a few weeks ago Laura mentioned that the Discovery ID channel has a show called True Crime with Aphrodite Jones which was doing an episode on the Michael Jackson trial. She is a true crime author and reporter who covered the trial for Fox News (i think – don’t hold that against her haha). the show was a 1 hour overview of all the problems that the DA’s case against him had, and went through the evidence (or “evidence”) and how the aquittal came about. Laura mentioned that she had the book Aphrodite Jones had written called Michael Jackson Conspiracy and she let me borrow it.
The book is based upon all of the trial transcripts and officially submitted evidence. Jones wrote the book because once the trial was over she realized that the media’s coverage of the entire trial was completely biased to the prosecution, and that the media had already convicted MJ and only reported things that would make people believe he had done the crimes. They ignored, or glossed over all of the many many holes in the prosecution’s case, as well as testimony from defense witnesses that supported MJ. So the book goes through the entire trial, all the major witnesses, and does a really good job at showing that MJ was innocent.
The Arvizo family who made the accusations are/were nutcases, and that is really really clear in the transcripts of their testimony. Especially the mother. It is pretty obvious they were targeting various celebrities to give them money and “stuff” by using Gavin’s cancer to make people feel bad for them. It wasn’t just MJ….MJ was just the most naive, and most easily taken advantage of. And of course, there is the seed that was planted in 1993 that he was a child molester which makes it that much easier to target him.
Now when I became a fan in 95 and learned about the 93 allegations, I decided they weren’t true. Having read the GQ article “Was Michael Jackson Framed?” http://www.buttonmonkey.com/misc/maryfischer.html it’s pretty clear that the Chandler family (or maybe just Evan, do not RIP) was pretty shady and out to extort money from MJ. Well they succeeded and MJ was branded as a pedophile despite the fact that a settlement does not imply guilt (in fact, in Jones book, his defense attorney thinks the reason for the settlement was that MJs handlers thought that $20 million was a drop in the bucket compared to what MJ would earn through tours and merchandise if he wasn’t involved in a trial…and thus money THEY would be making as well). Having one family succesfully extort money from MJ, and MJ’s continued preference to spend time with children and help those in need…the door was left open for other opportunists to show up. And that’s what the Arvizos did.
I’m not sure that their initial intention was to bilk him of millions through a settlement…or that they even planned ahead to accuse him of molestation, but it is totally clear that they were using him and other celebrities (George Lopez, Jay Leno and Chris Tucker testified about the family in the trial). MJ made it convenient for people to take advantage of him.
The book was very interesting, and included some things that were a bit surprising to me.
1. MJ was a porn freak. LOL this is not something I ever expected to hear about him, as to me, I never thought he was gay, I just thought he was asexual. He could dance sexily on stage and in videos, but in real life it just didn’t seem to me that he was that interested in any one, men or women. But apparenly he had quite the collection of porn mags kept in briefcases in the back of his closet. I guess he had a thing for playboy and hustler LOL. Well good for him, makes him seem like a normal dude. Now if only he had some Girls Gone Wild dvds in his collection….
2. MJ drank alot of alcohol. Again, this is not something I expected to hear because he always said that he didn’t drink or do drugs (well I guess we know now he was a bit of a drug addict). In trying to make the case that MJ was giving alcohol to kids, it came out that he drank on flights, he drank in his room, he drank with guests…he drank. Wine, vodka, tequila, jack daniels…The DA wasn’t able to prove that MJ ever gave the Arvizo kids alcohol, and in fact witnesses stated that the kids had broken into MJ’s wine cellar on their own.
Something not quite as surprising, as I always suspected it…MJ seemed to not have a clue what people around him were doing. The DA tried to make the case that MJ held the Arvizos hostage, or conspired to…which…even without knowing anything about the trial and evidence always seemed preposterous. The book makes it clear the charge was pretty much entirely made up by Janet Arvizo. But in the testimony, witnesses talked about MJs handlers, and how it seemed that they did whatever they wanted, were greedy, and MJ didn’t know what was going on. It always kinda seemed like that to me, because the last 15 years were filled with alot of seemingly bad ideas.
Since the book used the court transcripts and official evidence, it’s pretty clear why the jury acquitted MJ of all charges. The DA just wasn’t able to prove anything, and the things that they considered to be “smoking guns”, Tom Meserau (MJ’s lead lawyer) poked full of holes. The media made it seem like it was an open and shut case, and that he was guilty, but in reality it was not even close.
Once again I am convinced of MJ’s innocence. I do have to admit when the accusations were made for a 2nd time, I had to give pause to really think if he was capable of it. But it’s clear that both the Chandlers and Arvizos were looking for cash. MJ made it easy for them to try to get it.
I have to wonder though…if he had been conviced and gone to jail, would he still be alive? Would it matter if he was alive, but in jail? I suppose not, since even when he got out, I doubt anyone would have supported him or his career after that. I always thought he’d die in jail if he had gone, or comitted suicide, but maybe he was stronger than we all think. Or if this accusation and trial had never happened, would he have had so many problems that led to his insomnia and Conrad Murray and the propofol. What if the 93 allegations had never happened, would he have continued to be the massive superstar he was in the 80s and early 90s, or would his career have dropped off for some other reason. I would really love to hear from Jordie Chandler, as he would not cooperate with the 05 trial in any way…Clear MJ’s name, from the horses mouth, because the general public is never going to read this book, and never going to know the truth.