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MJJF eNews #578 - Saturday Jun 4, 2005 Pop icon Michael Jackson was greeted outside court
Friday by hundreds of chanting fans. The singer
arrived with his parents and his famout siblings
Janet, LaToya, Jermaine, Tito and Randy. They waved to the fans chants of “Michael is Innocent!”
Defense attorneys completed their closing arguments,
labeling the Arvizo family liars and con artists
trying to pull “the biggest con of their careers”.
"They are trying to take advantage of Michael
Jackson," said impassioned defense attorney Thomas
Mesereau. "They are trying to profit from Michael
Jackson. They think they have pulled it off. They are
just waiting for one thing - your verdict."
"What they are trying to do to Michael Jackson is so
harmful, so brutal, so devastating … if you have any
reasonable doubt about the double-talk, the lies, its
over. You must acquit Michael Jackson," he told the 12 jurors.
Mesereau spoke about the American system of justice
and said, "We have the best system in the world and
ladies and gentlemen I'm begging you to honour the
system. … You must acquit him."
He accused prosecutors of trying to "dirty up Michael" because they lack the evidence to prove their case.
"The witnesses are preposterous, the perjury is
everywhere," Mesereau declared. "None of it works. The only thing they've had is to throw dirt all over the place and hope it sticks."
He added: "If you look in your hearts do you believe
Michael Jackson is evil in that way? Is it even
possible? It really is not."
Mesereau then played excerpts from a video in which
Jackson denies any sexual impropriety and said that he had “never been betrayed or deceived by children.”
The defense attorney conceded that Jackson had been
lax with his money and had let the wrong people into
his circle. But, he said, the singer was not the
“monster” the prosecution were trying to depict and
that he was not guilty of any crime.
Procecution Rebuttal
Afterwards, prosecutor Ron Zonen delivered a brief
rebuttal. He sought to answer the question of
Jackson’s motivation for the crime asking, "Why would
Mr. Jackson do it? Because he could … This child was
in love with him. This child would do anything he
said."
Zonen reminded jurors of the past allegations made
against Jackson saying that this was necessary in
order to “see the total picture”. He claimed that
Jackson was “in love” with his 1993 accuser and added
that the current accuser is a “clone” of the boy in
that case.
After both sides rested for the last time, Judge
Rodney Melville ordered the eight women and four men
on the jury to begin their deliberations. He gave them
a 98-page book of instructions.
The Judge told Jackson that he could stay at Neverland
during the proceedings but requested that the
attorneys remain within 10 minutes of the courthouse
in case the jurors had any questions.
These deliberations are the final stage of an ordeal
that began 14 weeks ago. During this time the jury has
heard testimony from over 130 witnesses.
A verdict is expected early next week.
Source: AP/CNN/MJJF