Emotional Pain of Seeing Michael Jackson’s Dead Body Language During Opening Arguments

by Dr. Lillian Glass

Seeing Michael Jackson’s dead body language in this shocking photo which was presented by the prosecution on the first day of the Conrad Murray is beyond devastating and painful for me. The photo says it all. In my view, it will also have a lasting effect on jurors just as it has an indelible effect on me and anyone else viewing it.

It shows a helpless Michael Jackson lying on a gurney covered with a sheet on the lower half of his body. It shows the results of the actions of a doctor who irresponsibly administered propofol when he should have known better than to give it to his patient.

So what if was reported Michael demanded to have it. So what of Michael allegedly had a drug problem and drug addiction issues. It was not Michael’s call. Michael was the patient and not the doctor. But unfortunately as we see here, there are doctors who will do whatever a patient wants simply because they are a star and can pay big money and they know they will get a lot of perks. Unfortunately this goes on all the time in Los Angeles doctors who cater to the Hollywood community. In fact there is a vulgar name for these type of doctors who are often referred to as “STAR F***ERS. Unfortunately , this was clearly the case here.

Seeing Michael lying there so helplessly with his mouth agape brings forth a myriad of emotions. For me it brought forth a torrent of tears. It stimulated a personal memory of how sweet Michael was to a homeless woman just days before he died. Having my office on Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills, I was well aware of a sweet woman who used to hang out in the street. Many passers by, including myself often watched out for her, giving her food and money.

One day Michael spotted her after he left Dr. Arnold Klein’s office a block away on Roxbury Drive. He had his driver stop his black SUV and summoned the woman to come inside his car where she later shared that Michael gave her words of encouragement and inspiration and was so loving and generous. with personal gifts and money.

Seeing the above photo continued to make me cry as I thought of Paris and Prince having to see their beloved daddy this way for the last time. I thought of Blanket who is still as traumatized now as he was since the funeral.

The photo also brought forth anger in me . The anger is directed at Conrad Murray, a doctor Michael trusted. That trust was betrayed as the doctor left the room to chat up his girlfriend while Michael was in crises.

While Murray should have never administered the lethal drug outside of the operating room, let alone in Michael’s bedroom, the fact that he wasn’t there to monitor Michael with proper equipment and left Michael all alone is unconscionable.

Had he been there and he seen that Michael was in physical trouble, he could have quickly revived him or he could have done immediate CPR measures to save his life. Michael died because of this doctor’s negligence in my view. Whether or not Michael had other issues or health related issues is irrelevant. In my view Murray’s negligence is what put the final nail in Michael’s coffin.

Yes, everyone deserves a fair trial but what is fair about leaving a person alone to die by not monitoring them? It screams of incompetence, lack of humanity, selfishness, and sheer greed.

Watching all of the nuances and the verbal gymnastics by the defense is a waste of my time and emotion. It hurts me deeply to watch this trial on a very very personal level as well.

I know firsthand what it feels like to lose a loved one at the hands of an incompetent negligent doctor who committed malpractice. My own very beloved brother Manny was killed at the hands of such an incompetent doctor who intubated him wrongly so that he became a vegetable and died. The doctor was only a doctor for seven months when he recklessly and incompetently ended my vivacious brother’s life.

Thus, I feel very deeply for the Jackson family (except for mercenary and obnoxious Joe). I feel for Michael’s kids the most and for his mother Katherine who not only had to put up with Toxic Joe all her life, but now continues to deal with the death of her precious and loved son.

The doctor who actually killed my brother due to his malpractice was found liable. Yet this miserable cold emotionless creature who showed no compassion is still alive and well practicing in New Jersey at the same hospital where his incompetent hands ended my brother’s life. Whenever I think of this fact, I am livid.

If I allow myself to think of the possibility that Conrad Murray may possibly get away with Michael’s death and be allowed to resume practicing medicine as though nothing happened, I get sick to my stomach.

Just as my brother did not have to die, Michael did not have to die either. I hope that Conrad Murray is NEVER allowed to practice medicine anywhere ever again and that he spends time in prison for his actions.

If Murray manned up and said he did wrong and was prepared to deal with the consequences I perhaps would have a bit more respect for him (not much but a smidgen more than I do now). But instead he is blaming everyone else. Sure there are other doctors who enabled Michael. But it was Murray who left him alone to die. That in itself is reprehensible!

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Casey, Michael, and Nancy

By Robin Sax 

Casey Anthony, Michael Jackson, Nancy Grace … It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, doesn’t it? I wish I could say it was. It’s not only not a joke but it’s crux of a legal argument. 

Imagine this --The King of Pop -- now being mentioned in the same sentence as -- wait for it, ‘Tot Mom.'
 
That’s right, Casey Anthony is casting a giant shadow in a courtroom thousands of miles away from her Florida legal extravaganza.



Lawyers representing the doctor accused in the Jackson drug overdose case, are demanding jurors be sequestered in this case. Why? Because, they say, interest in the upcoming Conrad Murray trial will be bigger than the Casey Anthony trial. Murray’s Lawyers have even gone on to say, “There is a reasonable expectation that Dr. Murray’s trial will be the most publicized trial in history."

 

Now, let me say I don’t disagree. Some of you may actually remember I left the Los Angeles County DA’s office because of this case. I knew on June 25, 2009 (the day Jackson died) what lawyers are arguing now. This case would receive gavel-to-gavel coverage. Now before you balk about my self-promotion, think about it, our society is obsessed with crime, obsessed with celebrity, obsessed with drama, characters, LA, so it’s the perfect story. Knowing this was going to be the biggest case of my time, I was NOT going to miss the opportunity to opine, as I actually have the skinny, the insight, and know the nuances of my former offiice.

