Re: Verdict for Jacko in 30 minutes
 

Personally I think he should hang... but my money's on that he walks.

There is some speculation that the conspiracy charge may stick. If so, he will do some time. The other charges are not as strong.

If he does walk, I hope he keeps on walking to the airport, boards a plane and never comes back.

Send his sorry ass to Corcoran... or San Quentin... or Pelican Bay... if he is found guilty he's gonna be fresh meat for the hardened prisoners who ain't got nothing to lose.

Michael is walking, right to the Estee Lauder counter.

I'm guessing he will move out of the US and settle overseas where his fans are the most rabid.

NOT GUILTY on all counts
It's on MSNBC.com

How ridiculous. I don't know that i've met or heard one person who honestly thought he was totally innocent.

Waiting for him to moonwalk out of the courthouse with his back magically healed!

Not unexpected, really - the prosecution made some horrific mistakes, and addressed important issues (including his celebrity, probably the most important to handle properly) in ways that we wouldn't exactly have suggested . . . the defense's jury consultant was heads and shoulders above the prosecution's, too, in my humble opinion.

Now, whether or not you feel the guy's a weirdo or has done this/similar stuff in the past is another story, but the guy's now presumed innocent. To get all vitriolic is really, really bad.

(sorry for 2xpost, word)

It'll be interesting to see what the defense team says about this stuff - if it was part of strategy (presumably to direct media attention away from case facts and toward his bizarreness, which would be a fairly good 'out' to utilize to explain 'borderline' or suspicious behavior), it was either brilliant or completely, horribly unethical.

This case remains fascinating, and mostly for the wrong reasons.

Smooth Criminal
 

AMAZING. Jacko moonwalked out of the courthouse singing "smooth criminal".

I hear he's now off to find the real molester.

Re: Smooth Criminal
 

He ain't getting off THAT easy in the Court of Public Opinion.

Celebrity justice: money guarantees you walk. :mad:

In my book, if it was faked, it was unethical if he was lying about his medical conditions. I don't believe his lawyers would be that stupid because they could easily lose their license if they lied to the court on his behalf, etc. The illnesses were such a distraction and interrupted the process so much. So i'm guessing that we'll never really know the truth on that.

Now the pajamas, on the other hand, might have been a tactic.

I laughed at the jury's statement that they read asking that people let them return to their normal lives. Return to normal lives, my ass, they'll be raking in the $$$ doing the morning and news shows, book deals, etc. etc. It's like hitting the lottery for them.

I don't necessarily believe that this particular plaintiff and wacko mom were the best to bring a case forward. I do believe that he's done unproper things with children, maybe not necessarily this child though.

It will also be very interesting to see what he does with his life. In the court of public opinion here in the US, he's guilty. Or at the very least very f'ed up, and not in an endearing f'ed up way. They're speculating he might head to Europe

Now that I have picked my jaw up off the floor. :mad: I have to agree that if you have money, you will not get convicted. Let's hope he hightails it to the private island that Marlon Brando left him. Good riddance!

Although I heard that there is some talk of him going on tour with his brothers in the near future, if he was found innocent. Spare me!

Come on. Didn't the mom have a history with this? Didn't her husband say stuff about it too?

Heck the prosecution puts on a witness they think will screw Jackson and in turn she helps him out quite a bit.

Mike Tyson should never have been convicted either.

-Rudey

You guys, this isn't about money. It's not like juries consist of corrupt Hollywood producers and record execs and pro sports agents who think that justice is less important than milking more money out of every celebrity who goes on trial. Juries consist of average Americans, and considering that I don't know a single average American who wants guilty rich people to go free just because they have money, I doubt that was the case here.

Jackson won because, like O.J., his lawyers put together a better case. I certainly believe O.J. had a hand in Nicole's death, and like Dani I believe that Jackson has molested children (although not necessarily this particular one) -- but I have no proof that they were guilty, and nobody else had enough proof to convict either. And thank god our courts don't convict on what I believe but have no proof of, or what you believe but have no proof of. I'd hate to be on trial in a country where the justice system worked like that.

Did any of you who are sooo surprised at this verdict actually stay up-to-date on this trial? Because it seemed pretty clear to me throughout the entire trial that he was going to walk. The case against him just wasn't strong enough.


ETA: I also think the "Money/celebrity guarantees innocence" accusations are interesting in light of the fact that most child abuse cases NEVER come to court -- it was actually Jackson's celebrity that got him in this mess in the first place. If he had just been some random schmo off the street, I doubt these accusations would have ever come to light.

or at least not as much attention would have been paid to it.