Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Author: Team MJJsource
Deputy District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss today revealed some details of the prosecution?s case against Michael Jackson. It is the contention of the prosecution that the alleged abuse occurred after the airing of the Martin Bashir documentary, during a time when glaring media attention was completely focused on Mr. Jackson and his activities.
Mr. Auchincloss stated the family was ?imprisoned? and that Mr. Jackson sent his private jet to take the family to his Neverland Ranch and whisked them away to vacations in luxury resorts. Auchincloss also berated Mr. Jackson?s former attorney, Mark Geragos, for going on national television and saying the case was a ?shakedown?.
Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau replied, ?If this is an issue of prior counsel saying it was a shakedown, I say it was a shakedown!? Mr. Mesereau derided the entire prosecution?s case and ridiculed the assumption that the trips constituted false imprisonment, saying, "The idea that they were imprisoned and forced to fly on private jets to Florida, to socialize with celebrities such as Chris Tucker, is absurd on its face. It would be laughed out of court by a jury." Mr. Mesereau demanded dismissal of all charges.
Mr. Jackson's attorneys were seeking a delay in the trial as well as outright dismissal of the charges. In a motion unsealed Monday, they stated, "the scope of the prosecution's investigation is breathtaking" and called the prosecution's case "an effort to take down a major celebrity?, also noting that ?the expenditure of resources by the prosecution is unprecedented and extravagant."
The defense team asked that the September trial be pushed back four months, until early next year. The motion was filed July 13. Defense attorney Steve Cochran accused the prosecution of not providing access to certain critical items that Mr. Jackson?s attorneys need for preparation of his defense and said it would take them months to study all the information gathered by the prosecutors.
The trial has been moved to January 31, 2005.
MJJSource