Monday, January 31, 2005
January 31, 2005
Jury Selection Begins in Jackson's TrialBy JOHN M. BRODER
ANTA MARIA, Calif., Jan. 30 - Fourteen months after a small army of sheriff's deputies laid siege to Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch seeking evidence of lewd acts by Mr. Jackson with a 13-year-old cancer patient, jury selection began today in California's latest and greatest celebrity show trial.
Mr. Jackson arrived at the courthouse here today just before noon Eastern time, dressed all in white and surrounded by a team of lawyers and bodyguards, one of whom held a parasol to shade him from the sun. As he got out of a black vehicle, he waved to the throngs of fans and other onlookers, and the hundreds of news media representatives who have crowded the steps of the small courthouse here.
This will be the setting for what promises to be a months-long legal saga, whose every procedure and turn will be televised, pored over and otherwise dissected by the industry spawned by celebrity trials.
Mr. Jackson, who has said he is not guilty of child-molesting charges brought against him, did not say anything today before going through the metal detectors at the entrance to the courtroom, and a strict gag order will limit what is known about the proceedings.
But this morning, Mr. Jackson's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, told CBS's "The Early Show" that their son's accuser was only after his money.
"I know my son, and this is ridiculous," Mrs. Jackson said in the interview. She said people who believe her son is guilty "don't know him."
Mr. Jackson's father said racism was behind the accusations, as well as financial gain: "It's about money."
On Sunday, with his liberty, his livelihood and what is left of his reputation riding on the outcome of the trial, Mr. Jackson himself made a pre-emptive move by releasing a videotaped statement, approved by the judge, in which he proclaims his innocence. In the videotape, Mr. Jackson responded to reputed grand jury reports leaked to the news media over the last few weeks that said his accuser, who is now 15, had testified that the entertainer groped him and plied him with alcohol two years ago.
On the videotape, Mr. Jackson denied the accusations against him, pleaded for a fair hearing from the jury and the public, and predicted he would ultimately be "acquitted and vindicated."
"In the last few weeks, a large amount of ugly, malicious information has been released into the media about me," Mr. Jackson, 46, said in the video, which he released on his Web site, www.mjjsource.com. "Apparently, this information was leaked through transcripts in a grand jury proceeding where neither my lawyers, nor I, ever appeared. The information is disgusting and false."
The entertainer said he had invited the boy and his family to stay at his Neverland ranch because they had told him the boy was ill with cancer and needed his help. Over the years, he said, he has helped thousands of similar children who were ill or in distress.
"These events have caused a nightmare for my family, my children and me," Mr. Jackson said. "I never intend to place myself in so vulnerable a position ever again.
"I love my community, and I have great faith in our justice system. Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court," he continued. "I deserve a fair trial like every other American citizen. I will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told."
Mr. Jackson's life and music career have seemed on a downward spiral for the past decade, beginning with similar accusations involving sex with a young boy in 1993, which Mr. Jackson settled out of court for $15 million to $20 million.
The attention this new case has generated has further damaged the onetime King of Pop's already bizarre image and slashed his economic value. Music industry executives said conviction on some or all of the counts against him could effectively end his career as a public performer, although he still stands to profit from royalties on music catalogs he controls.
Hundreds of prospective jurors are expected to be screened for service on a trial that court officials project will last into the summer. Nearly 1,000 reporters, photographers, television technicians and courtroom artists have applied for credentials to cover the trial, which will be re-enacted nightly by a combined British-American television group that includes E! Entertainment.
Months of pretrial maneuvering have already produced thousands of pages of legal pleadings and teased a global audience awaiting the lurid details of Mr. Jackson's extravagant and eccentric life at his 2,700-acre private Xanadu in the hills between Santa Maria and Santa Barbara.
The case itself offers all the elements of a pop culture roundelay, including a music superstar who likens himself to Peter Pan; a grandfatherly prosecutor who has pursued him for 12 years; a silver-maned chief defense lawyer who is a colorful defender of the famous and the downtrodden alike, and a scandal-saturated media horde, many of them fresh from the Scott Peterson murder case. And throngs of Jackson groupies are promising daily courthouse rallies.