The LA District Attorney’s office -- the players, the case, the evidence, and strategies -- will all be under intense scrutiny. Who better to cut through the hype than a former DA like me?
 


OJ was called ‘the trial of the century,’ but that was before the world-wide-web. OJ was covered via good old fashion cameras, radio, and reporters. But that was before Nancy Grace, bloggers, tweets and status updates. And Casey proved it – minute-by minute coverage paid off with sky-high ratings. 

And she wasn’t even famous. 

When everybody’s jaws finally returned to normal after the Anthony not guilty verdict, the experts began discussing what kind of impact this case would have on the jury system. I was one of them. Was I surprised by the Anthony verdict? Not really. I know what it’s like to stand up in front of a packed courtroom for a big trial. I know what it means to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, and never discount the burden of proof, something I think the Florida prosecutors did.
 
This one is going to be big. I just hope that the DA in LA doesn’t watch too much of its own press, drink too much of their own Kool-Aid, or get too cocky, like the Florida prosecutors did. This case, while seemingly easy on the surface, is actually tough. There are many legal nuances presented by a case involving a drug like Propofol. Then, there is the question of whether Michael was responsible for his own demise or not. And even with the best lawyers, a smart judge, and a good jury, the DAs will have to do their job. And they will have to do it even better than they think.

 

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor has previously said he doesn’t believe round-the-clock isolation of jurors is going to be necessary. And whether you agree or not, one must ask how much does the analysis, the talk, and the hype affect the case. Was Casey Anthony acquitted because her case got too much attention? I mean her jurors were sequestered after all.

Face it people, circumstances impact all cases. Rampart haunted LAPD for years. Kobe Bryant and the DSK cases affect all rape cases. We are a knowledgeable society, and we will weigh in. But are we weighing in fairly? I mean how crazy is it - the “People versus Dr. Conrad Murray” is being dubbed, ‘The Jackson Trial.’ Michael’s family will be seated in that courtroom day-in and day-out. His parents, siblings and his children will watch, as Michael is once again center stage. His health, use of drugs, odd behaviors, and yes, the condition of his body after death, will be exposed for all to hear. TV, analysis or not, these circumstances will affect the case just as much as a camera, and yes, even Nancy Grace.
 

The prosecutor in this case, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren, is a darn good lawyer. He’s fair and hard working, but in this post-Casey Anthony era, does he stand a chance? The evidence as laid out so far, seems to put Murray in a heap of trouble. But we’ve all seen what reasonable doubt can do to a jury. After Casey, I called for professional juries. The idea isn’t a new one, but it may be worth looking at. With 24 hour, seven days a week coverage of a case like this one, what pressures will Murray and his defense team face? What about the DA and his team? Can justice prevail? I don’t know about you, but I’ll be watching, tweeting, and Facebooking just as I’ve planned since 2009.

 Photo credit: ...ven y siente el RUIDO 

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Michael Jackson's Burial Mystery Revealed

by Diane Dimond

Fewer places are more beautiful than Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. It’s a park-like 300 acres of rolling hills, massive trees, majestic marble statuary and soothing water features. Hubert Eaton, a devout Christian, took over an existing graveyard in the early 1900s and designed it to mark a new and glorious beginning, rather than the end of something.

But this otherwise majestic place sits atop some dark secrets. I was able to glimpse a peek at the King of Pop’s eternal throne, and the reality is stranger than his Thriller video, sitting atop more than a dozen floors of secret subterranean burial sections housing the remains of ancient devil worshippers and Gypsies, sacrificial fonts and crypts decorated with pentagrams and a secreted area with shelves housing at least a thousand abandoned urns containing the ashes of souls no one claimed.

My behind-the-scenes tour of the cemetery was done by a man who had worked there for several years in a job that had him in the bowels of every single building, the entire breadth of the grounds, and he knew the place like the back of his hand.

“There’s Spencer Tracy’s plot -- and over here Errol Flynn’s,” says my guide, pointing to the appropriate places. After rounding a corner of one elaborate building, he motioned toward an out-of-the-way flower bed, pulled back a low hanging palm frond and said, “Hardly anyone has ever seen this.” He pointed to a plaque which read: Walter Elias Disney. Engraved underneath: “Ashes scattered in paradise.” Resting below, at the foot of a Little Mermaid statue, was a small stuffed Mickey Mouse.

Inside the mammoth Freedom Mausoleum, my guide points to a low marble bench and then up to the wall where a side-by-side crypt held the remains of Gracie Allen (1902-1964) and George Burns (1896-1996). He explains that every Tuesday for decades, Burns would sit on that bench and visit with his departed soulmate. The simple legend on their crypt reads: “Together Again.”  Nat King Cole’s crypt is above and to the right.

Downstairs in this particular building, down into more marble walls holding the remains of members of the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers, Alan Ladd, Dorothy Dandridge, Clara Bow and many others, my chest tightens. It was like breathing in a heavy dose of musty mold--a rotting, suffocating odor that forces staffers to leave open opposing doors so the breeze can carry at least some of the smell away. This smell of death cropped up randomly, in various buildings, throughout our excursion.

The talk of workers on the property immediately after his death was of exactly where Michael Jackson would spend eternity. His final family memorial service was at Forest Lawn’s Great Mausoleum, inside the elaborate Memorial Court of Honor.  In that hall, Jackson’s casket was staged under a stunning stained glass rendition of Leonardo da Vinci’s "Last Supper" masterpiece which occupies an entire wall.

