Day: January 20, 2005

Leaks Force a Jackson Reply, Media Hypocritical About Response – MJEOL Bullet #238 UPDATE Ridiculous comments from ABC’s Jim Avila spark questions from some observers about the hypocrisy of his statements concerning grand jury leaks JAN 20 2005 — More fallout from the illegally leaked grand jury transcripts as the judge in the Michael Jackson “case” allows Jackson to make a public statement about the leaks. Sources say prosecutors are upset at the judge’s decision. Some observers are surprised that prosecutors would have the audacity to be upset after the way their side leaked the grand jury transcripts and other sealed court documents to two different sources: Court TV-backed thesmokinggun and ABC news. In an attempt to poison the jury pool with their one-sided version of events, someone on the prosecution’s side or sympathetic to the prosecution, leaked the grand jury transcripts to the media along with other reports. However, as mentioned in MJEOL Bullet #237, some observers who were squarely behind prosecutors have now started to question the logic and validity of the story once they got some of the specific details about the allegations through these leaks. To some, trying to stack the deck against Jackson may have totally backfired. It seems ridiculous to have a gag order in place if prosecutors are allowed to break it in such an obvious way and not be held responsible or sanctioned in some way. And letting Jackson make a public statement not directly refuting the actual testimony can hardly be seen as an adequate enough remedy, say some.