Random: Michael Jackson NOT GUILTY

[probativev]

Not Guilty on All charges.

Hey but the important thing is: We Got Martha!

William Kennedy Smith is not guilty.
OJ walks.
Ken Lay is at Large.
Michael Jackson heads back to NeverLand.

But we must not forget that we got Martha! Proof that our legal system is indeed intact!

:b

[lavender]

There was a good case against OJ but they screwed it up.

Martha....well all those men are doing what Martha got convicted of. They went after her because she's a woman, a very, very strong woman and opinionated....jmo We know they thought of her as a female dog.

MJ may have done these things to some kids but this particular case was terrible. I wouldn't have been able to convict base on the testimony no matter how much I wanted to.

[kwanluv]

Lavender, ITA 100%

[anthonybo]

i think one reason michael got off because he was automatically proven guilty by the public and press. there was no way he would have ever gotten a fair trial. the cosmos would've had to stop turning for that to happen. and i totally agree with lavander on the martha point. the same thing can be said about michael. they've wanted to go after him for years, they got their chance, and screwed up. this just goes to show how the system is flawed. i am not condoning what michael did, but i am pleased he was acquitted by a jury of his peers. that is what we pride ourselves with, in this country. even the person who hates michael jackson the most has to admit the system worked how it is supposed too.

[pluto3658]

The key here is "beyond a reasonable doubt." The evidence was weak, as was the testimony of some of the witnesses, not to mention their credibility.

[Skatekwan6]

this just goes to show how the system is flawed. i am not condoning what michael did, but i am pleased he was acquitted by a jury of his peers. that is what we pride ourselves with, in this country. even the person who hates michael jackson the most has to admit the system worked how it is supposed too.

You contradicted yourself. First you said that the system is flawed, then you said you are pleased that the system "worked how it is supposed to." Yes, the system worked just like it does many times...acquitting guilty people are convicting innocent people. "In this country," people should ALSO feel "pride" when guilty people are convicted...the system goes both ways. It's not all about acquitting people. A lot of people ARE actually guilty, you know.

Probative, I think you should add the word "found" before "NOT GUILTY." Just because the jury found him not guilty doesn't mean he is. I feel sorry for all those innocent children...And I bet he'll continue doing the same thing.

[anthonybo]

i did not contradict myself, but thanks for reading my post. you just furthered my point when you said:

"Yes, the system worked just like it does many times...acquitting guilty people are convicting innocent people. "In this country," people should ALSO feel "pride" when guilty people are convicted...the system goes both ways. It's not all about acquitting people. A lot of people ARE actually guilty, you know".

on the other hand, the system does convict innocent people. in this country, we are innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. michael was labeled as guilty and a pedo by the right-wing media, which the majority of americans take for fact.

"A lot of people ARE actually guilty, you know".
that is so true, but it is the burden of the state to prove them so, not the guilty to prove they are innocent.
my over all point was to show how the system was flawed and how we all to often take it for granted.

[Jayjen36]

Probative, I think you should add the word "found" before "NOT GUILTY." Just because the jury found him not guilty doesn't mean he is. I feel sorry for all those innocent children...And I bet he'll continue doing the same thing.

I don't know. I started believing, due to his bizarre behavior and the past allegation that he was guilty in this case. But as the prosecution went on with their case I began to have my doubts. The family was not only little help to the prosecution they seemed, for the most part to help the defense. And other than that earlier case in which the boy and his family settled for a cash payment they could not find any other victims, anywhere.

Pedophiles don't just stop committing crimes. They should have been able to find other victims, but the only other people that the prosecution mentioned came into court and said (and were believable) that nothing happened between them and Jackson. I would just think that somewhere in the world there would be other victims. We all know that they wouldn't have needed to come to court, even an interview would have been damning for Jackson, even evidence of possession of child pornography, something else. It amazes me that the prosecution decided to go forward with such a weak case. I think that it might have been worth their while to hold off and try to find other victims with more credible witnesses. Now if they do actually find a decent case against Jackson this defeat will hurt them. All in all I think that they should have waited to build a stronger case.

[lavender]

I don't know. I started believing, due to his bizarre behavior and the past allegation that he was guilty in this case. But as the prosecution went on with their case I began to have my doubts.

Yep if you actually follow the case you would have doubts. They could only come to a conclusion on THIS case an it was so weak with that mom and son. I think MJ might have done something with perhaps some other kids but this family imo were con artist and they left a lot of doubt. I couldn't believe they went ahead with this with this family.

