Sorry I did. That’s what I get for skimming.
Am I worth untold millions of dollars?
God, I can’t believe I’m defending Jacko…
Dio, he may very well have molested children. The jury might have gotten it wrong. But don’t you think it’s at least in the realm of possibility that IN THIS CASE the plaintiffs were just after money?
Not in child molestations cases they don’t. Some things are just too devastating to a reputation and a career. Jackson wasn’t just settling a nuisance suit, it was a bribe to a witness not to testify in a criminal case. The prosecutors and police in that case never said they thought Jackson wasn’t guility and the victim in that case has never said that either.
When I was molested by a family “friend” at the age of 10, he was dealing with very similar accusations from a girl who was a foster child of some other friends of his. When I was asked by an acquaintance of the man’s to speak up if he had ever touched me inappropriately, I kept my mouth shut. The man never asked me to, never told me to, never threatened me, but I still kept quiet. While I regret that now, if I could go back, I doubt I would say anything even with this magic gift of hindsight. It’s just the type of child I was. I’m sure MJ didn’t molest every boy he came across; I doubt any pedophile does. But really, that’s not to say he couldn’t have or didn’t do it to someone else who’s just staying quiet out of a fucked-up sense of loyalty.
Thank god for the Patriot Act, now we can arrest anyone who checked that book out of the library.
Too bad the jury couldn’t hear your testimony, ‘feelings’ are a defense attorney’s worst nightmare!
I don’t think that Jacko deserves jail time, neccessarily, but isn’t there some type of reverse restraining order possible? Like if he invites pre-pubescent boys to Neverland ever again, they’ll arrest his ass, no question?
IMO he needs some major psych eval. I think he is guilty of at least not acting in the best interests of the children. Unfortunately, that is not a crime.
I do wish we had the Scottish “not proven”.
I still come back to this: how in hell can ANY parent allow their child to go there? I don’t care that he is a “star” and is wealthy. I don’t get it.
This is, I think, the crux of the verdict. In this country, no matter what you gut tells you, it’s guilty or not guilty. The prosecution’s case was flimsy as hell, what with the mother having discredited herself. ‘Not Proven’ would fit.
Because most people aren’t in the presence of children enough to have such claims met with any credibility. Celebrities get accused of just about everything. Some guy just wrote a book claiming Bill Clinton raped his wife, and that Chelsea was conceived as a result. How fucking unbelievable is that.
You forget that MJ was a huge star at the time, and that the only thing worse than those accusations would have been a lengthy trial in which he would probably have to testify and lose any privacy he had.
Well, shit.
That’s all I’ve got, really.
:sigh:
I was expecting this, like Larry Mudd said, the case was weak in many counts, but I was expecting that at least he was going to be punished for giving alcohol to minors, you mean that that was not one of the charges? 
One member of the jury was bitching about the mother snapping her fingers. “Don’t you snap your fingers at me, lady.” Apparently the one with the book deal.
Stupid hag, you don’t base your choice on THAT.
Either way, it comforts me at least that it ain’t over for PedoPan. He’s almost flat broke, his career is a joke, everyone think he got away with molestation, etc. I’ll bet months from now, we’ll hear that Mesereau is suing because Pedo didn’t pay his legal fees.
Did you hear how he’s trying to get to perform on Live8, no matter how many times they tell him to get lost?
If the BEST evidence that the prosecution had was that nutty family… :wally
Now here’s a frightening thought: What was she planning on doing to the doves on “guilty” verdicts?
So…his job’s joke, he’s broke, and his love life’s DOA?
“We the jury find the defendant Guilty…” SNAP kathunk
Jackson must be pretty damned excited.
Betcha he gets laid tonight.
Doesn’t matter. The only question the jury could look at was, did he do those things at the times and places specified in the indictment? AFAIK there’s no law against sleeping in a bed with children. There needed to be proof beyond reasonable doubt that inappropriate touching or other sexual activity took place. That’s the bottom line. We see the type of person he is and it doesn’t look good, and for all I know he is actually guilty. But the jury is only allowed to consider the admitted testimony.
Sure he’s weird as all get out, but being weird isn’t a crime. Neither is possessing barely legal erotica.
No one ever accused Fred Rogers of molestation, or Bob Keeshan, or anyone from Sesame Street.
Of course, one big difference is that all those people were very much the adult when they were with kids. Just the fact that MJ was saying stuff, in the Bashir docu, like “I’m twelve” and “wah, wah, my lost childhood” was already setting off alarm bells.
Guin, what’s Live8 and who’s trying to get on it?
All I can do now is hope and pray that MJ goes bankrupt.
He still seems to have fans. He could probably go on tour. Might be the best thing for him…and America’s young boys too.
I always said this would be the verdict. I actually think it’s a fair one, too. My opinion from the beginning was that he has odd relationships with young boys, but not insidious, evil, perverted, sexual ones.
We’ll probably never know until he dies and some private journals are discovered.
Sam