Created: Thursday, 01 June 2005
Today’s Court Photos: http://home.mj-upbeat.com/?p=3631
On day 64 the jury in the Michael Jackson trial received the instructions Wednesday that will govern their deliberations into whether Mr. Jackson
molested a teenage boy.
Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville told jurors that closing arguments will begin Thursday and they will be given the case sometime Friday.
Mr. Jackson watched as Melville began reading lengthy instructions hammered out by attorneys over more than a day.
The judge listed the 10-count indictment against Mr. Jackson, which includes four counts of committing a lewd act on a minor. The indictment also alleges one count of an attempted lewd act, one count of conspiracy involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion, and four counts of administering alcohol for the purpose of committing a child molestation.
Following up on an earlier decision regarding the alcohol allegations, the judge told the jurors they may consider a “lesser charge” of “furnishing alcohol to a minor,” a misdemeanor. The instruction means the jury would not have to relate the alcohol to the purpose of molestation.
The judge paused at one point to determine if the jurors were paying attention.
“You know I read to my wife at night so she’ll go to sleep. Am I having that effect here?” he said.
Jurors at Michael Jackson’s trial were to hear closing arguments this week before going into deliberations to decide whether the Mr. Jackson is guilty of fondling a 13-year-old boy.
The prosecution and defense teams should deliver their final statements after discussing with trial Judge Rodney Melville the precise instructions that will be given to the eight women and four men of the jury.
There was no session Monday, which was a US holiday, and the jurors were not present during Tuesday’s discussions.
In closing arguments, the prosecution is expected to portray Mr. Jackson as a sexual predator who preyed on young boys, showing them porn and serving them alcohol to lure them into sex at Neverland, his fantasy-themed
California estate.
Mr. Jackson’s longtime nemesis, chief prosecutor Tom Sneddon is expected to tell the jurors Jackson had a history of sexually abusing young boys long before the alleged 2003 crimes for which he is charged.
Mr. Jackson, who has not spoken out in his own defense from the witness stand, has pleaded innocent to all the 10 charges that could land him in jail for as long as 20 years if he is convicted.
Lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau had initially indicated he might call some fellow-superstars to come to Jackson’s defense, including Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minelli, but only a few celebrities were called, including Macaulay Culkin, of “Home Alone” fame, who emphatically and repeatedly denied claims Mr. Jackson had fondled him.
Jurors at the Santa Maria, California courtroom heard a total of 130 witnesses during the three months of testimony that came to a dramatic conclusion on Friday when the court watched a videotaped police interview with the alleged victim.
In his closing arguments, Mesereau is expected to reiterate his claim that the mother, who has a history of litigation and fraud, coached the young boy to lie under oath in order to extort Mr. Jackson.
If Mr. Jackson is found guilty, the family could file a civil suit against Jackson.
The defense team has highlighted many discrepancies in the testimony by Mr. Jackson’s accuser, his two siblings and their mother.
The lawyers ridiculed claims there had been a conspiracy to hold the family prisoner amid panic in the Jackson camp over a February 20003 television documentary.
They pointed out the family kept returning to Neverland, and had plenty of opportunities to call for help, if indeed they had been held against their will.
The jury could begin deliberating in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial by the end of the week, a judge said on Tuesday, following instructions on the law and closing arguments by attorneys for both sides.
Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville, who spent the day working on jury instructions with prosecutors and defense lawyers with jurors and Mr. Jackson absent, said he wanted to hand the case over to the eight-woman, four-man panel by Friday afternoon.
“I want to get the case out late Friday,” Melville told attorneys for both sides after pushing back closing statements by one day.
Following that timeline the jury could begin deliberations late on Friday or Monday morning. Jurors were expected to work behind closed doors for about six hours a day until they either reach verdicts or announce a deadlock.
Melville ruled on Tuesday that in considering the four alcohol counts against Mr. Jackson, the jury could determine that he gave his young accuser alcohol but did not abuse him. Under that scenario they could convict him of a lesser charge.
Legal experts said the move, which is not unusual in California courts, did not affect the remainder of the indictment, and gave prosecutors an advantage as the misdemeanor charge might be easier to prove.
Mr. Jackson would face two to four years in state prison if convicted of the felony alcohol charge, while the misdemeanor charge carries a fine and the possibility of a shorter spell in county jail.
The judge made his decision while discussing with prosecution and the defense key rulings on how he would instruct the jury.
Recent Comments