Court documents and pretrial arguments indicate that evidence will include testimony from experts on Mr. Jackson's finances, sexually explicit books and magazines taken from Mr. Jackson's bedroom, notes written by the performer to his young accuser, and a pair of white briefs, boy's size small.
The stern ringmaster in the case, Judge Rodney S. Melville of Santa Barbara County Superior Court, has conducted the pretrial action under extraordinary secrecy. The judge sealed virtually every piece of paper and silenced all the lawyers and other parties to the case under threat of jail time.
The lawyers have complied with the judge's order silencing them. But hundreds of pages of explicit grand jury testimony recently leaked out and have hurtled around the globe on the Internet and on ABC News programs.
In the final pretrial hearing before Judge Melville on Friday, Gordon Auchincloss, one of the lead prosecutors, said he expected the trial to produce "scorched-earth combat." "There's no mystery this will be a very contentious lawsuit," Mr. Auchincloss said.
Judge Melville, offering his final commentary before the legal winds begin to howl on Monday, noted dryly that he had felt a marked increase in tension around the courthouse. "Tempers are beginning to get short," he said. "There is a lot of pressure on everyone to have a case of such public scrutiny."
The defense team, led by Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., has made it clear it is going to put the accuser and his family on trial, accusing them of changing their stories and seeking to extort millions from Mr. Jackson. And the defense lawyers clearly intend to put the state on trial as well, beginning with the Santa Barbara County district attorney, Thomas W. Sneddon Jr., who they contend has a long-running vendetta against Mr. Jackson.
After his first run-in with Mr. Sneddon over the 1993 pedophilia accusations, Mr. Jackson wrote a satirical song about a "Dom Sheldon" who "really tried to take me down by surprise." The song's refrain, rendered "Dom Sheldon is a cold man" in the liner notes, sounds very much like "Tom Sneddon" on the album.
Mr. Sneddon, in his sixth and final four-year term as district attorney, is leading the prosecution himself. He was asked early on if he believed Mr. Jackson had gotten away with a crime in 1993.
"I think there's a sense in the public that he did that," Mr. Sneddon said. "My feeling about this is I'm sad that there's another victim out there."
The trial will exert pressure on Mr. Jackson's financial empire, which has appeared increasingly fragile in recent years. Even his close advisers say he is an extravagant spender whose wealth has been eroded by an overly lavish lifestyle, poor investments and a rogue's gallery of business associates.
Mr. Jackson has taken out an estimated $270 million in loans from Bank of America Corporation, backed by his two major music-publishing catalogs, and at least part of the debt must be repaid - or refinanced - - by early 2006, according to advisers close to Mr. Jackson.
For his income, Mr. Jackson relies heavily on the profits from the two publishing companies, which generate sales when the songs they own are recorded or licensed for commercials, films and the like. There has been speculation for years that Mr. Jackson might put his publishing assets on the auction block to pay off his loans, and there is little doubt that such a move could help clear his balance sheet.
Mijac Music, which holds the copyrights to Mr. Jackson's own hit compositions and other songs, including "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield, has been valued at roughly $75 million. Mr. Jackson's share of Sony/ATV, a joint venture with the Sony Corporation that holds rights to the Beatles hits, is worth perhaps $400 million or more, music executives say.
Mr. Jackson's worth as a performer, once of incalculable value but steadily declining for years, hinges on the outcome of the trial, industry executives said.
"If he's convicted, that'd be a tough mountain to climb," said Steve Rennie, the former West Coast general manager for Sony's Epic Records label, which releases Mr. Jackson's albums. But even if he is acquitted, the prospects for a lucrative new contract appear dim, Mr. Rennie said, noting that Mr. Jackson's music is extremely expensive to produce.
Nevertheless, Mr. Rennie said, Mr. Jackson still could cash in on the international concert circuit, and even perhaps profit from his new notoriety.
"Forgetting Michael Jackson's personal circus, there was never a more electrifying performer, ever," he said. "It's a big world out there. I think there are promoters that would step up."
