Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, gave an interview to the Today show on MSNBC yesterday.
She said that the trial took everything out of Jackson, both physically and mentally.
Quote:
"One of the reasons why it devastated him, he would tell me, 'Mother, when they say 'call your next witness,' and I look around and I'm surprised. It's people that I've helped, and they're up there trying to make money off of me by lying. I don't understand how people can do that.'"
Adding that:
"he'd been proven not to be a child molester, and they know he's not. But some people just believe what they believe and I can't stop that. But I wish they would stop and think about it. That he is not a child molester. He is not a pedophile. He doesn't give liquor to children. These kids were bad kids."
Mrs Jackson said that she feels sorry for the Arvizos:
"I feel sorry for them, too. From what I hear about their past, I feel sorry for their future if they don't change their way."
However, she was less forgiving about Tom Sneddon:
"My son is a better person than he is. What he did to my son, my son would never do to anyone else."
I have watched this trial very closely, from beginning to end, including reading the indictment and many of the witness depositions. I am an experienced criminal defense lawyer. I am not surprised that Jackson won, not because I think that he is innocent (or that the jury thinks that he is innocent), but because reasonable doubt existed (in the form of Janet Arvizo). For Mom Jackson to say that the world sees his innocence is ridiculous. The only people who will proclaim his actual innocence (distinguished from "not guilty") are his rabid, scary fans, and his deluded family. This jury would have come back with a guilty verdict, if the question posed was "has he molested." There was clear evidence of molestation of Jordie Chandler and the young man who is now in the ministry, and the jury was probably compelled by that testimony. But that does not equate to molestation of young Mr. Arvizo.
ReplyDeleteI leave this ordeal with no love for Michael, but no regrets as to the verdict. In the end, everyone lost except the system, which prevailed. I also leave this debacle with one lasting impression -- there are a lot of very strange and frightening people in the world (apparently, most from Europe), and they are called Michael Jackson fans.
Thanks, Ken, for succinct, frank and insightful comments throughout the trial.
You Wrote "There was clear evidence of molestation of Jordie Chandler and the young man who is now in the ministry"
ReplyDeleteThis is an absurd statement especially when you said you watched the case closely.
Fact 1
Firstly the young man who is now in the ministry - If you read your facts about this you would have known that it was only after the 3rd attempt at trying to obtain information from him that he 'remembered' MJ touched him in private parts when tickling him. The interview transcripts clearly showed that the interviewers were pushing him HARD for an allegation. This made his molestation statement suspect
Fact 2.
All the witnesses that testified they saw MJ molest Jordan were proven to be ex-employees who had an axe to grind with MJ. They also sold their false stories to tabloid papers to get back at MJ.
Fact 3
The only evidence that would have convicted MJ in 1993 was a picture of his penis. This never matched up with Jordan Chandlers description.. “In January 1994, USA Today printed an article confirming that, "photos of Michael Jackson's genitalia do not match descriptions given by the boy who accused the singer of sexual misconduct."”
Jordan later divorced his parents.
I am surprised you say you are a experienced criminal defense lawyer yet you have not looked into family background of Jordan Chandler. It has all the hallmarks of a desperate greedy parent. Surely as an experienced defense lawyer you would be looking to have hard facts. I am not impressed with your lack of research.
I also believe that if MJ did molest young boys then you would have had more children come up with allegations. You only have 3 suspect ones.
3 allegations
Jordie - Greedy father
Ministry boy - prompted for an allegation on the 3rd attempt.
Arvizo – coached by his demented psycho mum. Proved to be lair.
All other allegations (3) brought by the prosecution turned out to be false. All 3 denied they were molested by MJ.