Miss Castaway

The threat, in a cease and desist letter from 20th Century Fox, to independent filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller (an upcoming character witness at Michael Jackson's trial) about his film, "Miss Cast Away," has been resolved.

Fox had threatened to block the release of the film, stating that audiences would confuse it with their Tom Hanks film "Cast Away." Stoller could not afford to fight the claim in court, and therefore changed the title to "Miss Castaway & the Island Girls" to avoid any confusion to Fox's Hanks picture.

Stoller said:

"It's a ridiculous claim. Even my dog can tell the difference."

The distribution plan for the film is now affected by the timing of Jackson's upcoming trial. The film is currently only available via the website www.MissCastaway.com.

All major distributors were afraid to consider the film for distribution, due to Jackson's forthcoming trial.

Jury To Be Summoned

Jury summonses will be sent out next week, in preparation for the trial of Michael Jackson which starts on 31 January 2005.

Jurors will earn $15 a day for their time.

Approximately 4000 summonses will be sent out for the Jackson trial; out of which, maybe, 300 would be able to serve for the estimated 6 month duration of the trial.

The jurors will be taken from those residents, who are citizens over 18 of Santa Barbara County, who live north of the Gaviota Tunnel.

Needless to say, both the defence and prosecution will be looking to select jurors who are most sympathetic to their case.

It will be a case of "many are selected, but few are chosen".

A Huge Step Backwards

Judge Rodney Melville, presiding over the pre trial hearings in the Michael Jackson case, yesterday rejected attempts by the defence to throw out the child molestation charges or delay the trial by several months.

Judge Melville rejected both arguments, saying that any delay in the trial would be:

"a huge step backwards.....If I continue this case for three months, we'll have 90 more search warrants and 90 more motions...".

The court will begin summoning jurors next week, and the trial will start on 31 January 2005.

Jackson will be required to attend, when jury selection begins next month.

The prosecution's wish to have evidence of "prior sexual offenses" by Jackson admitted to the trial, will not be discussed until early January.

The trial is expected to take about 4 months, and may involve over 150 witnesses.

Another Hearing

Yet another hearing, in the build up to Michael Jackson's trial, will be held today.

The prosecution wish to include evidence of Michael Jackson's alleged past misdemeanors; whilst the defence team wish to delay the trial, which is scheduled to begin on 31 January 2005.

Both these motions will be presented to Judge Rodney Melville today and for the next two days.