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Jury Selection Begins in Jackson's TrialBy JOHN M. BRODER
ANTA MARIA, Calif., Jan. 30 - Fourteen months after a small army of sheriff's deputies laid siege to Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch seeking evidence of lewd acts by Mr. Jackson with a 13-year-old cancer patient, jury selection began today in California's latest and greatest celebrity show trial.
Mr. Jackson arrived at the courthouse here today just before noon Eastern time, dressed all in white and surrounded by a team of lawyers and bodyguards, one of whom held a parasol to shade him from the sun. As he got out of a black vehicle, he waved to the throngs of fans and other onlookers, and the hundreds of news media representatives who have crowded the steps of the small courthouse here.
This will be the setting for what promises to be a months-long legal saga, whose every procedure and turn will be televised, pored over and otherwise dissected by the industry spawned by celebrity trials.
Mr. Jackson, who has said he is not guilty of child-molesting charges brought against him, did not say anything today before going through the metal detectors at the entrance to the courtroom, and a strict gag order will limit what is known about the proceedings.
But this morning, Mr. Jackson's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, told CBS's "The Early Show" that their son's accuser was only after his money.
"I know my son, and this is ridiculous," Mrs. Jackson said in the interview. She said people who believe her son is guilty "don't know him."
Mr. Jackson's father said racism was behind the accusations, as well as financial gain: "It's about money."
On Sunday, with his liberty, his livelihood and what is left of his reputation riding on the outcome of the trial, Mr. Jackson himself made a pre-emptive move by releasing a videotaped statement, approved by the judge, in which he proclaims his innocence. In the videotape, Mr. Jackson responded to reputed grand jury reports leaked to the news media over the last few weeks that said his accuser, who is now 15, had testified that the entertainer groped him and plied him with alcohol two years ago.
On the videotape, Mr. Jackson denied the accusations against him, pleaded for a fair hearing from the jury and the public, and predicted he would ultimately be "acquitted and vindicated."
"In the last few weeks, a large amount of ugly, malicious information has been released into the media about me," Mr. Jackson, 46, said in the video, which he released on his Web site, www.mjjsource.com. "Apparently, this information was leaked through transcripts in a grand jury proceeding where neither my lawyers, nor I, ever appeared. The information is disgusting and false."
The entertainer said he had invited the boy and his family to stay at his Neverland ranch because they had told him the boy was ill with cancer and needed his help. Over the years, he said, he has helped thousands of similar children who were ill or in distress.
"These events have caused a nightmare for my family, my children and me," Mr. Jackson said. "I never intend to place myself in so vulnerable a position ever again.
"I love my community, and I have great faith in our justice system. Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court," he continued. "I deserve a fair trial like every other American citizen. I will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told."
Mr. Jackson's life and music career have seemed on a downward spiral for the past decade, beginning with similar accusations involving sex with a young boy in 1993, which Mr. Jackson settled out of court for $15 million to $20 million.
The attention this new case has generated has further damaged the onetime King of Pop's already bizarre image and slashed his economic value. Music industry executives said conviction on some or all of the counts against him could effectively end his career as a public performer, although he still stands to profit from royalties on music catalogs he controls.
Hundreds of prospective jurors are expected to be screened for service on a trial that court officials project will last into the summer. Nearly 1,000 reporters, photographers, television technicians and courtroom artists have applied for credentials to cover the trial, which will be re-enacted nightly by a combined British-American television group that includes E! Entertainment.
Months of pretrial maneuvering have already produced thousands of pages of legal pleadings and teased a global audience awaiting the lurid details of Mr. Jackson's extravagant and eccentric life at his 2,700-acre private Xanadu in the hills between Santa Maria and Santa Barbara.
The case itself offers all the elements of a pop culture roundelay, including a music superstar who likens himself to Peter Pan; a grandfatherly prosecutor who has pursued him for 12 years; a silver-maned chief defense lawyer who is a colorful defender of the famous and the downtrodden alike, and a scandal-saturated media horde, many of them fresh from the Scott Peterson murder case. And throngs of Jackson groupies are promising daily courthouse rallies.
