in an early police interview, he said he "didn't drink a lot" at Neverland. The prosecution's "grooming" theory held that Jackson used alcohol to lower Gavin's inhibitions in order to molest him, and the accuser testified that the first time he was molested, he and Jackson had just come "back from drinking in the arcade." He also described a time when he was undergoing urine tests
Urinalysis
A urinalysis , also known as Routine and Microscopy , is an array of tests performed on urine, and one of the most common methods of medical diagnosis...
related to his cancer treatment, and he worried alcohol would be detected, but was allegedly pressured by Jackson to drink anyway and not take the test. Star's first time drinking alcohol, he claimed, was on the flight back from Miami. Jackson allegedly handed him a Diet Coke
Diet Coke
Diet Coke is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first introduced in the United States on August 9, 1982, as the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark...
can filled with wine. Star testified he did not know what the drink was when he tasted it, and that it reminded him of the smell of rubbing alcohol
Rubbing alcohol
Rubbing alcohol, USP / B.P. is a liquid prepared and used primarily for topical application. It is prepared from a special denatured alcohol solution and contains 97.5-100% by volume of pure, concentrated ethanol or isopropyl alcohol...
(a comparison Gavin also made) but it seems unlikely Star would not have recognized the taste of wine, because, as his brother said, they drank wine in church. Star said Gavin and Michael were sharing the soda can and acting "really weird." However, Cynthia Bell, a flight attendant who had served Jackson on the Miami flight and others, testified that she never saw him share his drink with Gavin or anyone else. She testified that she had come up with the tradition of serving Jackson wine in Diet Coke cans during flights, because "Michael Jackson is a very private drinker" who didn't want the children to see him with alcohol.
1108 Evidence or Prior Bad Acts
The prosecution, to show a pattern of behavior, claimed they would present evidence that Jackson had molested five boys in the past. Three of the people they named, Macaulay CulkinMacaulay Culkin
Macaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
, Brett Barnes, and Wade Robson
Wade Robson
Wade Jeremy William Robson is an Australian dance prodigy, director, producer, songwriter, and award-winning choreographer. He began performing as a dancer at the age of five. He has directed music videos and world tours for numerous music artists such as 'N Sync and Britney Spears...
, all testified that they were long-time family friends of Jackson and had slept in his bed, but that Jackson never molested them or did anything sexual with them. Culkin said he'd "never seen him do anything improper with anybody" and called the allegations "absolutely ridiculous" and Barnes said they made him "very mad." All three men described the time they spent in Jackson's 2-story bedroom as childish fun, with video games, movies, and many people sleeping in the room at one time. Culkin added that he'd "never seen [Jackson] do anything improper with anybody" and that he was shocked the prosecution would put on witnesses who said Jackson molested him without even asking Culkin if it was true. Those witnesses, who had testified that they'd seen Jackson molest these young men were Ralph Chacon, Kassim Abdool and Adrian McManus, three ex-employees at Neverland Ranch. These three people had credibility issues, because they were part of a group of five ex-employees who sued Michael Jackson for wrongful termination in 1995. Jackson counterclaimed
Counterclaim
In civil procedure, a party's claim is a counterclaim if the defending party has previously made a claim against the claiming party.Examples of counterclaims include:...
that they had stolen property and sold some of it to tabloids, Jackson won and was awarded $60,000 in damages; the ex-employees were fined for lying in court and were ordered to pay $1.4 million for Jackson's legal fees.
Jason Francia, the son of a former Neverland maid, was the only alleged prior victim to testify. Francia described three times he had been playing with Jackson, they were tickling
Tickling
Tickling is the act of touching a part of the body so as to cause involuntary twitching movements and/or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English tikelen, perhaps frequentative of ticken, to touch lightly. The idiom tickled pink means to be pleased or delighted.In 1897, psychologists G...
each other, and Jackson ended up tickling Francia's "little private region" outside of his clothes, for a few minutes at a time, with Francia laughing all the while. Francia testified that the third time, Jackson had reached up the leg of Francia's shorts and touched his testicles. Francia claimed he needed five years of therapy because of the ordeal. He received settlement money from Jackson, and testified that he thought he deserved even more money from him. Francia also admitted that he and his mother had sold stories of his alleged inappropriate tickling to the tabloids
Tabloid journalism
Tabloid journalism tends to emphasize topics such as sensational crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and junk food news...
. When Jason Francia originally talked to the police after the 1993 allegations, he told them he had never been touched inappropriately. He made that claim only after extensive police questioning in which they repeatedly called Jackson a "molester" and told Jason that Macauley Culkin was being molested right then and Jason could put a stop to it if he confessed. Francia also testified that Jackson gave him money after each tickling incident, which is similar to something Francia said in his original police interview, that Jackson would give him money each time he finished reading a book or got an 'A'.
