Michael Jackson's Trials

Michael Jackson will answer new charges of child molestation in court on Friday 30th April.

It is understood that Michael Jackson will plead not guilty.

The hearing on Friday will take place in the Santa Maria court where Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty in January to seven counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor, and two counts of plying a minor with alcohol.

The court appearance is likely to resemble a circus; as Michael Jackson's family (with the exception of Michael's brother Jermaine who is abroad) will be inside the courtroom, and a multitude of fans will be outside.

Angel Howansky, the president of the Friends of Michael Jackson Committee, is hoping for as many as 1,500 to turn up.

The Friends of Michael Jackson Committee has organised five buses to assist fans to travel from Los Angeles.

In other news, it transpires that Michael Jackson's new lawyer Thomas A. Mesereau had a hand in a local criminal case involving a man freed after more than a decade on Death Row.

I understand that Thomas Mesereau was one of the plethora of lawyers consulted by John D. Marks, during the 14 years between a contract killing Marks committed in Valinda in 1980 and his release on probation in 1994.

A retrial was ordered because two Pomona Superior Court judges made serious errors that invalidated the murder conviction and death sentence of Marks.

It should be noted that Pomona lawyer Gary W. Meastas was Marks' actual attorney when he walked free. It is understood that Mesereau tried but failed to get appointed to the case before a plea agreement was reached.

In the murder case, Marks conspired with two other people to kill Ronald Moore inside the victim's home on Maplegrove Street on 24th November 1980.

Marks was found guilty of murder, and conspiracy to commit murder, even though the jury found Marks did not pull the trigger. After the reversal, and years of delays in starting the retrial, Marks pleaded no contest to second degree murder in 1994 and was released.