Oh add Robert Blake to your list.

[Puce]

they had a weak case against him. i'm not saying he's guilty or innocent, but they had a WEAK case this time. i'm not denying that the guy is stranger than strange can be, but that's not illegal in the USA.

[probativev]

Probative, I think you should add the word "found" before "NOT GUILTY." Just because the jury found him not guilty doesn't mean he is. I feel sorry for all those innocent children...And I bet he'll continue doing the same thing.

I'm not MJ fan, he's gotten too weird for me. But hey, like they say, this is America and everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So he's not "found" guilty, but is innocent.

....semetics...I honestly don't know if he did or didn't..but any 45 y.o. man who insists on sleeping with kids not his children has some serious problems.

Then again, that's just the beginning of his problems.

[aaronts]

i didn't really follow the trial, but what i read on cnn.com over the course of the trial assured me he was going to be found innocent.

the sad fact of the matter is, horrible witnesses are horribles witnesses. weak evidence is weak evidence. i think MJ should NEVER sleep w another child not his own, but who really disagrees w that(?). the issue is "reasonable doubt" & if anyone here or anywhere else wants to argue that, good luck....bring a sleeping bag~

[Skatekwan6]

I'm not MJ fan, he's gotten too weird for me. But hey, like they say, this is America and everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So he's not "found" guilty, but is innocent

Yeah, it's semantics, but I will never say that he is innocent...I will say that he was found not guilty by a jury. If someone you knew had been murdered or molested by someone and you knew for sure that person did it, but the person was found "not guilty," then you would definitely not say "well he's innocent since the jury didn't convict him." And no I don't know for sure if Michael Jackson did it or not, but come on...

[Yankees Suck 01]

Anyone else find it odd that they didn't remove his children from his custody when he was accused of this crime? That is the first thing they do in cases like this.

I don't know if he is guilty or not but the court sytem worked. They had no evidence at all in this case. When the mother admitted on the stand (as did two of her children) that she had her children lie under oath in other cases to get money then as far as I was concerned this trial had reasonable doubt.

[skatefan20]

Possible ENDORSEMENT DEALS for Michael Jackson (http://tinypic.com/5yhnkn) ... as seen on last nite's Conan O'Brien. :rollin

[aaronts]

Skatekwan6,

the only way you or i would know for sure that Jackson did it is if we saw it on a recording. otherwise, it's just a claim. add to that, a claim by some w far less than stellar reputations.

if you were accused of molestation by a family member shortly after you were alone w their child, & had just won the lottery, i'm sure you'd want a fair trial. i'm sure you wouldn't like it if it was brought up that just because you had always enjoyed the company of children, you most definitely molested at least this one. i know i wouldn't.

that said, i still think MJ is a perv. point is, what we think doesn't send people to prison....thank god! if anyone is truly unhappy w the result, be angry w the prosecution. their case stunk. & unless he molested you, you don't know that he molested anyone~

[Jayjen36]

I don't know if he is guilty or not but the court sytem worked. They had no evidence at all in this case. When the mother admitted on the stand (as did two of her children) that she had her children lie under oath in other cases to get money then as far as I was concerned this trial had reasonable doubt.

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I wonder why they decided to bring this case to trial. Of course if the child was molested then he deserves justice, but how many molestation and rape victims haven't been given their day in court because they didn't have a "winnable" case?

In watching some of the post trial interviews with the prosecution team, they say that when they went into the trial they believed that all of their witnesses were good and credible. I find that very hard to believe. How many prosecutors don't work with witnesses so that they can see just how they'll perform on the witness stand? Also, and I'm not sure that I have the number right, but they said that they served 600 search warrants on Micheal Jackson. How could it be that out of all of that material they found so little evidence. This man has been all over the world. Did they take the time to interview possible victims or witnesses in other countries? Couldn't he have been charged not only with this count, but with multiple counts it they had found more victims? It's just hard to believe that with all of the places that the prosecution had to look for evidence they either found little or non or didn't even bother to look in any but the most obvious places for material to build a stronger case.

I mean even evidence of recently wiped or replaced computer hard-drives could have been useful. Or even a history of travel to countries that turn a deaf ear, to child exploitation might have been used. I find it hard to believe that there was nothing like that available.