The final alleged victim was Jordan Chandler, who received a settlement from Jackson in the 1993 case
1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson
In 1993, Evan Chandler accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing his thirteen-year-old son, Jordan. The relationship between Jackson and Jordan began in May 1992. Evan initially welcomed and encouraged the friendship, and bragged about his connection to a celebrity. The friendship became well...
. Ralph Chacon, who had declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
because of what he owed Jackson, testified that he had watched through a window as Jackson performed oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on Chandler in the showers of a rec room. Chacon never reported this to the police, even when less than a year later, they investigated allegations of Jackson abusing Chandler. Adrian McManus testified that she'd seen Chandler and Jackson kiss on the mouth and Jackson put his hand on the boy's crotch. During the 1993 investigation, McManus told the police, under oath, that she had never seen any molestation and that she trusted Jackson with her own son. Jordan Chandler, who was 25 by the trial, chose to leave the country rather than testify, and the only person in his family who showed up was his mother, June. She denied ever having seen any molestation, but talked about Jordan and Michael sleeping in the same room on numerous occasions, including that she initially didn't want them to, but was persuaded by Jackson, who allegedly cried and was hurt that she didn't trust him. She testified about Jackson buying all kinds of gifts for the family, the trips they'd been on together, and how fun it was to be part of Jackson's world. She said she'd been concerned that her son was starting to dress like Jackson and wanting to spend all his time with him. When asked about the lawsuits that ended up coming from her family's involvement with Michael Jackson, June Chandler made the distinction that (even though she was listed as a plaintiff and received settlement money) it was not she who sued Jackson, but Jordan and his father Evan. She claimed not to recall that Jackson had counter-sued for extortion, or that her second husband Dave Schwartz had sued Jackson, or that Evan Chandler had sued Jackson a second time. Thomas Mesereau said in a Harvard lecture later that year, "the prosecutors tried to get [Jordan] to show up and he wouldn't. If he had, I had witnesses who were going to come in and say he told them it never happened and that he would never talk to his parents again for what they made him say. It turned out he'd gone into court and got legal emancipation from his parents." June Chandler testified that she had not spoken to her son Jordan in 11 years, since 1994.
Jackson's finances
The prosecution sought to have Jackson's financial records exposed in the trial. They claimed that Jackson was 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 was 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 public relations damage of the Bashir documentary, and thus control the resulting financial damage. Based on motions filed by Sanger, 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. Despite these allegations, according to Forbes, Jackson was still making as much as $75 million a year from his publishing partnership with Sony.Prosecution witnesses' credibility
There is a question not only of the credibility of the main accuser, his mother and entire family, but also of the many witnesses called to testify in the trial. Prosecution witness Chris Carter, who had been Jackson's bodyguardBodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
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 RadioShack
RadioShack
RadioShack Corporation is an American franchise of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe, South America and Africa. As of 2008, RadioShack reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.81 billion. The headquarters of RadioShack is located in Downtown...
in October 2003, Subway sandwich shop
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
in August 2004, a KB Toys
KB Toys
K·B Toys was a chain of mall-based retail toy stores in the United States. It was founded in 1922 by the Kaufman brothers. K·B operated 605 stores in 44 U.S. states, Puerto Rico as well as Guam. It was privately held in Pittsfield, Massachusetts...
store in January 2005, and a Jack in the Box restaurant in February 2005. He refused to testify. Adrian McManus, a former maid in Neverland, one of the "Neverland Five" who lost their suit against Jackson, was convicted of stealing a sketch of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
made by Jackson and selling it to a tabloid for $30,000. Philippe Lamarque, a potential witness who ultimately did not testify, was the host of a porn site called Virtual Sin. Tapes of a conversation he had with Paul Baressi showed that for $100,000, Lamarque would say he saw Jackson touch Macaulay Culkin's crotch outside of his shorts, but for $500,000, the hand would go inside the shorts. Matt Taibbi wrote for Rolling Stone:
"the trial featured perhaps the most compromised collection of prosecution witnesses ever assembled in an American criminal case...the chief drama of the trial quickly turned into a race to see if the DA could manage to put all of his witnesses on the stand without getting any of them removed from the courthouse in manacles."
Allegations of media bias against Jackson
Charles Thomson wrote a piece called for The Huffington PostThe Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
called One of the Most Shameful Episodes In Journalistic History, in which he detailed the story, as he saw it, of why "the trial that was relayed to us didn't even resemble the trial that was going on inside the courtroom." During the trial, Matt Drudge
Matt Drudge
Matthew Nathan Drudge is the American creator and editor of the Drudge Report, a news aggregation website. Drudge is self-described as being conservative and populist. Drudge has also authored a book and hosted a radio show and a television show.-Early years:Matthew Drudge was raised in Takoma...
accused the media of largely ignoring testimony and evidence that exonerated Jackson and said, "Out here...Michael Jackson is being literally crucified...I think if you did a pulse poll, of people listening to these local talk shows, they would say 95% that Michael Jackson did all this...because it’s based on the coverage." Crime reporter Aphrodite Jones
Aphrodite Jones
Aphrodite Jones is an American reporter, author, and cable TV host of the series, True Crime with Aphrodite Jones, which airs on Investigation Discovery...
wrote about what she saw as extreme media spin in her 2007 book Michael Jackson Conspiracy, which she self-published because, she said, all of the publishers she talked to were unwilling to touch a pro-Jackson book.