This location likely would have met with Michael’s approval. He once commissioned his own special Last Supper painting and for years it hung directly over his bed at Neverland Ranch. In Jackson’s version he occupies the center space where Jesus is usually seen and instead of the disciples there are some of Jackson’s heroes painted in, among them Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Elvis Presley and Little Richard.

Once the hoopla surrounding Jackson’s death was over, Jackson was permanently buried in the uber-expensive “Golden Key” section of Forest Lawn, in the Great Mausoleum, which is outlined with a prohibitively tall brick wall. Only family members in possession of a special key are allowed to enter this rarified space where the likes of Mary Pickford, Sammy Davis Jr. and Humphrey Bogart are interred. It’s a vast and lavish area of the cemetery surrounded with glittering marble statues and elaborate sarcophaguses.

Until his body was moved, sources tell me, Michael Jackson was stored in a crypt almost directly underneath the Last Supper masterpiece. To get to that spot, my guide showed me a wide marble staircase, roped off to keep the public out, but clearly visible as going down. The first sunken level is where it’s expected Jackson will be held.

Standing at the top of these stairs is like standing on the top floor of an apartment building and being able to see all the levels of staircases. It has an eerie feeling to it, and, according to multiple sources, this is the route to the secret underground catacombs.

Michael Jackson lay in repose over no fewer than 13 subterranean floors, each holding intriguing secrets, some which could date as far back to the late 1800s. As one cemetery insider told me, ”It’s sort of the opposite of the stairway to heaven.”

When asked to confirm these areas, a Forest Lawn spokesperson denied they exist. But my sources, including another former Forest Lawn maintenance man and a mutual acquaintance of both employees to whom they gave contemporaneous accounts over the years, gave descriptions that were rich with detail.

“There is a level where devil worshippers were once interred,” my guide told me. “It’s complete with devil statues, pentagrams and an area where worshippers conducted weird services.”

Continuing down there is another level said to be dedicated to some of Los Angeles’ original and very wealthy industrialists and their families. They rest down behind ancient hardcore steel gates off to each side of a long main corridor.  These are the departed rich who wanted to spend eternity away from the prying eyes of common citizens. Families with names like Williamson and Wilkinson and Miller. According to my sources, the Miller family, of Miller beer, has ancestors interred in these underground spaces.

Another subterranean area, according to the guide, was set aside as the final spot for wealthy gypsy families, the figurines on their crypts otherworldly, and as recently as the 1960s, my sources say, their families would stage elaborate get-togethers to honor their dead relatives. Many doors remain padlocked deep within this labyrinth but when two workers opened one they discovered a room lined with shelves holding crematory urns for military men, police officers, nurses and city workers who were cremated gratis and held all these years because there were no families to claim them.

Both men told me that when their duties required them to be in these underground spaces they often felt the eerie presence of some of the forgotten occupants.

“I’m not a supernatural, ghosty kind of guy,” the guide told me as we continued our tour, “but more  than once when I was down in those places I felt cold and clammy fingers brush against the back of my neck. I knew I was alone down there--but I wasn’t really alone, you know?” Sounds like a real life "Thriller" location--and one whose history would likely delight Michael Jackson.

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia Commons portal.

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Tu be or not Tu be

by Anne Bremner

In the ever-evolving investigation into the death of Michael Jackson, there has been yet another bizarre twist: Dr. Conrad Murray has lodged his defense as suicide by Jackson. But there was another bizarre twist before of great note; the one-minute YouTube video released by Dr. Murray in August 2009, a sort of infomercial for the old PR tactic of answering the question you wish was asked. In this instance, a PR ploy that may well have backfired.

While YouTube is unquestionably an effective vehicle for producing and disseminating an unassailable statement, the public is not that easily duped. Evading cameras, microphones and probing questions--understandable. When that silence is broken by an obviously orchestrated statement such as Murray's, however, it is redolent of propaganda. Truth isn't delicate, fragile or easily shrouded. It can withstand being scrutinized, poked at, and examined from every angle. We, the public, have a healthy skepticism towards anything too slickly packaged. This is déjà vu all over again.

YouTube allows us to create our own entertainment, create instant celebrities--the piano playing cat, skateboarding bulldog, Snowball the disco cockatiel. It is a forum for raw footage of everything from natural disasters and amazing accidents, to horrifying incidents--the honor killing of a young woman by her own family, protests that turn into riots, or the abuse of power. It is predictable that such a powerful medium would mutate into an easily accessible marketing tool. 

Murray's tape, however, is a prima facia case of exploiting the medium, some would say, not well. The slickly produced video is out of place among the delightfully homespun wobbly, grainy, videos we find so endearing. The obvious splice in Murray's short video brings to mind (for those of us old enough to remember) the Nixonian 18-minute gap in the Watergate tapes. It raises our curiosity, prompting us to ask, "What was left out?"

Couldn't this man make it through a 60-second statement without requiring editing?

Disseminating information on YouTube is the cyber equivalent of a driving a top-speed funny car dragster--a short burst of excitement that requires the ability to maneuver a vehicle at lightening speed, and more importantly, bring it to a stop. As any lawyer who has represented a high-profile client will tell you, we spend far more time and effort keeping clients out of the public eye, flying under the radar. High publicity, sensational cases require meticulous handling, from the basics of keeping a client safe and safeguarding their privacy, to preserving their legal rights, staunching the flow of misinformation, and conducting independent investigation while responding to media, law enforcement and government inquiries.

While many lawyers utilize the advice and services of public relations professionals, there is a danger in confusing clever PR for skilled lawyering. In many cases, the lawyers and PR agents involved in a case early on will be replaced or dismissed as a case gathers steam and proceeds through the judicial system. One of the difficulties of taking on a client in those circumstances is undoing the damage that well-intentioned but detrimental PR may have already done--clients who have said too much, said the wrong thing, given the wrong impression. PR professionals can often have divergent purposes from defense lawyers. PR may concentrate on salvaging a career, public image, and even arranging paid appearances or book deals without an eye to how that may play out to a jury later.

