Year: 2004

So-called Fingerprint ‘bombshell’ a Smoking Dud? – MJEOL Bullet #230 A recent National Enquirer story about fingerprints was swiped by various media outlets and furthered by prosecution leaks. The so-called “bombshell” promised to be “devastating” for Jackson’s “case” and was supposed to be “damning evidence.” What most of these chicken-little reports fail to do is provide an argument that stands up to the slightest bit of scrutiny. That Enquirer report says fingerprints of the accuser were allegedly found on the same adult heterosexual porn magazine taken from Jackson’s house. Besides not knowing whether or not the story is true, no one seems to know when Jackson’s fingerprints were put on the magazine and when the accuser’s fingerprints were put on the magazine. Reports and comments from pundits, who already thought Jackson was guilty before hearing this story, were overly dramatic as expected; proclaiming this as a “smoking gun”. Others however were not impressed with this wannabe “bombshell”. What some of the broadcast news snatchers failed to include in their reporters were questions about the validity of the claims. Other non-prosecution/law enforcement sources have another story to tell. These sources say the accuser and his brother were very “disruptive” at Jackson’s home. Many times they–other children and adults too–were at Jackson’s ranch when Jackson was away, reportedly say sources who were there observing these children. They also report that the accuser, his brother and possibly other children were given free run of Neverland.

Why Did Prosecutors Abandon Initial Charges Filed Dec 2003? – MJEOL Bullet #229 Another strange issue in a chain of incredulous allegations in the Michael Jackson “case” concerns the various stories being told by the accusing family. As you remember, prosecutors filed one set of charges against Jackson in December 2003, then came out of the indictment process with an entirely different case: different charges, different counts, and a different timeline. This change was highlighted by defense attorneys in various court documents (docs). Redacted docs released November 24 2004 state that prosecutors filed charges on December 18 2003 charging Jackson with 7 counts of lewd acts and 2 counts of administering intoxicants. Besides denying the charges, Jackson’s attorneys say that this initial complaint was based on interviews from the accuser’s mother, the accuser and his brother. They say psychologist Stan Katz—who may be in serious trouble concerning his role in this “case” and his involvement with Bradley Miller—interviewed the accusing family more than seven (7) times. Katz also detailed to Santa Barbara authorities what he was told by the accusing family. They also reveal that law enforcement officials interviewed the accusing family more than two dozen times. All of this is what the December 18 2003 charging complaint was based on. From the court docs:

The complaint was based on more than seven (7) interviews conducted with the complaining witnesses by Psychologist Stanley Katz. Stanley Katz detailed the alleged conduct that formed the basis of the complaint, and the complaint mirrored his interviews and reports to law enforcement. In addition, law enforcement conducted more than two (2) dozen interviews with the complaining witnesses, and more than a hundred separate interviews with other witnesses. (see Memorandum in Support of Motion for Mental Examination pg 10)

Prosecution Actions Spark Questions about Stability of Case – MJEOL Bullet #228 UPDATE A last-minute collection of DNA, a possible prosecution rift, and dubious stories all conspire to create a most incredulous set of events Prosecutors were back at Neverland Ranch Dec 3 2004 to collect a sample of Jackson’s DNA for what some have speculated is a non-existent “case”. Over a year after Jackson was arrested and almost 2 years after the prosecution’s timeline, they are just now collecting a swab from Jackson’s mouth. Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera got his hands on some exclusive information pertaining to what prosecutors were doing at Jackson’s ranch Friday and Saturday (Dec 3 and 4). Rivera reports that Jackson’s home wasn’t searched or raided per se; nothing was taken from the premises. Rivera also questioned the reasoning and last ditch efforts by these prosecutors. Some legal experts have openly questioned the timing of the latest move by prosecutors, while others find it incredible that they didn’t already get a DNA sample long before now. While some pro-prosecution observers were struggling to try to explain this last-minute gathering of “evidence”, there seemed to be no plausible reason as to why this happened two days before the cut off date to hand over discovery. Rivera says that Jackson voluntarily gave the DNA sample over to prosecutors on Saturday. Erroneous reports have claimed that Jackson refused to cooperate with police.