Court dates
2005:- January 31 – Jury selection begins.
- February 24 – Jurors and alternates seated.
- February 28, March 1 – Opening statements begin.
- March 1 – Prosecution testimony begins.
- May 4 – Prosecution rests.
- May 5 – Defense testimony begins.
- May 25 – Defense rests/prosecution rebuttal begins.
- May 27 – Prosecution rebuttal ends/defense offers no rebuttal.
- June 1 – Jury gets instructions.
- June 2, June 3 – Closing arguments.
- June 13 – Verdict delivered.
As of April 15, 2005, all weekdays from February 28, 2005 were court days, except:
- March 31– César ChávezCésar ChávezCésar Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
Day (holiday) - April 6 – funeral of Johnnie CochranJohnnie CochranJohnnie L. Cochran, Jr. was an American lawyer best known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal of O. J...
- May 30 – Memorial DayMemorial DayMemorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
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 Jackson was hospitalized with flu like symptoms.
- March 21 – Court was delayed for 45 minutes, after 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 Jackson's bail.
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 Jackson was not guilty on all 10 felony and 4 misdemeanor charges.See also
- 1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael JacksonIn 1993, Evan Chandler accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing his thirteen-year-old son, Jordan. The relationship between Jackson and Jordan began in May 1992. Evan initially welcomed and encouraged the friendship, and bragged about his connection to a celebrity. The friendship became well...
- Media circusMedia circusMedia circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event where the media coverage is perceived to be out of proportion to the event being covered, such as the number of reporters at the scene, the amount of news media published or broadcast, and the level of media hype...
Books
- Newberg, Debra. "Reflections and Corrections on Michael Jackson - America in the Mirror", 2010. 9780615320793, published by Newberg and Personal Promotions.
- Jones, Aphrodite. Michael Jackson Conspiracy, iUniverse, 2007. 9780979549809, a vanity press book self-published by Jones and Mesereau.
External links
- "Jackson Not Guilty", article by CNN reporting the verdict on June 13, 2005.
- Mary Fischer GQ Article: "Was Michael Jackson framed?"
- Testimony of 12 y. o. J. Chandler (The Smoking Gun Magazine)
- E! Online: The Michael Jackson File – From Superstar to Suspect, Complete Coverage of Trouble in Neverland
- Court TV Special Report: Michael Jackson Accused
- Michael Jackson Trial Watch
News
- Michael Jackson Trial Watch
- E! Online: The Michael Jackson File – From Superstar to Suspect, Complete Coverage of Trouble in Neverland
- News Briefs: Fans rejoice Michael Jackson acquittal
Police and courts
- Opening statements of the trial, by prosecution and defense, including the indictment: Opening Statements, Transcript
- applicable sections of California Penal Code:
- count 1, overt acts 1–28: 182(a)(1) – conspiracy, involving unlawful controlling, withholding, concealingSecrecySecrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals...
, enticingSeductionIn social science, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person to engage. The word seduction stems from Latin and means literally "to lead astray". As a result, the term may have a positive or negative connotation...
, and threateningCoercionCoercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
the accuser, his mother, his sister, and his brother, to commit: - count 2–6: 288(a) – lewd act upon a child: four times plus one attempt (664): two times (counts 2 and 3) reported by the accuser, two times (counts 4 and 5) witnessed by his brother, while the accuser slept, and an attempt to have the accuser perform a non-penetrative sexual act on Jackson (count 6). 288(a) should not be confused with 288a.
- counts 7–10: 222 – administering alcohol to enable and assist oneself to do this (four times); in June 2005 Melville ruled that alternatively the jury can consider the lesser charge of just supplying alcohol to the accuser.
- count 1, overt acts 1–28: 182(a)(1) – conspiracy, involving unlawful controlling, withholding, concealing
- applicable sections of California Penal Code:
- Evidence Code 1108 – allowing in a sexual offense trial, evidence that the defendant has committed another sexual offense, as evidence of a person's character or a trait of his or her character
- Santa Barbara Sheriff Press Releases on the case
- Felony complaint, Dec 2003
- Tom Sneddon vendetta theory: Archive of a site investigating evidence against Santa Barbara DA T. Sneddon, alleging malicious prosecution
- DCFS memo