The Michael Jackson Trial

[Shawn]

What? Independent confirmation? It's a conspiracy of the highest order!!!

;) Sorry

[DudeAsInCool]

What? Independent confirmation? It's a conspiracy of the highest order!!!

Which side do you see conspiring?

[Shawn]

I was refering to some of your recent comments on this case. We clearly disagree as to the likelihood of moral guilt.

[DudeAsInCool]

I was refering to some of your recent comments on this case. We clearly disagree as to the likelihood of moral guilt.

I think they are all guilty as hell. Yeah, the kid was underage, but he went in to use Jackson...

[Shawn]

And I feel a lot of the kid's behavior is the classic 'acting out' of a male victim. I also don't believe a child can take advantage of a 45 year old man, regardless of that guy's image.

[DudeAsInCool]

And I feel a lot of the kid's behavior is the classic 'acting out' of a male victim. I also don't believe a child can take advantage of a 45 year old man, regardless of that guy's image.

You dont think kids can manipulate adults????

[Shawn]

Not in the serious ways. :wha':

[DudeAsInCool]

Not in the serious ways. :wha':

I do, though the adult has to be weak-minded or irresponsible. In this case, I feel that Michael Jackson, despite his age, is psychologically a minor. But even if he is guilty, and it looks that way, I think entrapment was involved, with the kid's mom pulling the strings. I also think the kid is a little bit beyond his years in some ways... I also think that the prosecutors are looking for publicity - I dont think they really care about the kids well-being. If the case was simply about the kid's well-being, I would think like you. But these are just my opinions. I suspect he will be acquitted, but who knows..

[Shawn]

I guess I shouldn't beat it to death either. It's just that like you, I see him getting aquitted. That doesn't mean moral innocence though, just that legal guilt was unproved.

I look at the business deals the guy has done [think of the Beatles catalogue war vs. McCartney] and doubt the crafted image of the man-child.

[DudeAsInCool]

I look at the business deals the guy has done [think of the Beatles catalogue war vs. McCartney] and doubt the crafted image of the man-child.

There is no question that he is a genus at business and promotion. I know people who have met him - they said he is whiney and needy and obnoxious - its giveme, giveme, giveme..

[DudeAsInCool]

Jackson Judge Allows Accuser Testimony

Fri Mar 18, 9:18 PM ET

 Entertainment - AP Music

By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The judge in Michael Jackson (news)'s child molestation trial agreed on Friday to allow testimony that the boy accusing the singer of molestation once claimed comedian George Lopez stole money from his wallet.

Read more here:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...michael_jackson

[Redneck4sure]

The prosecutions case is sooooo screwed.

[KiwiCoromandel]

Restraining order for Jackson stalker

Mar 18, 2005

Pop singer Janet Jackson has won a restraining order against a man she says has been stalking her for nine years and who turned up at a television studio with a knife and a box-cutter.

A Santa Monica Superior Court judge ordered Robert Gardner, 46, of New York, to stay at least 100 yards away from Jackson, her family and associates for three years.

Jackson did not attend the hearing but said in court documents that Gardner had fabricated a "personal history" with her, and had been following her and attempting to arrange meetings for nine years.

She stated he was stopped by security at the New York studio taping of her March 2004 "Saturday Night Live" appearance armed with a box-cutter, a large pair of scissors and a knife.

The appearance came shortly after the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" in which Jackson's breast was exposed to millions of TV viewers during the Super Bowl halftime show.

"I do not want to be considered a stalker," Gardner told the judge on Thursday. "I'm one of her fans."

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Michael Jackson Arrives Late to Court (AGAIN)

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - An ill-looking and sometimes trembling Michael Jackson arrived late to his child molestation trial again Monday, walking hesitantly into court along with a doctor in surgical scrubs, but after a 45-minute delay the judge ordered testimony to resume with no explanation to the jury.

Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville took no apparent action against the singer, who he had threatened with arrest and revocation of bail when he failed to show up on time on March 10 after an early morning trip to a hospital for treatment of what his lawyers said was a back injury.

On Monday, Jackson, 46, took tiny, hesitant steps entering the courtroom and appeared to be in great pain.