As we often say, silence requires no PR. In this case, it may turn out that the evidence will exonerate Dr. Murray if it proves impossible to isolate, from a medically convoluted sequence of events, a single act that irrefutably lead to Jackson's death. Witnesses can and do lie, but evidence never does. In the certainty that evidence will exonerate, no words are necessary. The problem with self-serving statements is that they are often made by individuals whose credibility is already in dispute. I laughed at my 20-something neighbor's reaction to Murray's video. "The dude has passed the point where we're just gonna take his word for it. Dur," my neighbor said.

As the medium evolves, so will its implementation. I love it as a forum for all sorts of wacky, fascinating, shocking, inspiring and entertaining moments. As a lawyer, I would approach its use with great caution. Tu-be? Dancing Cats, singing dogs, surfing squirrels. The rest, at least for now, is not tu-be.

Now, Dr. Murray is presenting his defense in person. From the sublime to the ridiculous, the resulting disbelief may remain the same.

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Anatomy of the Michael Jackson Trial Part 2: Why The Prosecution Lost

by Anne Bremner

Last month, I discussed the anatomy of the defense in the Michael Jackson trial. Today, we turning our attention to the prosecution and dissecting why they lost the case.

The Prosecutor Was Too Personally Involved

The overzealous prosecution of the Michael Jackson case can be compared to that of the prosecutor in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. Thomas Sneddon’s near obsession with Michael Jackson invoked images of Inspector Javert's pursuit of Jean Valjean. Like Javert, Sneddon seemed willing to chase Michael Jackson to the ends of the earth, regardless of the substantive bases for criminal charges. For example, Thomas Sneddon executed more than 100 search warrants at the Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California. Compare that with a handful of search warrants executed at the Parker Ranch in connection with Charles Manson’s multiple and horrific homicide charges.

During the course of the trial, Sneddon displayed several hundred images of legal pornography depicting women that had no bearing on the pedophilia charges. Sneddon also tried to make Michael Jackson out to be an evil monster when, in fact, at worst, he was a troubled pedophile (if one were to believe the prosecution's charges). Finally, Sneddon laughed and scoffed and gloated during public statements about Jackson. Everyone in Santa Barbara County and the Valley knew that Thomas Sneddon had been pursuing Michael Jackson, prior to this prosecution, for well over a decade without success.

Jackson wrote a song about Tom Sneddon that translated to “Tom Sneddon is a Cold Man.” Fans sang it every day outside of court and displayed pictures of a devil-horned Sneddon and photos of Jackson as the Messiah.

Despite attacks by the defense on Sneddon’s personal involvement and motions that he try the case (apparently so they could attack him further), Sneddon stayed front and center in the prosecution of Jackson.

The Opening Statement – Nightmare in Neverland

It has been stated that 80 percent of all jurors make up their mind during the opening statement and do not change their minds, regardless of the evidence produced at trial, with respect to their initial conclusions. Sneddon’s opening statement was disorganized and weak. It contained personal attacks, and had virtually no visual aids. The prosecution did not get a pretrial ruling from the court on pedophilia pattern evidence such that they could make sense of that evidence prior to the introduction of evidence. Jeffrey Toobin, my colleague at CNN, opined that Thomas Sneddon’s opening statement was the worst that he had ever heard. Many publicly agreed.

The “Mother of All Mothers – the Attempted Extortion of Peter Pan by a Family of Actors and Con-Artists”

“You’d do anything for money. Money, Money, lie for it, spy for it, kill for it, die for it.” --Michael Jackson, “Money” from History CD

The defense successfully argued that if you cannot believe this family beyond a reasonable doubt, you must acquit. The reason that the jury acquitted, for the most part, was because they did not believe the accuser’s mother, nor did they believe her family. The mother was only called to testify to support the conspiracy counts, which were demonstrably weak. Had she not been called to testify, the resulting acquittal may not have ensued. The mother took the Fifth Amendment before the jury on perjury and welfare fraud. On direct examination, she snapped her fingers at jurors, asking them to pay attention to her,and accusing them of not doing so. Remember, juror number 5 paraphrased the reactions of the jury in the now infamous sound bite: “Don’t snap your fingers at me, Lady.”

When asked about how she would have escaped from Neverland and whether that would have been via a hot-air balloon, she snapped, “That’s just one of the ways.” She quibbled about whether she was allowed, during the time that she was allegedly falsely imprisoned, to have a full body wax, or whether it was a partial body wax. She admitted that she had access to the police during the time of false imprisonment, and had left the ranch on many occasions. She wanted to go to Rio De Janeiro with Jackson. She traveled with him, accepted his gifts, and used his credit cards. She saw no evidence that her son was being molested by Michael Jackson.

She filed a false claim against J.C. Penney, alleging that she had been sexually assaulted and beaten by them. She was paid $165,000 by J.C. Penney. She failed to report this money to the welfare authorities while she was receiving full welfare. She lied on welfare forms under penalty of perjury. She lied under oath during the course of the J.C. Penney case, saying that her husband had never beaten her, and then, during the course of her dissolution alleging under oath, that her husband had beaten her. She prompted her children to lie, saying that at least one was molested by their father, and told a paralegal in the firm that assisted her that she lied and had her children lie. She told the paralegal that if the paralegal were to repeat it to anyone, she “would be killed by the Mexican mafia.” She said she wanted her children to be actors and actresses, and she needed to help them get money through Jackson.

