Thanks for the updates Madeline.
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| Michael Jackson's Trial http://www.bbfans.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=16988 |
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| Author: | Calrissian [ 01 Mar 05, 1:27 ] |
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well, its monday....so it begins... What a day, what a trial ! ---- Watching news at ten earlier, the 'die hard' jacko fans, - mostly in their late teens/20s, all of whom chanting 'innocent'. Their arrogance is exceeded only by the weirdness of mr jacksons lifestyle. As with many things... we shall soon see by this summer. Calrissian: Has not played the race card....yet. |
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| Author: | Madeline [ 01 Mar 05, 1:35 ] |
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Jackson 'sexually abused youngster' Superstar Michael Jackson sexually abused a young cancer patient and showed him pornographic material on the Internet, a Californian court was told. In his opening statement, District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said Jackson showed the boy - then aged 10 - adult material on various websites from the first time he stayed at Neverland in 2000. Opening statements began after Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville read the indictment to the jury, revealing the names of five unindicted alleged co-conspirators. All are Jackson employees. The judge also read 28 overt acts allegedly committed in a conspiracy surrounding the alleged molestation of the boy, a cancer patient, at Jackson's Neverland ranch and a purported attempt to keep his family silent. Sneddon referred to the boy by name after telling the court it would be impossible to proceed without using the real names of the child and his family. Sneddon, Santa Barbara County's top prosecutor, told the jury the case was about Jackson's "desperate attempt" to salvage his career after the airing of the British television documentary "Living With Michael Jackson," in which the pop star is seen holding hands with the boy and saying he allows children to sleep in his bed. Jackson had intended to exploit the boy by using the documentary to demonstrate how the singer helped him through his cancer, Sneddon said. He said Jackson told him what to say. "He never told the boy that this video was anything other than an audition," Sneddon said. Sneddon said "Jackson's world was rocked" when the documentary aired in early 2003 and backfired by creating negative publicity. At that point, he said, Jackson's team tried to get the boy and his family to rebut it. The prosecutor said the molestation occurred after those events, in February or March 2003, when the boy was 13. He described two specific incidents of molestation, including one when Jackson reached into the boy's underpants and ********** the boy and himself. The defence opening statement was to follow the prosecution's presentation. The trial continues.Ananova |
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| Author: | Madeline [ 01 Mar 05, 1:44 ] |
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JACKSON'S 'SEX RANCH' The opening day of the Michael Jackson sex abuse trial has heard how the pop star used his Neverland Ranch to sexually prey on children, plying them with alcohol and pornography. Prosecutor Thomas Sneddon revealed for the first time the details of the charges that could send the superstar to jail for up to 20 years. "It's not children's books, but visits to internet porn sites ... magazines like Hustler, Playboy, Barely Legal," he said of Jackson's sprawling estate in California. "The private world of Michael Jackson reveals that instead of cookies and milk you can substitute wine, bourbon and vodka," he told the court in Santa Maria. Mr Sneddon accused Jackson of plying a then 13-year-old cancer sufferer, Gavin Arviso, with alcohol and of surfing pornographic websites at Neverland between February 3 and March 3, 2003. The defence dismissed the claims, and alleged that the boy's family had a history of ensnaring people for money. Jackson sat still with one hand pressed against his cheek as Mr Sneddon outlined the accusations. In the front row of the courtroom, Jackson's mother, Katharine, sat beside her son Jermaine. They were the only Jackson family members present. Outlining its case, the prosecution also gave details of what it said was a plot by the star to kidnap the boy and his family. Mr Sneddon alleged that for years Jackson had been in tremendous financial debt. This, he said, led the star and his aides to come up with a plot to hold the boy and his family against their will in order to limit the damage caused by a television documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir. The documentary had shown the 46-year-old pop star holding hands with the boy. In his opening statement, Thomas Mesereau, defending, told the jury: "There is a pattern by Janet Arviso and her children of ensnaring people for money. I'm going to show you how the trap was set. "Neverland is not a lure for molestation, a magnet for crime, we will prove that in this case," he said. Jackson faces a total of 10 charges, which he strenuously denies. Sky |
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| Author: | Suzanne [ 01 Mar 05, 7:14 ] |
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Thanks for the updates Madeline.