Read entire story here.

Buy an alarm clock dude. :rolleyes:

[DudeAsInCool]

Buy an alarm clock dude. :rolleyes:

i read about his non-chalant late entry--i was waiting for some more titilating (no offense, Janet) action

[DudeAsInCool]

Jackson Trial Shifts to Focus on Charge of Conspiracy

By JOHN M. BRODER

Published: March 23, 2005

SANTA MARIA, Calif., March 22 - A stand-up comic who befriended the family of the boy who has accused Michael Jackson of molesting him testified on Tuesday that the boy's mother telephoned her in a panic, indicating she was being held captive by associates of Mr. Jackson.

Louise Palanker, a comedian who lives in Los Angeles, said she tried to contact the family after the boy appeared in a documentary in February 2003 in which Mr. Jackson acknowledged sharing his bed with young boys. Ms. Palanker said that when the mother called back, she sounded agitated and frightened. She quoted the mother as saying: "They're listening to everything I say. These people are evil."

The mother indicated that she wanted Ms. Palanker to take her and her three children to Ms. Palanker's home, Ms. Palanker testified.

"I felt they were being held against their will," Ms. Palanker said.

With Ms. Palanker's testimony, prosecutors in Mr. Jackson's sexual abuse trial shifted the focus on Tuesday to the conspiracy charge against Mr. Jackson. The government says Mr. Jackson and five unindicted co-conspirators abducted the family, held its members captive and forced them to make a video rebutting the documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson," produced by Martin Bashir and broadcast in England and the United States in early February 2003.

Prosecutors charge that in the weeks after the documentary was broadcast, Mr. Jackson molested the boy, now 15, at least four times at his Neverland ranch near here.

Mr. Jackson showed up at court 15 minutes early on Tuesday, walking in under his own power after hobbling in several minutes late on Monday in obvious distress. He looked somewhat stronger on Tuesday and sat through three hours of testimony. Court adjourned early because the judge had a commitment elsewhere in the afternoon.

On the witness stand, Ms. Palanker said she arranged to meet the mother in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, the day after the phone call. Ms. Palanker then called her lawyer, but not the police. The mother never called back, and they did not meet. Ms. Palanker did not say whether she knew where the mother was when she called.

The defense has portrayed the mother as a scam artist who singles out celebrities and uses her son, who is recovering from cancer, as bait. Ms. Palanker said that the mother never asked her for money but that the boy's father repeatedly sought cash.

Ms. Palanker gave the family two $10,000 checks after the boy's cancer diagnosis in mid-2000. The father, who is divorced from the mother, continued to ask for money, saying the mother wasted the money on "a bunch of statues and votive candles," Ms. Palanker testified.

Ms. Palanker arranged for a contractor to fix up a room in the boy's grandparents' house for the boy to use to recuperate after surgery and chemotherapy. The builder was never paid the $800 cost of materials for the job.

The family did, however, buy a big-screen television and a DVD player for the room, she said.

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/23/national/23jackson.html

[DudeAsInCool]

Macaulay Culkin's Dad Goes to Bat for Jacko

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

By Roger Friedman

Michael Jackson never acted inappropriately with Macaulay Culkin or any of his siblings.

So says the Culkins' long-estranged dad, Kit, in a single-spaced, 40-page treatise I read yesterday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151231,00.html

[Shawn]

WTF?

I've probably talked to you more times and more often than Daddy Culkin and Jacko. There isn't even a partial chance I could come up with a 40 page statement [single spaced no less] to defend you.

Money Money Money. Didn't Macauley divorce himself from his parents?

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Michael Jackson Gets to Court Early

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson (news) got to court Wednesday with plenty of time to spare before the resumption of testimony in his child molestation trial.

Jackson, who has been late previously while seeking treatment for a back problem, arrived about 20 minutes early and accompanied by his parents and defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr.

The pop star acknowledged a "We love you Michael" shout from a fan by turning and waving. He walked slowly into the courthouse but did not lean on others as he has at times in the past.

Read entire story here.

I wonder if he bought a Clocky?