She also made newspaper appeals for money for her son’s cancer treatment, when in fact that treatment was covered by insurance. A newspaper editor testified that she believed the mother was a con artist. She got money from celebrities, such as Masada, George Lopez and Louise Palanker, purportedly for cancer treatment, and spent it on herself. She even took money from charitable sources meant to benefit her cancer-stricken son and spent it on a breast augmentation and a tummy-tuck for herself. To gain sympathy and money, she claimed to many that she lived in a barn with chickens. Michael Jackson, arguably, was just the next extortion target in a series of many from a woman who had always relied upon the kindness of strangers, not unlike Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire.

A videotape was played six times during the course of the trial, during the mother’s testimony and the testimony of her children and other witnesses that was created during the time of the alleged false imprisonment. In it, the mother and children waxed eloquent and rhapsodic about Michael Jackson: “He is our father–we lived as a family off of a box of cereal and he rescued us,” they said. And, “Jackson is God.” This family would have had to be Academy Award-winning actors to have falsely praised Jackson in this manner. The video was made at the same time child welfare authorities had interviewed the entire family, when the family had denied any molestation.

A Trail of Tainted Witnesses

“I don’t trust anyone except for my mother, and I don’t trust her half the time.” --Michael Jackson.

Never has there been such a parade of tainted witnesses (save for potentially organized crime cases). The prosecution called witness after witness against Michael Jackson who had sued Michael Jackson, owed Michael Jackson millions of dollars from jury counterclaim verdicts against these witnesses who had been found guilty of stealing from Michael Jackson, had sold their stories to the tabloids, or had been fired by Michael Jackson. It was an incredible parade of tainted witnesses.

Three witnesses for the prosecution took the Fifth, including a travel agent who was accused in a federal investigation of unlawful surveillance and profiting of Jackson, and a former employee of Jackson who robbed a Jack-in-the-Box during the course of the trial and ended up in custody in Las Vegas.

The one victim who did testify for the prosecution was not credible to the jury. His mother had sold her story to the tabloids. He had not disclosed the molestation until the time of trial. The jurors were overheard laughing purportedly after hearing his testimony, “He tickled me. Michael Jackson tickled me. Boo hoo.”

Very little evidence was presented during the course of the trial, other than the legal pornography (which the defense successfully argued could not be called pornography). There was little evidence pertaining to other victims (again, the defense was able to successfully argue that the word victim could not be used during the course of the trial). McCauley Caulkin, like other alleged victims, sang Michael Jackson’s praises and denied abuse.

The Prosecution Did Not Prepare Their Witnesses

The mother’s testimony was a disaster for the prosecution. Thomas Sneddon sat in the front row of the courtroom with his head in his hands while she testified.

However, the most ill-prepared witness was Deborah Rowe, the former wife of Michael Jackson. She testified that Michael was a wonderful father, that there was no conspiracy in the case save for one against Michael Jackson where he was the victim: a conspiracy of opportunistic vultures who make money off of making him look bad and taking advantage of his naiveté and childlike trust. She also testified that the prosecution was overreaching, that Michael Jackson was wonderful with children, and that he was a child at heart. Even after she went to dinner with the prosecutors, the next day her testimony was even worse for the prosecution, and she slammed their case every chance she got. She characterized all of the prosecution’s co-conspirators of Jackson people who made millions and millions of dollars off this case by pointing a finger at Jackson.

The accuser and his siblings were not prepared to testify. In fact, the accuser was caught in many demonstrable lies while on the stand, and forgot important facts that had been outlined in opening statement. In California, the jury is instructed, “If you find that is witness had willfully lied before you, you are entitled to disregard all of their testimony.” At the end of the day, the jurors requested a read-back of the accuser’s testimony and found that he had lied willfully before them, so they disregarded all of his testimony. Once the case was gutted thusly, and by the mother’s lack of credibility (wherein the jury found that she was a liar who caused the children to lie on multiple occasions, including in the accusations against Michael Jackson), the game was over.

The prosecution introduced the Martin Bashir documentary. This allowed the defense to introduce the outtakes, thereby putting forth sympathetic testimony of Michael Jackson, where Michael Jackson did not have to take the stand and face the rigors of cross-examination. At the outset of the trial, the prosecution introduced Martin Bashir’s documentary wherein Michael Jackson said that he shared his bed with children, that it was not sexual, and it was ignorant to believe that he had sexual interest in children. In this documentary, Jackson is shown holding hands with the accuser in this case.

However, on balance, the documentary had more to offer the defense than the prosecution. First, it contained footage of Michael Jackson singing everything from Thriller to his hits from his childhood Jackson Five days. Michael Jackson was not only tapping his foot, but the jurors were tapping as well. The documentary also allowed the defense to put outtakes of Michael Jackson before the jury, where he explained his view of the world and this case. He stated that he was the patron saint of children, that he loved children, that it hurts to be him, that he is misunderstood, that he is taken advantage of, that he loves only animals and children because they understand him, etc., etc. This testimony was not cross-examined.

The prosecution did not find out enough in the course of jury selection.

“Michael Jackson is just like us.” --Juror Number 5

In any high-profile case, the prosecution should find out the jurors’ attitudes about the instant case. The prosecution can simply give the jurors a sheet of paper and ask them to record everything they have ever heard about the case. If this is done, the prosecution can glean from the answers whether those jurors have any kind of attitude for or against the prosecution in the underlying case. In addition, in this case, the prosecution did not find out enough information about whether these jurors intended to write books about the case. We now know that five jurors wanted to write books and one was working on a book deal during jury selection. This, of course, will influence the way jurors vote in a case. Wanting to write a book generally means they are on the side of the celebrity.