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| Author: | Madeline [ 01 Mar 05, 8:56 ] |
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We can watch the reconstuction of the trial every day from 9.30am on Sky. |
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| Author: | Madeline [ 02 Mar 05, 8:55 ] |
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The journalist whose documentary is at the heart of the case against Michael Jackson became the first witness at the pop star's trial for child abuse. British reporter Martin Bashir refused to answer nearly all of the defence's questions on the second day of the trial in Santa Maria, California. Jurors saw the film in which Mr Jackson held hands with the alleged victim. Mr Jackson denies molesting a boy in 2003, giving him alcohol and conspiring to kidnap him and his family. If convicted, Mr Jackson could face up to 21 years in prison. Reticent witness The 2003 US airing of Mr Bashir's film sparked the investigation into Mr Jackson's relationship with the boy. In the Living with Michael Jackson documentary, the singer said he did not see anything wrong with sharing a bed with a child. Mr Bashir took the stand as a prosecution witness. Asked by Prosecutor Tom Sneddon about his career, Mr Bashir said he had worked for British television networks the BBC and ITV - and had once interviewed Princess Diana. Our correspondent in Santa Maria, Daniella Relph, said Mr Bashir refused to answer virtually all the questions, citing a California "shield" law intended to allow journalists to protect their sources. The defence has said it intends to call Mr Bashir as a witness later in the trial but his lawyers say they will fight any such attempt. Rival theories Earlier on Tuesday a lawyer for Mr Jackson told the jury that detectives searching the pop star's bedroom could find no genetic evidence that he had abused the alleged victim. Thomas Mesereau said police found no DNA from the boy when they searched the room at Mr Jackson's Neverland ranch in California. "The DNA isn't there because the molestation claims are fiction," Mr Mesereau said as he resumed his opening remarks. In the prosecution's opening statement on Monday, Mr Sneddon told the court that Mr Jackson had shown the boy porn and plied him with wine, in order to molest him. He said the singer had visited sexually explicit websites and showed the boy - who was 13 at the time - and his younger brother pornography at his ranch. But the singer's lawyer depicted the alleged victim and his brother as troublemakers who sometimes read Mr Jackson's magazines and drank his alcohol without his permission. Mr Jackson will freely admit that he does read girlie magazines from time to time. He absolutely does not show them to children Thomas Mesereau Jackson lawyer "Mr Jackson will freely admit that he does read girlie magazines from time to time," Mr Mesereau said. "He absolutely does not show them to children." The singer's lawyer also continued Monday's attack on the credibility of the boy's mother, when he described her as a money-grabbing con-artist. In his statement, Mr Mesereau used language that hinted Mr Jackson might testify in his own defence, but he stopped short of saying Mr Jackson would take the witness stand. BBC |
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| Author: | Madeline [ 02 Mar 05, 15:56 ] |
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2nd of March 2005 Bashir may face contempt charges Martin Bashir could be prosecuted for contempt of court after repeatedly refusing to answer questions put to him during the Michael Jackson trial. Citing the First Amendment and a California law that protects journalists who refuse to testify about their work, Bashir refused to answer at least two dozen questions from Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, during cross-examination. Appearing as a witness for the prosecution, Bashir clashed repeatedly with Mr Mesereau, declining to reveal how many hours of videotape were recorded in the making of his controversial programme about the star, Living With Michael Jackson. He was also asked whether he got Jackson to sign two documents without a lawyer present, and whether he was being paid to cover the trial. Bashir's lawyer, Theodore Boutrous Jr, said he was invoking the California shield law, which "is part of the constitution and it protects the independence and autonomy of journalists who report the news and gather the news". "The judge has taken our objections under consideration and has also indicated that the defence may be allowed to call Mr Bashir as a witness in their case, but only if they meet the standards of the constitution and of the First Amendment," he added. When Mr Mesereau asked for the journalist to be held in contempt for refusing to answer his questions, Judge Melville said he would consider it. Bashir, who now works for the US network ABC and famously interviewed Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first witness in the Jackson case. A senior vice-president of ABC News defended Bashir's decision to invoke the California shield law that protects journalists from having to disclose their sources. "ABC News view it as a matter of significant importance and principle, and we stand firmly behind our reporter Martin Bashir in his decision to decline to answer questions that so clearly and directly in our view, and in Mr Bashir's view, invade the news gathering process," said Henry Hoberman. The ITV Tonight programme Jackson, broadcast in the UK and the US, showed the self-styled King of Pop cuddling up to a 13-year-old cancer patient and admitting sharing his bedroom in his Neverland ranch with a succession of boys. The boy featured on the programme later accused Jackson of molesting him and prosecutors say his family were held captive at Neverland. The 46-year-old singer faces charges that he sexually molested the boy, of administering alcohol to a child, and of entering into a conspiracy to hold him and his family. If convicted Jackson faces up to 20 years in prison. Opening the prosecution's case yesterday, Santa Barbara district attorney Tom Sneddon repeatedly referred to Bashir's documentary and described how Jackson's world was "rocked" by the broadcast in the UK in 2003 of Martin Bashir's documentary. Judge Melville said earlier that Bashir was a "necessary material witness with regard to the production, editing, and broadcast" of his documentary. The Santa Barbara district attorney's office is paying for his flight, hotel room and transport to and from the court, in addition to £11 a day "witness fees".mediaguardian |
