Michael Jackson: the verdict on Netflix

[Meredusoleil]

Has anyone watched this 3 parter yet?

I watched it yesterday and am still struggling to understand how he was found not guilty on all charges!

Yes some of the witnesses were discredited and shown to be unreliable (Gavin's mum), but the information the children had all matched up (including the physical description of MJ's genitalia). How would they have managed to get that right otherwise?

I have watched lots of things about MJ and always thought there's no way they could have made this all up just for money.

However, I have also read that some of the things that were claimed did NOT match up (like the physical description of the genitalia).

So now I'm even more confused!

They may well have been completely white when he died, what difference does that make?

I believe they couldn't use it as Jordan was unwilling to testify and therefore wouldn't have been able to be cross examined. They could only ask June about things within her personal knowledge

The evidence clearly did exist or why did Michaels lawyers at the time say that it was the 300lb gorilla in the room and explain why they were so keen to settle then to make sure it didn't go to a criminal court.

There was no guarantee that Jackson would be found guilty if Debbie Rowe hadn't flipped.

If photos and sketches were taken by police officers they absolutely could have been cross-examined on those. They didn't need Jordan. The officers who took the sketches/photos could be cross/examined. If that evidence did exist they would have used it. Given how hungry the press was to convict him, they would also have been leaked to the press.

Settling in 1993 was a big mistake that came back to bite him, but in 1993 he was still at the absolute height of his fame and a trial of many years regarding child-molestation must have felt career-ending to him at the time. So he was advised to make it go away as quickly as possible and given what he stood to lose, $20 million was a small price to pay. Litigation would have taken years and cost millions in legal fees, plus he stood to lose his career, which at its height.

If photos and sketches were taken by police officers they absolutely could have been cross-examined on those. They didn't need Jordan. The officers who took the sketches/photos could be cross/examined. If that evidence did exist they would have used it. Given how hungry the press was to convict him, they would also have been leaked to the press.

Settling in 1993 was a big mistake that came back to bite him, but in 1993 he was still at the absolute height of his fame and a trial of many years regarding child-molestation must have felt career-ending to him at the time. So he was advised to make it go away as quickly as possible and given what he stood to lose, $20 million was a small price to pay. Litigation would have taken years and cost millions in legal fees, plus he stood to lose his career, which at its height.

Without calling Jordan I don't believe they could have used the police as a loophole to get Jordans evidence into the trial.

And they specifically mentioned the description/examination as the 300lb gorilla in the negotiation room.

In the UK the police officers that took the sketches and those that took the photos could have absolutely been called to give evidence, not sure about the US.

I believe this applied.

Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that transformed how out-of-court statements are handled in criminal trials. The Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause bars "testimonial" hearsay from being used against a criminal defendant unless the witness is unavailable to testify and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine them

So the detectives are lying? And where does your ‘evidence’ that they didn’t match come from?

They could have pressed charges but there are not many people in this world who would not be swayed by $25 million. That is life changing money.

You don’t pay people that amount of money if you’re innocent either. And after doing so once, you’d be crazy to continue that behaviour. Or obsessed. But continue it he did. Because he was obsessed with sleeping with children.