The prosecution did not combat the hopeless but not serious factor: The Neverland Celebrity Animal Party and Pajama Day.

“Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad TV.” --Anonymous

The trial throughout was in many ways just plain funny. Starting with the parade of comedians who testified for the prosecution on Jay Leno--George Lopez, Jaimie Masada, and Louise Palanker--and ending with Michael Jackson’s description of wanting to have a celebrity animal party for his chimp, Bubbles, and for Cheeta, Lassie and Benji the dog.

The judge himself was funny and kept the jury in stitches throughout the trial. The problem is when the entire trial is truly funny, the seriousness of the charge can be lost. Many opined that Michael Jackson showing up in his pajamas one day was devastating for the defense. I always said on the air that I thought it was brilliant, and great for the defense. This is because he looked cute. These were not Hugh Hefner pajamas with slippers. These were little kid pajamas with little--where one could imagine bunny--slippers. There he sat before his mom and dad in front of the jury wearing his pajamas all day. Of course, every night on Jay Leno there was something about Michael Jackson, including one night when Leno showed up in his pajamas, his Sponge Bob T-shirt and slippers, accompanied by an umbrella carrier.

Michael Jackson’s personal magician Majestic was in the courtroom, together with all kinds of fans in funny outfits who voiced responses to the testimony. Outside of court, there were Michael Jackson impersonators with umbrella holders and Michael Jackson puppets. "The Daily Show" aired a spoof on the trial, as did Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, on an almost-nightly basis. On the day Leno testified, he later joked in his monologue that he had stolen the judge’s gavel. The next morning, when the judge took the bench he looked around the courtroom and queried “has anybody seen my gavel?” The jury erupted into gales of laughter, evidencing the fact that they had watched Leno the night before (and probably throughout the trial).

Michael Jackson's cause was helped by amusements ranging from his chimpanzees “chimps – those chimps, you know they love snacks” to throwing popcorn and pop on Macaulay Caulkin and riding go-carts with 10-year-olds, to entering on the red carpet every day with an umbrella holder, an entourage and fancy costumes. The mother of the accuser’s family had attempted on numerous occasions to bilk money from legions of comedians who testified in the case, culminating with the testimony of George Lopez, where each of the comedians basically did standup comedy on the stand in front of the jury.

A reporter from New York and I had just one gesture at each other during the course of the trial, which was to throw our arms up and say “whee,” because it was all about carnival rides, comedians, celebrity animal parties and crazy happenings inside and outside of court. Robert Musil had a wonderful line in The Man Without Qualities: “It is hopeless but it is not serious.” That really describes the Michael Jackson trial: it was a circus. It wasn’t really a tragedy as it was presented to the jury, it was a comedy.

Prosecution Had Too Many Misfires in the Twilight Zone of the Jackson Trial.

“Let the circus begin.” --P.T. Barnum

Watching the prosecution was like watching misfire after misfire as witness after witnesses stated the opposite of what was anticipated by the prosecution. And, the prosecution did not present a systematic case or consistent themes to the jury. It appeared that they just decided to throw it all up there and see what happens, and by virtue of their attitude of indignation and arrogance, convince the jury of the facts, about which they were convinced would lead to a conviction of Michael Jackson. The prosecution also failed to understand that the burden of proof is far higher when one is prosecuting a celebrity, and that the jury will want, in this day of CSI programs, some concrete evidence upon which to hang their hat if they are to convict a celebrity. There was no such corroboration and physical evidence, nor was there corroboration and believable testimony. During my briefings as legal expert by the International Press during the course of the trial, my most consistent quote was Dorothy Parker’s “what fresh hell is this,” as each day brought more misery for the prosecution during the presentation of their case in chief.


The Prosecution Bored the Jury

“Oh Baby give me one more chance” --Michael Jackson, “I want you Back” from The Jacksons

Trials should be theater, but they shouldn’t be bad theater. In what only can be described as reminiscent of the O.J. Simpson trial (the prosecution’s presentation of DNA, other evidence, and testimony from medical examiner), this prosecution team spent day after day on the minutia of telephone records and fingerprint evidence. They also bored the jury by presentation of irrelevant pornography and other evidence. It was shocking that when the prosecution did go through all the foundational requirements for the introduction of evidence, they just continued it day after day until the foundation of the evidence was completely undermined. When they brought in bag after bag of evidence and go through the chain of custody in front of the jury (instead of having it done pre-trial or by stipulation), they never did open the bags to show the jury what was in them. I put in my notes during those days that "it’s in the bag,” and it never came out. Even male-based pornography was not shown to the jury during the prosecution’s case in chief. Lessons were not learned from the O.J. Simpson trial by these Southern California prosecutors.

It isn’t often the defense is aided by the prosecution in a high profile criminal case. In this,and the OJ Simpson case, we saw prosecutors repeatedly and inexplicably misstepping while on their marks. Such anomalous results have been nothing short of astonishing. In the cases of the crime(s) of the century de jour, where the public cried out for conviction and justice, the prosecutors stumbled, fell and thereby made history.

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Doctors Who Do Harm: Beware the Ghost of Anna Nicole

by Diane Dimond

You may not give a darn about the late buxom sex-pot Anna Nicole Smith, but the recent verdict in a Los Angeles criminal case stemming from her drug-overdose death has certainly captured the attention of doctors nationwide. I’ll bet insurance companies specializing in malpractice medical coverage have snapped to attention as well.

After Anna Nicole Smith died in February 2007, three of the people closest to her--her attorney and lover Howard K. Stern, her psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and her personal physician, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were criminally charged. Among the most serious of the original 23 charges was “providing controlled substances to a known addict.”