[DudeAsInCool]

Jackson Prosecution Witness In Stir

Cops: Star's ex-bodyguard robbed Jack in the Box at gunpoint

MARCH 23--Michael Jackson's former bodyguard, expected to be a key witness in the singer's child molestation case, was arrested in Las Vegas last month on robbery, burglary and kidnapping charges. According to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun, Christopher Carter, 25, allegedly robbed a Jack in the Box restaurant at gunpoint on February 2, making off with $239. Carter is jailed in a Clark County lockup and is scheduled for a March 28 Justice Court appearance on the various felony charges. It is unclear how Clark's arrest, which came on February 19, will affect his anticipated role as a prosecution witness. As TSG first reported, Carter last year told a Santa Barbara grand jury that, one afternoon, he discovered Jackson's teenage accuser drunk at the star's Neverland Ranch. Carter testified that he confronted the boy, then 13, who replied, "Well, I can handle it. Michael said if I can handle it, it's okay. It's part of being a man." Carter, who worked for Jackson for about a year, testified that the performer told children that he referred to wine as "Jesus Juice" because "Jesus drank wine, so we shall be more like Jesus." Carter is pictured above in a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department mug shot. (4 pages)

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0323052carter1.html

[DudeAsInCool]

Slate takes you to the scene...

Dispatches From the Michael Jackson Trial

http://www.slate.com/id/2115135/entry/0/

[KiwiCoromandel]

Trump courts Jackson

March 26, 2005

US mogul Donald Trump could come to the rescue of beleaguered pop singer Michael Jackson by offering the accused and cash-strapped star his own Las Vegas show, US Weekly magazine reported.

The magazine said Trump's organisation had spoken to the singer, who is on trial for child molestation, about giving him a permanent show at the billionaire's new Las Vegas resort that opens in 2006.

Trump's office, however, declined to comment on the report.

The magazine quoted New Frontier Hotel and Casino boss Jack Wishna - who along with his billionaire partner Phil Ruffin has teamed up with Trump to develop the new Trump hotel - as saying he had spoken to Jackson's representatives about the proposed gig.

"There'd be moral clauses in the contract," Wishna reportedly said.

The faded "King of Pop' who could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old cancer patient in early 2003.

Wishna said a Jackson show could draw more than the $US80 million that superstar Celine Dion racked up at her permanent Las Vegas show in 2003.

Advertisement

AdvertisementThe story also quoted Trump as saying that a Jackson show would be a boon to entertainment in Vegas.

"Everything I do is the best, and everything Phil Ruffin does is the best, and this would be no exception," Trump reportedly said.

Jackson's spokeswoman Raymone Bain could not immediately be reached for comment on the report.

Jackson, who is on trial in California, has pleaded innocent to 10 counts including child molestation, plying a 13-year-old with alcohol to seduce him and plotting to kidnap the boy and his family.

[Shawn]

[opinion]

I think the Jackson fans might as well make their peace with the idea of him being found guilty right now. It's the whole purpose behind charging him with 10 counts. If the actual molestation looks likely but not proved, the jury gets to relieve their conscience by finding him guilty of a few lesser charges.

[/opinion]

[DudeAsInCool]

[opinion]

I think the Jackson fans might as well make their peace with the idea of him being found guilty right now. It's the whole purpose behind charging him with 10 counts. If the actual molestation looks likely but not proved, the jury gets to relieve their conscience by finding him guilty of a few lesser charges.

[/opinion]

Not going to happen

[KiwiCoromandel]

Trump wants Jackson to perform in Las Vegas

Associated Press

NEW YORK — What do Wayne Newton, Celine Dion and Michael Jackson have in common? If Donald Trump and his partners have their way, they all will have a resident performing gig in Las Vegas on their resumes.

Trump's Las Vegas partners have been courting Jackson to perform at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino, Us Weekly magazine reports.

New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin and partner Jack Wishna have reportedly spoken to representatives of Jackson about a long-term residency.

Trump and Ruffin are partners in Trump International Hotel & Tower, which is being built behind the New Frontier.

"Everything I do is the best, and everything Phil Ruffin does is the best, and this would be no exception," the magazine quotes Trump as saying.

Read more.........

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...b=Entertainment