|
|
|
  |
| Sunday, 13 March 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Michael Jackson on Trial : Victim or villain? by Rikaza Hassan
It was in the 90s that controversy really began to surround the most famous Jackson (he's got a bigger following than Janet even after her nipple baring incident on live TV). At first he changed the colour of his skin from black to white claiming that it was due to a rare skin condition and not done purposely. Then he began going under the knife, chipping away at his facial bones and undergoing cosmetic surgery for his nose. The result was that he achieved his aim of looking like a living, breathing ghost and lost his nose into the bargain. He now wears a prosthetic. He then managed to woo the daughter of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley to not just a relationship but a full blown marraige.
Most people were surprised that the 'King of Pop' and daughter of the King of Rock 'n Roll managed to hold on to their wedding vows as long as they did. After break ups and reconciliations galore, they finally filed for divorce and Lisa Marie Presley had the fortune to have escaped the uncanny singer with her children from an earlier marraige relatively unscathed. The craziest of all his antics is perhaps hiring an Australian blonde to father his three children, Michael Jr., Prince and daughter Paris. He married the nurse in an attempt to legalise the birth of his eldest child and then paid her off with a couple of millions before sending her his frozen sperm to conceive his third child through artificial insemination. There was also the recent baby dangling incident where he dangled his kid over the fifth floor balcony of the hotel he was staying. He did not forget to cover the infant with a blanket to perhaps protect it from the elements. This time round however Michael has managed to get into the news for a more serious, far more disconcerting and illegal issue. He has been accused of sexually molesting a then 12-year-old boy in his bedroom at his Neverland ranch, built in the style of a theme park where he entertains children, especially those from his many charities for free. Rumours of paedophile behaviour have stalked him for the last decade or so, though he has always managed to close the lid on the rumours and allegations by paying off the accusers with tidy sums, before they prosecuted him under a grand jury. He has not been so lucky this time. Michael Jackson was charged on ten counts of child molestation and false imprisonment to which he pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 21 years imprisonment if he is convicted. The allegations against Jackson were investigated for at least two months before the prosecution managed to obtain a search warrant for his Neverland ranch and after two such searches, an arrest warrant for Jackson himself. Michael Jackson was indicted to a jury trial and released on bail of 3 million dollars. His lawyers were able to postpone the trial to after January 31st. The trial began in the weeks of February, and is now on its third week. The prosecution's star witness is the now 14-year old Star Avarizo who claims to have witnessed Michael Jackson sexually molest his older brother Gavin, at least twice during visits to the Neverland ranch. Gavin, then aged eleven was recovering from cancer. Jackson is said to have told him to have faith in himself being cured and to beat those cells like pacman. Star alleges in his testimony in court, that he saw "Michael's left hand in my brother's underwear and his right hand in his own underwear while on a bed". The defense claims that while Jackson did sleep in the same room with the boys, he slept on the floor while the boys got the bed. Star further testified, "He was rubbing himself. He had his hands in his pants and he was stroking up and down. He had his eyes closed." The brother further claimed that Jackson offered alcohol to his sibling on many occasions, camouflaged in soft drink cans which the singer called, Jesus juice. He also told the court that Jackson kept pornographic magazines such as Playboy and Barely Legal in a suitcase which he also showed the boys. He is also alleged to have showed sexually explicit internet sites to the boys on their visits to the ranch. The prosecution's second witness, sister of the accuser, Davellin Arvizo, 18, also claimed to have witnessed Jackson ply the boys with alcohol when she saw him in the wine cellar with her brothers pouring out drinks for them. But under the expert cross examination of the defense lawyer, her credibility was weakened when the defense was able to show that she had lied 'about certain things' when questioned by authorities. The defense also showed that she had no way of knowing for certain that the drink Jackson was offering the boys was in fact alcoholic and has made her admit the fact that her brother was 'thrown out of school.' The boys themselves testified at their depositions to have knowledge of the codes of Jackson's wine cellar and bedrooms. The last witness of the prosecution, PR expert Ann Kite who was in the employ of Michael Jackson for six days before she was fired, also turned out to be to the defense' advantage. In her testimony she claimed that Jackson was a 'victim of his own team' and that his aides were only interested in making as much money as possible out of Jackson, even resorting to embezzling. She said his image was poorly managed and that Sony had even planted an insider in his team. Sony Music has been desperate to get their hands on the Sony catalogue that Jackson owns, giving him the rights to the royalties of the biggest band ever, The Beatles. The court was also shown a video clip made of the accuser, Gavin Arvizo's family praising Michael Jackson and describing him as a 'father figure.' The clip shot at Neverland has the mother, Janet with her neatly coiffed hair, extolling the virtues of Jackson and how he saved them from poverty and got them back on their feet. It also has Gavin asking if he could call Jackson 'daddy'. The family claims that they were forced into recording the video as a public relations stunt when British journalist, Martin Bashir's documentary, Living with Michael Jackson was aired. Martin Bashir himself was questioned by the defense after being forced to testify for the prosecution though he refused to answer certain questions sighting an old Californian law allowing journalists not to name their sources. Paedophile, child molestor or mentally imblanced, the case against Michael Jackson is full of, not cracks, but actual holes which the excellent defense attorneys are exploiting to the maximum. The prosecution's witnesses so far have turned out to be, if not co-oporative, downright discrediting or supportive to the defense. Whatever your opinion on the truth behind these allegations, Michael Jackson will probably slip through the hands of the prosecution once again to go back to his Neverland ranch in California, to entertain children and hold on to his Sony catalogue as his kids grow up into one of the most bizarre and scary families of our times. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
The self-proclaimed King of Pop, Michael Jackson has managed to be in the
news ever since he started out as a member of the Jacksons. From being the
most talented of the five brothers, who could sing your blues away, to the
solo artiste whose hits took the world by storm, to the freak who changed
the colour of his skin and lost his nose to too much surgery, he has always
held the rest of mankind in fascination whether adoring or disgusted. 