Court documents and pretrial arguments indicate that evidence will include testimony from experts on Mr. Jackson's finances, sexually explicit books and magazines taken from Mr. Jackson's bedroom, notes written by the performer to his young accuser, and a pair of white briefs, boy's size small.
The stern ringmaster in the case, Judge Rodney S. Melville of Santa Barbara County Superior Court, has conducted the pretrial action under extraordinary secrecy. The judge sealed virtually every piece of paper and silenced all the lawyers and other parties to the case under threat of jail time.
The lawyers have complied with the judge's order silencing them. But hundreds of pages of explicit grand jury testimony recently leaked out and have hurtled around the globe on the Internet and on ABC News programs.
In the final pretrial hearing before Judge Melville on Friday, Gordon Auchincloss, one of the lead prosecutors, said he expected the trial to produce "scorched-earth combat." "There's no mystery this will be a very contentious lawsuit," Mr. Auchincloss said.
Judge Melville, offering his final commentary before the legal winds begin to howl on Monday, noted dryly that he had felt a marked increase in tension around the courthouse. "Tempers are beginning to get short," he said. "There is a lot of pressure on everyone to have a case of such public scrutiny."
The defense team, led by Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., has made it clear it is going to put the accuser and his family on trial, accusing them of changing their stories and seeking to extort millions from Mr. Jackson. And the defense lawyers clearly intend to put the state on trial as well, beginning with the Santa Barbara County district attorney, Thomas W. Sneddon Jr., who they contend has a long-running vendetta against Mr. Jackson.
After his first run-in with Mr. Sneddon over the 1993 pedophilia accusations, Mr. Jackson wrote a satirical song about a "Dom Sheldon" who "really tried to take me down by surprise." The song's refrain, rendered "Dom Sheldon is a cold man" in the liner notes, sounds very much like "Tom Sneddon" on the album.
Mr. Sneddon, in his sixth and final four-year term as district attorney, is leading the prosecution himself. He was asked early on if he believed Mr. Jackson had gotten away with a crime in 1993.
"I think there's a sense in the public that he did that," Mr. Sneddon said. "My feeling about this is I'm sad that there's another victim out there."
The trial will exert pressure on Mr. Jackson's financial empire, which has appeared increasingly fragile in recent years. Even his close advisers say he is an extravagant spender whose wealth has been eroded by an overly lavish lifestyle, poor investments and a rogue's gallery of business associates.
Mr. Jackson has taken out an estimated $270 million in loans from Bank of America Corporation, backed by his two major music-publishing catalogs, and at least part of the debt must be repaid - or refinanced - - by early 2006, according to advisers close to Mr. Jackson.
For his income, Mr. Jackson relies heavily on the profits from the two publishing companies, which generate sales when the songs they own are recorded or licensed for commercials, films and the like. There has been speculation for years that Mr. Jackson might put his publishing assets on the auction block to pay off his loans, and there is little doubt that such a move could help clear his balance sheet.
Mijac Music, which holds the copyrights to Mr. Jackson's own hit compositions and other songs, including "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield, has been valued at roughly $75 million. Mr. Jackson's share of Sony/ATV, a joint venture with the Sony Corporation that holds rights to the Beatles hits, is worth perhaps $400 million or more, music executives say.
Mr. Jackson's worth as a performer, once of incalculable value but steadily declining for years, hinges on the outcome of the trial, industry executives said.
"If he's convicted, that'd be a tough mountain to climb," said Steve Rennie, the former West Coast general manager for Sony's Epic Records label, which releases Mr. Jackson's albums. But even if he is acquitted, the prospects for a lucrative new contract appear dim, Mr. Rennie said, noting that Mr. Jackson's music is extremely expensive to produce.
Nevertheless, Mr. Rennie said, Mr. Jackson still could cash in on the international concert circuit, and even perhaps profit from his new notoriety.
"Forgetting Michael Jackson's personal circus, there was never a more electrifying performer, ever," he said. "It's a big world out there. I think there are promoters that would step up."
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