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| Author: | Madeline [ 02 Mar 05, 16:04 ] |
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2nd of March 2005 Jackson May Testify, Pop Star's Lawyer Suggests Michael Jackson will tell a jury his version of key events in his child molestation case, his lead attorney said on Tuesday, suggesting the pop star could take the witness stand in the trial. Jackson left the courthouse at the end of the day after telling reporters that the proceedings had left him "angry" -- apparently over the testimony of a British journalist whose documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson," is at the center of the case. Defense lawyer Tom Mesereau stopped short of saying that Jackson would testify under oath. But three times he told the jurors that they would hear directly from the 46-year-old performer. "Mr. Jackson will tell you that at one time at Neverland (Valley Ranch), he got a very bad feeling about these people," Mesereau said in reference to the family of Jackson's 15-year-old accuser. "He thought, 'I've got to get away. I love helping these children but I've got to get away."' Defendants in criminal cases are not required to testify in their own defense and some legal experts had said that Jackson was unlikely to take the stand because doing so would expose him to cross-examination by prosecutors. Mesereau, in his opening statement, also said that Jackson's accuser and his siblings ran wild at Neverland, breaking into the entertainer's wine cellar, drinking alcohol and perusing his "girlie magazines." Prosecutors say it was Jackson who gave the boy -- at the time a 13-year-old cancer patient with one kidney -- wine, vodka and bourbon and showed him pornography. JACKSON SAYS HE IS 'ANGRY' Jackson is charged with molesting the boy at Neverland in February and March of 2003, not long after the broadcast of the documentary by journalist Martin Bashir that showed the superstar holding hands with the youth and saying that he shared his bedroom with children. When Mesereau concluded his remarks, prosecutors called Bashir as their first witness and played the nearly two-hour documentary for the jury. Jackson sat in the darkened courtroom nodding his head to the beat as some of his hits, including "Thriller," were played in the video. Continued ...reuters |
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| Author: | Madeline [ 02 Mar 05, 16:10 ] |
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2nd of March 2005 Face Off IT'LL take more than Jacko's "icy glare of pure hatred" to put Martin Bashir off his stroke. "Not so crowded that there isn't room for one more?" The fearless journalist has faced down more hideous foe then the man who sits in a California courthouse accused of molesting a minor. As we know, Bashir shared an interview room with Princess Diana and did NOT become romantically involved. He's faced down Michael Barrymore and lived to swim another day. Is it any wonder then that Jackson's look of disgust was soon replaced, in the words of the Sun, by a look of deep sorrow? In the paper's front-page story "JACKO V BASHO", we look on as the intrepid Bashir, now nicknamed "Trasho Basho", becomes the first person to give evidence at the so-called trial of this or any other century. The paper sees Bashir ignore Jackson's "look of hate" as he takes the stand. His testimony, like his TV shows, will be about the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the sensational, hold-on-to-your hats-and-noses truth. And then it was time for the VT to roll and for the world to take another look at Bashir's 2003 ITV documentary Living With Michael Jackson. And now Jackson's face changed. This was, as the Mirror says in headline form, a "FACE OFF"; and Jackson's was the first face to off. As the video plays, the Sun sees Jackson begin to rock back and forth as the strains of his song Smooth Criminal break the tension. Resisting the urge to grab his crotch - and, for that matter, anybody else's - and moonwalk over the jurors' heads, Jackson instead began to drum his fingers on his cheeks. A risky move? You betcha. Because in moments the accused is in tears, and is soon dabbing his face with what looks like a tissue. Or, perhaps, some tissue - skin tissue! And so the tape rolls, the singer weeps, the reporter avoids the singer's gaze and the show goes on... Anorak |
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| Author: | Calrissian [ 02 Mar 05, 20:30 ] |
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Just 2 days into the trial, and already some classic moments indeed. Jackson dancing in his chair. Mr bashir refusing to answer even the most basic questions - will he be held in contempt? Lets hope bashir gets a few days in an american slammer 
The really freaky thing is just how will the jury cope with the pressure. Knowing that they have a few billion people watching, and awaiting their decision. Hmm Calrissian: Guilty of living. |
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| Author: | Spawn of Blagman [ 02 Mar 05, 21:10 ] |
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Jackson has admitted that he gets his aids to buy playboy and hustler magazine for him 
What a massive admission considering up to this point he has tried to convey that he is whiter than white 
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| Author: | HappyDaiz [ 02 Mar 05, 21:26 ] |
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mmm yes but I reckon he thinks he's being clever, by making out he likes naked women, not little boys. |
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| Author: | CameronBB4 [ 02 Mar 05, 23:12 ] |
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blagman wrote: up to this point he has tried to convey that he is whiter than white
Worth repeating, I thought. |
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| Author: | steve_o [ 03 Mar 05, 2:09 ] |
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I'd hate to have to be on that jury, the pressure to find him Guilty or not Guilty would be hideous.
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| Author: | Madeline [ 03 Mar 05, 2:15 ] |
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HappyDaiz wrote: mmm yes but I reckon he thinks he's being clever, by making out he likes naked women, not little boys.
Maybe he wants his alleged victims to get aroused with the porn mags to make his alleged sexual assult easier
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