Foundations were laid today in the Michael Jackson trial when as customary the prosecution presented their opening argument followed by the defense, paving the way for a more decisive view of the way both sides may tackle the case. The prosecution attempted to paint Jackson as a perverted, pedophile, luring young boys, plying them with alcohol and using them to assist him in his whims. The defense on the other hand, portrayed the family to have a history of lying while scamming an array of other celebrities, some who turned down the accuser’s mother's requests for financial support but that the humanitarian in and sympathy felt by Jackson lured him into "a trap" by the Arvizo family.
Before the start of opening statements Judge Melville read out the, indictment to the jury, twenty eight overt acts allegedly committed in a conspiracy charge and also introduced the names of five unindicted co-conspirators who were all allegedly plotting to keep the accuser and his family silent and under duress while Jackson was using the family as damage control measures. All of the co-conspirators are Jackson employees.
After a request by prosecutor Thomas Sneddon to use the accuser’s name citing the difficulties in having to redact names in a bid to secure anonymity, the judge allowed Jackson’s accuser be referred to by his name, Gavin Arvizo.
The Prosecution
Tom Sneddon in his opening argument stated that Jackson after the airing of a damaging documentary, when "Jackson's world was rocked" (not in a musical sense of course but in a damaging real life sense), used the entire family to rebut negative publicity brought forth and also went on to state that Jackson at the time was “heavily in debt†for about one year before hand. This drew an objection from defense attorney Tom Mesereau which was sustained by the judge stating that he had not ruled on whether to allow financial disclosures as evidence.
The prosecutor stated that the infamous documentary by Martin Bashir was an attempt by Jackson to rekindle his ailing career but that the airing of the program turned out to be “a train wreck" and against what Jackson thought it would be. This according to the District Attorney is when Jackson painstakingly sought the assistance of the family and especially Gavin Arvizo to paint a beautiful picture of Jackson as someone who is sensitive towards the plight of a cancer patient.
Sneddon went on to say that upon inviting the accuser and his family to Jackson’s sprawling estate, Neverland Ranch, and on that very first day of the boy’s arrival, the singer wasted no time in introducing sexually explicit material to the boy by taking him on tour of web sites with naked bodies. All this was while in the presence of Frank Tyson, one of the five unindicted co-conspirators and also Jackson’s own son, Prince Michael.
The prosecutor said the molestation occurred after those events, in February or March 2003, when the boy was 13. He described two specific incidents of molestation, including one when Jackson reached into the boy's underpants and masturbated the boy and himself. Sneddon went on to state instances of pornographic material found in various places in Neverland and also said that there were witnesses to corroborate the fact that Jackson plied the young accuser with alcohol. The explicit material seized after the barrage of search warrants issued for the entertainers ranch, have the finger prints of the accuser, his brother and in some both Jackson's as well as the accusers.
Sneddon, also did a cursory mention of other celebrities that the accuser had met through the laugh factory owned by comedy club owner Jamie Masada.
The indictment which had not been made public up to now, stated that Frank Tyson (or Frank Cascio), threatened the accuser, telling him that “Michael could make the family disappear†and also went on to say that “I could have your mother killedâ€. Making the family disappear may have been an agenda when in a bizarre tale recounted by the family state that allegedly Jackson’s employees tried to transport the entire family to Brazil in a panic stricken attempt. Also named as co-conspirators were Ronald Konitzer, Dieter Wiesner, Marc Shaffel and Vincent Amen.
Sneddon admitted at the end of his statement that the case would appear to be complicated and would require the testimonies of many witnesses to relay the story.
After a three hour opening statement by the prosecutor who over a decade ago was unsuccessful in pursuing Jackson of child molestation let defense attorney Thomas Mesereau proceed with his opening statement.
The Defense
Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau noting that it was an honor to represent Jackson did an excellent job portraying the accusing family as scams, the accuser’s mother as an opportunist using her son’s illness as means of extorting money off a host of celebrities (Jay Leno, comedian George Lopez and an actress who appeared in the television show ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’) as well as counteracting statements made by Sneddon in his statement read earlier on.
Mesereau reeling off a list of financial scams brought forth by Janet Arvizo or now Janet Jackson (the accuser’s mother) in his own admission “goes on and on†recounted to the jury of a numerous incidents where the woman tried to extort money off celebrities and at failed attempts threw frivolous law suits at these celebrities. Some of these celebrities refused to pay heed to the woman's plea for financial support while Jackson was sympathetic towards the then cancer stricken accuser's plight.
In one instance the accusers mother received $ 20,000 from one comedian claiming the funds would be used for her son although she went ahead and spent the money to bask in TVs, CDs, and home entertainment systems. The woman also once spoke with 'The Tonight Show' host Jay Leno over the telephone who later denounced the woman’s requests for financial support and told the Santa Barbara police that the woman was looking for “a markâ€. The accuser’s mother also approached celebrities like Mike Tyson, Jim Carrey, and Adam Sandler. But, Mesereau noted, "The best known celebrity became their mark, Michael Jackson."
Dispelling the prosecutions assertions of Neverland, Mesereau went on to say, "We will prove that Neverland is not a haven for criminal acts, a lure for molestation, a magnet for crime." The singer's intentions toward the teenage accuser were honorable, Mesereau said, noting that Jackson took time from his career to help the child, unaware that "a trap was set" for him by the boy's family. In describing the kind of help Jackson provided when the child was ill, Mesereau said the performer counseled the boy to visualize that he was playing Pac-Man and that cancer cells were being gobbled up.
Mesereau also referred to a newly added witness to the defense list but an extremely strong one none the less, who worked as a paralegal for the lawyer representing the family in the JC Penney case, another one of the family’s financial settlements. The witness claims that the mother fabricated her allegations in this particular civil case and that she was hesitant to come forward because the mother once laid threats stating that she has relatives in the Mexican Mafia.
The defense attorney also questioned the logic in molesting the young boy after the damning documentary was aired after which the pop star was under intense public scrutiny challenging perhaps the timeline of the abuse also. He also went on to dispel hostage stories by the mother stating that the guest house in which the family was apparently held against their will was also incidentally the suite requested personally by Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando upon visits to Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The family's exorbitant shopping sprees under Jackson's account while allegedly being held hostage was also pin-pointed by the defense attorney.
Mesereau's statement was halted at the end of session late Monday afternoon but will be continued at 8:30am Tuesday.
Source: thesmokinggun.com/AP/MJJForum/eMJey