Thomas Mesere Mocked the Disgruntled Jury Members

Recently, two former jury members from Michael Jackson’s accusation case—two months after his acquittal verdict was announced—took part in an interview with Rita Cosby in order to promote their new book, and expressed their regret for issuing such a verdict.

As it seems, the only buyers of such late-breaking claims are the mass media—and especially reporters and commentators like Nancy Grace—who have a strong track record of exploiting such cases to become even more prominent in their field.

In response to the recent statements of these two jury members, Thomas Mesere said that the discussion about this case should be brought to an end. In a conversation with the Associated Press, he said:

“The most important thing is that it doesn’t matter at all what they say.” He continued:

“Twelve people consulted together, and justice is what should be the result. Now, two months later, these two members have changed their minds. It’s clear that they only want to be shown on television. I’m very suspicious.”

These two jury members—79-year-old Eleanor Cook and 62-year-old Ray Hultman—had made such statements in an interview with Rita Cosby:

Eleanor Cook: “I have no doubt that that boy was sexually abused. And I think he also enjoyed it to some extent because it was Michael Jackson’s toy.”

“I’m talking about it now because I think it’s never too late to tell the truth.”

Cook and Hultman claimed that when they were sure they could not convict Michael Jackson, they voted for his acquittal in accordance with the other jury members. They also denied having any financial motivation for raising such claims.

Hultman: “From the very first day, this case had appeal for many people. People wanted to know how the country’s judicial system works and how things are done.”

Both Cook and Hultman claimed that Paul Rodriguez—the first jury member—had threatened them that he would have them removed.

Cook said about this: “He said that if I couldn’t change my opinion and align with the jury, or if I couldn’t understand the issues, then he would have to inform the court’s executive officer, and he would notify the judge. And the judge would remove me from the jury.”

Hultman also said that he had been threatened and didn’t want to be removed from the jury.

[And this claim is made while there is nowhere in the law book that says the first jury member has the right to remove another member simply because of disagreement.]

Cosby asked Cook whether the other jury members would be angry with her because of her statements. She replied:

“They can be as angry as they want. They should be ashamed. They are the ones who freed a sexual deviant.”

The two also said that under pressure from the other jury members, they agreed to vote for Michael’s acquittal.

As expected, these statements angered the other jury members. They believe Cook and Hultman are trying to sell their books by complicating the facts.

Susan Deerk—one of these members—said: “I’m shattered.” In an interview with Reuters, she said: “All these things are crushing. It’s very discouraging. Until the verdict was announced and after that at the press conference, I felt that we had really done our job well and with integrity and honesty. And then, as soon as they came under media attention, they changed. They were seduced by fame and opportunity.”

Along with Susan Renshler, a 52-year-old member, she rejected Cook and Hultman’s claims that they had been threatened by the first jury member, and said that Hultman had voted for Michael’s acquittal after realizing that the evidence was not enough to convict him.

They also said that Cook and Hultman—who had formed a friendship with them during the four months of the trial—had disappointed them.

Renshler says: “After the trial ended, I called Hultman and spoke with his wife, and she wouldn’t let me talk to him. Now I don’t want to talk to them anymore. They should be ashamed of themselves. They are defaming the jury members. By saying things that are completely untrue, they are not helping the judicial system at all.”

Cook and Hultman also signed contracts to publish their books about the same case. The titles of Eleanor Cook’s and Hultman’s books were announced as: “Guilty but Free Like a Bird” — “Shocking.”

It has also been reported that a film will be made about them.

Eleanor Cook, this 79-year-old grandmother, surely never imagined that when she uttered the sentence that is now very famous, she could make money with just that one line. In the press conference after the court’s verdict, she expressed her feelings about the plaintiff’s mother with that one sentence: “Ma’am, don’t break it for me.”

According to her own account, the plaintiff’s mother “broke” in court to win her over, and she considered that move to be rude. Now this sentence is being sold on T-shirts, to further expand the circle of economic prosperity that the Michael Jackson trial brought to the jury members.

Experts believe that such profiteering by these two jury members could harm the reputation of the United States’ judicial system in the eyes of the public.

Craig Smith, former Santa Barbara prosecutor, says: “If they truly believed that Michael Jackson was guilty, they should have stuck to their position.”

He also says about the profiteering of these two former jury members: “This case harms the judicial system. Because profiting is not the role of a jury. This calls into question the intent of the jury member, and the current situation is a very good example of that.”

It should be noted that since the prosecutor in Michael Jackson’s former accusation case is no longer able to file an appeal regarding this case, these two people’s claims will have no effect on the acquittal verdict announced by the jury regarding Michael Jackson and are completely devoid of any legal credibility.

Source: eMJey / Reuters / AP