Oh god, don’t even joke about that.
Seriously, I fear for MJ’s kids.
So, which do you think got more bad press – that settlement, or the circus that this trial was?
Anyway, quite apart from the jury’s instruction to consider this case on its own merits, the jury knew that the mother in that case consulted a lawyer about a civil case before going to police, which seems a bit questionable.
The evidence in this case was not strong enough to convict. So he wasn’t convicted. It’s the way things are supposed to work.
I wouldn’t let any kid of mine sleep in the same bed as an adult male friend of the family, and that whole thing definitely raises my eyebrows.
That said, it’s not evidence that he’s a molester.
My sister constantly maligns her ex-husband as a probable kiddy-diddler because he and his wife “co-sleep” with their juvenile daughter. “Of course he’s fucking her!”
In actuality, he’s a much better parent than she is, by any reckoning.
Sleeping in the same bed with a kid who’s not related is considerably more peculiar than co-sleeping with your own children, but it’s not evidence of kiddy-diddling, either.
Some people like to sleep with a bedful of dogs. I think it’s weird. I don’t think it means they must necessarily be doing it for sexual gratification, though.
It might have stuck if anyone outside of the Bunko family testified that they’d seen him do it.
Thank you. Well, I hope this is the beginning of the end—no one wanting to touch him with a bargepole. The fact that it’s Brit and not Yank promoters turning him down gives me hope.
I hope Bob Geldof tells MJ to eat shit and bark at the moon.
Betcha MJ goes out to celebrate at a nice restaurant, like Chuck E. Cheese, so he can offer the little kids a bite of his pie.
Who’s the (un)lucky boy? 
So did Richard Jewel. That didn’t make him, in fact, a murderous bomber. Profile =! Fact.
Here’s something that’s been bugging me since 1993. We know that Jackson has admitted to sharing his bed with dozens, if not hundreds, of young boys. During all that time, only TWO kids have accused him of sexual abuse, and both of them were clearly driven by their parents. Why hasn’t anyone else come forward, also claiming to be an MJ molestation victim?
Whenever one of these high-profile sex abuse cases hits the press, it seems like other victims come right out of the woodwork claiming they were also abuses. I’m talking about cases like the Clinton thing and the accusations levied against Schwarzenegger during the recall election. Heck, the McMartin case from decades ago had something like 1,000 kids and parents claiming abuse. But MJ? Nada. Zip. Is really that successful at convincing his victims to keep silent? Or…perish the thought…maybe he NEVER REALLY DID ANYTHING!!!
Oh, in case anyone’s interested…I did some creative Googling and came up with some photos from that book “The Boy” you were all talking about. There is some nudity (two-click rule observed) but nothing that appears remotely illegal. It might be the wrong book, though – the photos have nothing at all to do with Lord of the Flies.
I’m with KGS on this one - I’ve never thought that MJ was guilty of anything other than exceptionally bad judgement, and they don’t put you in jail for that.
I gotta agree with this.
It is an outstanding album and it is so bizarre that the man who did it is now some freakazoid characaticure.
Whoops, sorry-- I thought the entire book was Lord of the Flies shots. It’s only one section.
The verdict was fair. I’m not saying that Jackson is innocent, but there’s no way I’d convict anyone of molestation based on that weak-ass case. I might have convicted him of one of the misdemeanor alcohol charges (furnishing alcohol to a person under 21) but certainly not any of the felonies. Incidentally, I’ve been on a jury before. Felony murder and armed robbery. It’s serious work, and I’m sure that the jurors thought long and hard about their verdict.
Yes, Jacko’s wierd and creepy, but that’s not evidence of any crime, and all the wierdness and creepiness and babbling by psychologists about profiles doesn’t change the fact that there was no physical evidence, and the only witnesses were of a highly questionable caliber. (We had some of those in my case. Jailhouse witnesses who had been offered deals in exchange for their testimony. One of them actually admitted to us that he’d lie under oath if it benefitted him. Not surprisingly, we gave these guys zero credibility.) Really, there’s no other verdict that would be consistent with the evidence.
What the fuck makes you people think he’s guilty? Christ I love how the standards of proof change according to the issue. Personally, I suspected Jackson was innocent and would be found so. I shorted his “Found Guilty” contracts on TradeSports and had a good payday.
I don’t recall her saying that she based her decision on that. She was asked for her opinion of the mother and she gave it. Do you have a cite that she based her decision on the finger snap?
Right after the prosecution rested, I recall Robert Shapiro commenting that it was the worst prosecution of a case that he had ever witnessed. That was my feeling too, based on the evidence presented. I kept waiting for a smoking gun and it never appeared. It was all circumstantial, the accusers word vs Jacksons. Then the credibility of the mother was destroyed, the accuser was caught in a couple of lies, and people who were supposed to testify how awful a person he was, said the opposite on the stand. I’m not sure the defense needed to present a case.
I’m not going to deny that MJ is about the most eccentric person one could ever encounter. I’m not going to deny that his habits concerning children disturb me. I’m certainly not going to deny that he has issues and probably needs treatment for them.
Still, if you are going to convict someone of a henious crime like child molestation, one that for all intensive purposes could mean a death penalty by way of his fellow inmates, you damn well better be sure before you convict. I think that the defense presented plenty of reasonable doubt. Not doubt that he is weird or even a pedophile, but that he committed a crime.
The jury saw all of the evidence, heard all of the testimony. They deliberated for 7 days. I trust in their verdict.
Yes. I’m pleased to see that the American court system sets higher standards than the court of public opinion which we use in deciding whether to go to war.
Wow, four pages already…
Who else here thinks Jacko is going to pull a Roman Polansky and exile himself abroad? They said on the news earlier that he’s much more popular in Europe and Asia than he is here. He could conceivably have a better life someplace where he hasn’t been tried by the court of public opinion.
We’re all going to Chuck E Cheese tonight with Michael to celebrate!
Bring an empty Coke can if you want some wine or beer!
Is this a great country or what!!??
While I personally think that Jackson is G-U-I-L-T-Y guilty, this argument is a crock. People pay to make problems go away all the time out of a pragmatic calculation that it’s the path of least resistance.