Posted by Stupidity Rules in Santa Barbara – MJEOL Bullet #42
District Attorney Tom Sneddon has released a statement today (Dec 15) saying he will file charges against Michael Jackson either Thursday (Dec 18) or Friday (Dec 19) of this week. Fox news reporter Geraldo Rivera announced on a recent show that he has spoken to a member “at the heart of the defense team.”
Rivera reports that if the D.A. pushes ahead with filing charges, the defense will not hesitate in making sure all of the huge, gaping holes in the prosecution’s case are made known to the public.
One of those gaping holes was revealed by thesmokinggun.com (see Internal Memo: Case Against Jackson ‘Unfounded’). That highly damaging summary memo is, it turns out, backed by a huge case file compiled by Child Protective Services (CPS), reports thesmokinggun.com.
CPS found earlier this year that the allegations of abuse against Jackson were “‘unfounded.”
“Unfounded” denotes that there was no merit to the allegations whatsoever. If CPS suspected abuse or suspect the family was lying, they would have ruled the case “unsubstantiated” (could be true, but no proof) or “substantiated” (is true).
The fact that the conclusion was “unfounded”is a hurdle the prosecution cannot overcome, according to some legal experts. Rivera also reported that members of Jackson’s defense team were trying to talk some sense into Sneddon and cooperating.
One guess may be the defense trying to warn Sneddon before he makes a fool out of himself by going ahead with this case. Rivera continues by saying that if Sneddon goes ahead with filing charges, “the gloves will come off” on the defense side. In a statement released on the new website – supposedly the reason why he delayed filing charges (hold your laughter) – Sneddon says “The time when the charges will be filed will be announced Wednesday afternoon.”
Sneddon has backed himself into a corner, thus he has no choice but to file charges or risk the ire of the media. However, once he files charges, they will definitely be picked apart line by line by those on both sides.
Couple that with the evidence Geragos has, and it will be rough seas no matter what Sneddon decides to do; stupid or not. As previously reported, Sneddon is currently being sued for $10 million by attorney Gary Dunlap (see Tom Sneddon Sued for $10 million).
Dunlap was arrested, prosecuted and later acquitted by a jury. The 102-page complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Dunlap charges that Sneddon and others were involved in witness tampering, malicious prosecution, racketeering and violating his civil rights during his case.
Could Sneddon end up costing Santa Barbara County and the state of California hundreds of millions of dollars if Jackson decides to sue for malicious prosecution and for other reasons? Time will tell. Let’s just hope there is no witness tampering involved in this Jackson case.
-MJEOL