In today’s session, Judge Melville informed the jury members of all the decisions he had made over the past two days, after consulting with the defense attorneys and the prosecution team.
When reading the instructions that the jury members must put on their agenda, he paused a little to make sure they were paying attention to his words. Judge Melville then said, “When I read this text at home to my wife at night, she falls asleep. Does it have the same effect now?”
In this same session, the prosecutor once again reviewed the charges against Michael Jackson for the jury members and said that Michael Jackson targeted a young boy suffering from cancer for his sexual abuse.
The defense attorney, Thomas Mesero, also responded by saying that the complainant’s family consists of cunning people, actors, and liars. He said that the prosecution team showed the weakness of their case by attacking Michael Jackson during their final arguments.
Mesero addressed the jury members:
“Whenever a prosecutor does something like this, you should know that they are in serious trouble.”
He continued: “This case is not a dispute over popularity among the public between the defense attorneys and the prosecution.”
Thomas Mesero went on to add:
“The prosecution team used a filthy and savage method to attack Michael Jackson’s personal life by bringing up his financial problems, his magazines, and his declining musical activity.”
He also said it was truly ridiculous to believe that Michael, when he was under pressure and under the scrutiny of the global community for the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson,” committed a crime.
The documentary was aired on February 2003. In part of this documentary, Michael says that he allowed his current complainant to sleep in his bed. The airing of this documentary sparked widespread sensitivity among the public, and as a result, the police as well as social and legal experts for children conducted investigations and interviews with the complainant and his family. In all these interviews, the complainant and his family denied any wrongdoing by Michael and even defended Michael. They even praised Michael in a video that was shown repeatedly in court and called him the father of the family.
The complainant’s family claims that Jackson’s employees forced them to make such statements about Michael Jackson. They also, together with the prosecution, claim that after this television documentary was aired and while global doubt and suspicion about it had been raised, Michael sexually abused the complainant several times and kept him and his family imprisoned in Neverland to prevent them from contacting the mass media.
In today’s session, prosecutor Ron Zonen, during two hours of continuous remarks, focused on Michael’s alleged plot and his employees’ plan to imprison the complainant’s family in Neverland. His emphasis was even more on this issue than on the allegations of sexual abuse against Michael Jackson.
He said that Michael committed a crime against the complainant at the end of the complainant’s family’s stay in Neverland. He stated that although the complainant’s mother was unaware of Michael’s sexual abuse of her son, once she learned that Michael was giving alcohol to her son, she decided to leave Neverland.
Thomas Mesero, pointing out that the most important issue is “whether the complainant’s family’s claims can be believed,” questioned the prosecution’s statement that the complainant’s mother was not seeking money, and repeatedly repeated: “Was the complainant’s mother looking for money?”
Mesero added:
“Was the complainant’s mother looking for money when, 10 days after the $152,000 agreement regarding her lawsuit against J.C. Penney, she filled out a request form for financial assistance from a social welfare institution?”
Mesero then addressed the jury members and said that if, for any acceptable reason, they had doubts about the complainant’s family’s claims, they must acquit Michael Jackson. “That is the law.”
The prosecutor, accepting the complainant’s mother’s fraud against this social welfare institution, said that this was the only mistake the complainant’s mother made during her life. He also said that believing that the complainant’s mother had brought up the whole story in order to get money from Michael Jackson is ridiculous and completely baseless.
He described Neverland, Michael Jackson’s place of residence, as a lawless and disorderly place.
“ They drove around in cars, went to the zoo, ate whatever they wanted—candy, ice cream, soda. That’s all they did for fun... And at night, Michael Jackson’s room was like an invitation to a forbidden world. ”
He also said that a hunter is always looking for a weaker prey.
Zonen, in defense of the complainant’s contradictory testimony in the witness stand, said that the atmosphere prevailing in the courtroom had frightened him.
When speaking about the complainant’s mother—who was the most changeable witness in the trial—he appeared completely biased. He said:
“She never asked Michael Jackson for a penny. The complainant’s mother never asked him for anything, and today she still doesn’t want anything.”
Zonen, holding up one of the magazines, asked: “Do you feel comfortable with someone who keeps such a magazine in their room?”
He also said about the sexual magazines: “These magazines were not for her. She used these magazines to arouse the boys.”
In response to the prosecutor’s remarks, Thomas Mesero said that Michael was not summoned to court for having such magazines, and having such magazines is not a crime at all. He added that everything found in Michael’s home was completely legal.
He continued that no kind of obscene magazine or similar items were found on Michael’s home computers regarding children, and that the prosecutor used these magazines only to make Michael look bad.
“They stain him because he is a human being. But they can’t prove their accusations because they can’t.”
In the end, Mesero pointed out that when the complainant described the alleged sexual abuse—both in the interview film shown in court and in the witness stand—he was completely calm.
“You didn’t see any emotion or excitement in the complainant. When did you see the complainant truly angry? Only when, in the witness stand, he said that Michael had left him and his family.”
Overall, Zonen spent more of his time attacking Michael’s current and former defense attorneys. He said that Thomas Mesero did not carry out the promises he had made, such as calling many famous people to testify.
Michael, who seemed upset yesterday, told reporters as he left the courthouse today, “I’m fine.”
Source: Washington post / Santa Maria News / Associated Press / Reuters