Interestingly, the trio was never accused of actually causing Smith’s death, and along the way some of the other charges were dismissed. It came down to a trial about whether they’d engaged in a conspiracy to help the 39-year-old former Playboy cover girl and TV personality obtain prescription drugs through the use of false names and misrepresentation.

During nine weeks, the jury testimony boiled down to this:

Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor finagled prescriptions using both real and fictitious names to get mountains of drugs for Smith. She had recently given birth to a baby girl and a few days later she suffered through the overdose death at her hospital bedside of her 20-year-old son, Daniel. So, as the defense team presented it at trial, no wonder the poor woman needed drugs to get her through the ordeal! The prosecution argued this threesome of so-called professionals--an attorney and two doctors--acted not only unethically but that they each also crossed the line sexually with Anna Nicole Smith.

The 11 drugs found in Smith’s systems ranged from methadone (10 pills a day as prescribed by Dr. Kapoor and taken even while Smith was pregnant), to powerful sleep aids like chloral hydrate, and a long list of narcotic painkillers like Vicodin (prescribed by Dr. Eroshevich). The name found most often on her prescription bottles was Howard K. Stern but the doctors also used Jane Brown, Susie Wong and Vickie Lynn Marshall, which just happens to be Anna Nicole’s real name. Dr. Eroshevich was warned by two different pharmacists that the type and amount of prescriptions she was writing for her patient amounted to “pharmaceutical suicide.” Still, the state said, Eroshevich personally transported massive amounts of prescription drugs to Smith in both Florida and the Bahamas.

The jury ultimately acquitted Dr. Kapoor but found Stern and Dr. Eroshevich guilty of the false name conspiracy. While the dead starlet’s supporters moaned that it wasn’t enough of a conviction, the verdict still sent an earthquake sized shock through Hollywood’s celebrity, medical and legal communities.

California defense lawyer Harlan Braun told the Associated Press that writing bogus prescriptions in today’s paparazzi inspired media atmosphere is routine. “It’s absolutely necessary for survival in Hollywood. If … keeping these people anonymous is a criminal act, a lot of doctors will have to refuse to take celebrity patients.”

Do famous people deserve privacy about their medical conditions? You bet. Do their doctors get to break the law while attempting to facilitate their privacy? No way. I, for one, hope we’re witnessing the beginning of a trend where over-prescribing doctors are charged with serious crimes and lose their medical licenses permanently if convicted.

Prescription drug abuse is at epidemic levels. We spend millions on campaigns against street drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin but we say little about the scourge of desperation and crime left behind by those drugs that come via a prescription pad or an illicit internet “pharmacy.” I quoted studies in this space last year saying a total of 34 million Americans are currently taking painkillers or anti-depressants. Our kids watch us do it and many mimic the behavior.

L.A.-based attorney and addiction intervention specialist Darren Kavinoky agrees: “The fact is that we, as a nation, love our drugs. Pharmaceuticals appeal to a broader (and sadly, younger) audience, because they don’t have the stigma associated with street drugs, and are readily available … pills are now number two behind marijuana for young people, and we are seeing more addiction and more overdose deaths because of it.”

On the verdict in the Anna Nicole case Kavinoky says there’s one upcoming defendant who should be shaking in his boots. He is Dr. Conrad Murray who was tending to Michael Jackson when the entertainer died last June and who is set to go on trial soon on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Kavinoky explains that to reach their guilty finding the Smith jury had to have dismissed the expert medical testimony, “We’re all taught to believe doctors, to trust their judgment as being superior to our own. Those jurors had to disregard this notion in order to get to a conviction. This willingness to disregard the judgment, wisdom and experience of a medical professional should make Dr. Murray righteously nervous.”

Frankly, I hope it makes over-prescribing doctors everywhere mighty nervous.

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The Michael Jackson Trial: An Anatomy of the Defense

by Anne Bremner

"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy"

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Michael Jackson case was won by excellent preparation and lawyering by Thomas Mesereau (who was nothing short of “mesmerizing”). The trial ultimately became a three-ring circus—the circus outside of court, a circus inside the court and a circus in the mind of the accuser’s mother, who ultimately became the fulcrum of the trial and the downfall of the prosecution. The netherworld of the Neverland trial fascinates to this day.

The Defense Packaged Jackson Well

"All Children, except one, grow up."
- J.M. Barrie (Peter Pan)

Rather than as advised (putting Michael Jackson in a suit with one hand holding a girlfriend’s hand and the other holding a Bible), the defense dressed Michael Jackson in ornate costumes every day of the trial. During the course of the pre-trial, he wore a white three-piece suit with a gold arm band, the white symbolizing purity and innocence. On Cinco de Mayo, in a town that is 60% Hispanic, he wore a Cinco de Mayo vest. On the day of Jay Leno’s testimony, Jackson wore a joker’s vest, thereby showing a lack of hubris and some humility while facing the man who has been making fun of him on the nightly air waves and calling him a pedophile for months.

Michael Jackson entered as if on a red carpet accompanied by an umbrella holder every single day of the trial. On good days, he would carry his own umbrella and I noted those days on the air. Many celebrities have made mistakes in terms of what they wore to court, including Martha Stewart, who did not show much humility when she arrived for her trial carrying a Hermes Birkin Bag (a style that cost thousands of dollars). Or Courtney Love, who, when tried on charges of being under the influence of cocaine, looked like a rock star train wreck dressed in grungy cardigans and even a black strapless evening gown, showing disregard for the seriousness of the charges. Michael Jackson wore multi-colored jackets, different colored armbands, royal crests and military medals. Sometimes he looked like a toy soldier; other times he looked like a prep-school dandy. Throughout all, Michael Jackson conveyed to the jury a constant reminder that he is not like everybody else. He is rock-and-roll royalty, he is a celebrity, and he deserves special consideration. The Los Angeles Times called this the "fashion defense."