[Skatekwan6]

from imdb.com

Jackson Jurors Suspect He Molested Children


The jurors who found Michael Jackson not guilty of child molestation on Monday suspected he did abuse children, but didn't have the evidence to convict him. The 12 jurors delivered a unanimous verdict at California's Santa Maria courthouse ending a 14 week trial - but two have admitted they believe Jackson probably did molest young boys at his Neverland ranch. Raymond Hultman says, "I feel that Michael Jackson probably has molested boys. I cannot believe that this man could sleep in the same bedroom for 365 straight days and not do something more than just watch television and eat popcorn. I mean, that doesn't make sense to me. But that doesn't make him guilty of the charges that were presented in this case - that's where we had to make our decision. That's not to say he's an innocent man. He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with." Another juror says, "We had a closet full of evidence that always came back to the same thing - it was not enough." Another adds, "We expected some better evidence, something more convincing, but it just wasn't there. You hope that you will find a smoking gun, something you can grab on to one way or another and we had difficulty in finding that." Jury foreman Paul Rodriguez says, "The allegations of past abuse were considered credible to some extent. There are not too many grown up men we know who would sleep with children but we had to base it on the evidence presented to us. There were a lot of things lacking." The jurors claimed the prosecution case was damaged by the mother of Jackson's accuser, who they claim antagonized the jury with theatrical, over-the-top testimony. They also suspected her motives. Rodriguez adds, "As a parent you spend every moment of your day protective of what happens to your children. What kind of mother in her right mind would allow that to happen, to freely volunteer your child to sleep with anyone, not just Michael Jackson, but anyone?"

article link
www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-06-15/ (http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-06-15/)

[KwanBoy23]

Skatekwan, the parts you posted only increases that idea. This man BELIEVES, he doesn't know. He has an opinion, not a fact.

That's all I have to say on the whole matter. hehe

[Grace]

I don't know whether or not MJ is guilty, nor do I have a solid opinion on the matter, but given his history and background, it does not surprise me that he, in his grown age enjoys having sleepovers with children. In my observances in the past decade, and having read several biographies on Michael Jackson, he is obviously a very bizarre, deeply troubled man who needs some serious psychological help. The difference between him and other psychologically imbalanced adults is the fact that he wears his scars on the outside for the world to see.

I mean, the man has a ranch called "NeverNeverland Ranch" and wishes to be like Peter Pan and never grow up. He owns an amusement park and owns a number of exotic animals that seems to be distributed all over his estate. These are the dreams and wishes of a 10 year old, not a 40 year old man. This is why I cannot give a solid opinion on whether or not he has molested children. He is like a child himself. Honestly, from what I have read, the man seems to be afraid of sexual intimacy and afraid of anything of "that" sort. Then again, I don't know profiles of pedophiles, so this opinion is all based on my own beliefs and my own personal knowledge.

[Jayjen36]

In my observances in the past decade, and having read several biographies on Michael Jackson, he is obviously a very bizarre, deeply troubled man who needs some serious psychological help. The difference between him and other psychologically imbalanced adults is the fact that he wears his scars on the outside for the world to see.

I agree with this. I think that it's laughable that his family is only now circling the wagons and showing support for him. If they honestly cared about him they would have convinced him to seek therapy or staged some sort of intervention or something a long long time ago. At least now if he continues the same type of behavior (molestation or just safe "sleepovers") they'll have some proof so that they can have the man committed and force him to get the help that he needs.

Honestly, from what I have read, the man seems to be afraid of sexual intimacy and afraid of anything of "that" sort.

I've seen reports of Jackson feeling that way too. I have also seen reports that he relates to young boys more easily than to adults. Also, some pedophiles claim to love children and are so sick that they don't believe that they are actually harming them by abusing them. Maybe that explains his contention that he has never "hurt" a child. Maybe he is so sick that has begun to actually believe this.

[aaronts]

well, it's not just in molestation cases that people can go into extreme denial. my father loves to gamble but swears he doesn't. i truly believe he's convinced himself at times that he doesn't gamble, even though we have proof that he does.

my last comment on MJ: if this happens again....at all - aside from the fact that he'll probably end up in court again, the parents of the child should also be prosecuted by the dept. of social services by default. unless MJ is kidnapping children to sleep at his house, parents are willingly allowing their children to sleep there. that, to me, is as bizarre as MJ wanting to sleep w children not his own~