Michael Jackson Was Portrayed As Being in Tragic Decline

"Michael Jackson is one of the last living Innocents."
- Steven Spielberg

During the course of his trial, Michael Jackson visited the hospital on five separate occasions. He appeared vulnerable, childlike and sweet before the jury. Unlike Scott Peterson, his courtroom demeanor was absolutely perfect for this trial. He was respectful to the jurors, to the lower court staff, to the judge, and to everyone else involved in the trial. He also appeared to be in tragic decline throughout the trial. It was as if the trial was killing him. It would be difficult for the jury to convict and send to prison for the rest of his life a man who was barely holding on during the course of the trial itself. He weighed approximately 115 pounds. There were times during the trial that he had to go to the restroom to be sick, and he often appeared to be in obvious physical distress. He was taken to the hospital during jury selection, missing court, and showed up late for court in his pajamas, having been hospitalized yet again. The jury was aware that he was hospitalized twice during jury deliberations. It is human nature not to want to take out somebody who is already gone, and the defense sent the subliminal message through this that Michael Jackson had been punished enough (if there was some specter of belief in the jury’s mind that he was indeed guilty of child molestation).

Tom Mesereau was Mesmerizing

"If you squint your eyes it all makes sense"
- Anonymous producer regarding a made-for-TV movie about the Mary Kay Letourneau trial.

Thomas Mesereau was not the typical celebrity lawyer. He worked hard, he was dogged, he was prepared, and he pandered to no one. ABC News analyst Dana Cole stated, “Once Tom came on board, there was no more Hollywood slickness. He just decided to dig in and do the work, and I think that brought a lot of integrity and credibility to this case.”

Through the work of the defense, Michael Jackson’s world all made sense to the jurors. He was portrayed from the beginning, in the opening statement, as an odd genius who sits in a wishing tree and writes songs, as a Peter Pan and vulnerable child who would rather hang out with chimps than humans, one who surrounds himself with little children but is also the patron saint of children. Michael Jackson’s songs have healed the world and make the world a better place for children, and “What More Can I Give” and “We are the World” conveyed well to the jury. Michael Jackson was shown to be vulnerable throughout his life, because he was a child star, and that people only wanted to take advantage of him and that he never knew who to trust.

The culmination of that victimization was the prosecution brought by Santa Barbara County against him. Here the defense successfully put forth the theme that the case was about “money, money and more money,” and that the family simply wanted a conviction so they could extract even more money out of Michael Jackson. While the prosecution portrayed Neverland as “Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island,” the defense showed it as a refuge for children, the disadvantaged, the downtrodden, and the needy from all over the world. Neverland Valley Ranch had a full zoo, full arcade and movie theater, guest houses and its own fire department and miniature train and train station.

The Defense Closing Was Compelling

"Everybody gets so much information every day they lose their common sense."
- Gertrude Stein

The defense brought home its central theme in closing: if you have the slightest doubt regarding the credibility of the victim and his family, then Michael Jackson must go home. If you have the slightest doubt about the credibility of this family, then the prosecution fails. If you do not believe this family beyond a reasonable doubt, you must acquit. This is a family of con artists, liars and actors. Perjury is a habit for them. It is a pattern. The defense was able to show that the prosecution oversold their case and underperformed miserably, and instilled in the jury complicated feelings about the child star who grew up before all of our eyes. They pulled on the jury’s heartstrings about Jackson, his three little children and his family, including his mother, who were also dependent upon him.

The twists, turns and misfires in the twilight zone of the prosecution’s case were all turned against them. The defense called to the jury, essentially saying that jury duty is the highest calling in citizenship per Abraham Lincoln, and that the jurors needed to rise to the occasion and do the right thing. The verdict of acquittal was more reminiscent of the Scottish verdict of “not proven,” and that result was the natural progression from a very well-prepared and tried defense case and a failed prosecution.

The defense won because, (1) they were prepared; (2) they hit a home run in opening statement; (3) they destroyed the mother on the stand and thereby the son; (4) at every opportunity, they played the rebuttal video where the family denied being falsely imprisoned by, and spoke of their love for, Michael Jackson; (5) they presented Michael Jackson as a victim of opportunistic vultures and in tragic decline; (6) Debbie Rowe, the mother of two of his children, was a gem; (7) they had beautiful PR; (8) they had appropriate themes; (9) they capitalized on Michael Jackson’s celebrity; (10) they had a clear lead on the defense team; (11) they showed family support and had the mother Kathryn Jackson front and center; and (12) they took on Thomas Sneddon as a character out of Les Misérables.

“He could sing in front of 90,000 people but in front of 3 it is very difficult for him. We have sat in my studio when he is going to sing a new song and I had to close my eyes and turn my back.”
- Quincey Jones

Michael Jackson has left the building. He felt absolved. He was fully exonerated, although jurors have now indicated they have doubts about their verdict. The question is, was he bad? Was he the pedophile he was painted to be, or was he invincible? Was he truly innocent?

The prosecution had the haunting words of the accuser’s mother, “Michael Jackson has fooled the world.” Perhaps he did fool this jury. If Michael Jackson was indeed guilty and was wrongfully acquitted, perhaps his most lasting legacy is not (as he has claimed) helping children as the “patron saint of children.” Instead, it is in raising awareness regarding child molestation and the difficulty in proving these cases, thereby ironically helping to protect our world’s children from people like Michael Jackson in the future.

"I have seen him with children; they won't let him go to the bathroom without running in. They won't let him out of their sight. They even jump in bed with him."
- Lisa Maria Presley

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