Posted by Mesereau Speaks on Jackson, Bashir and the Trial – MB#278 JULY 31 2005 — The attorney who represented Michael Jackson did two radio interviews last week about the law and Michael Jackson. Mesereau –himself described as an ethical fighter of injustice — described Jackson as a gentle, kindhearted, nice person during an interview with Radio 5 in the UK on July 26 2005. He calls Jackson one of the nicest human beings hes ever encountered (see Radio 5 interview). What some people may not yet know is that throughout his career, Mesereau has spent a great deal of his time representing people who arent famous; people who cant afford to get a good lawyer. Hes volunteered his time and given out advice free of charge. He is certainly not your average celebrity defense attorney. Mesereau has two goals when he meets people and prepares to defense them, he says: (1.) to make sure innocent people arent convicted, and (2.) to make sure prosecutors and law enforcement dont abuse their authority. This came about, says Mesereau, because of his belief that there is sometimes a tendency for people in power to abuse it in some way; sometimes without consciously knowing theyre doing it. He says in different cases, hes seen instances where police officers would lie in court to achieve certain results. Hes also seen prosecutors quite willing to abuse their power, quite willing to prejudge people for the wrong reasons. The prosecution of Jackson offered many opportunities for a number of people to see a clan of prosecutors and law enforcement officers prejudging Jackson and abusing their power, say some observers. The dimpled attorney says the more he got to know Jackson and the evidence, the more he became convinced that Jackson could never be capable of committing the acts prosecutors alleged. He told the Radio 5 host, And in fact, I cant see Michael ever hurting a child. Hes one of the most childlike, kindhearted, charitable, decent, sensitive people Ive ever met. He commented that prosecutors must have known on some level that they were on the wrong path with their pursuit of Jackson. In deed, you would have to be blind with hatred and/or stupidity not to recognize the catastrophe that was the Michael Jackson trial. He continued:
And rather than admit it, they decided to just pursue him even more vigorously. Its almost like a way of compensating for the deficiencies in what they were doing. And they actually tried to demonize him and monsterize him to the point of utter absurdity. And I think the jury saw that.
Prosecutors obtained over 100 search warrants against Jackson; many of the later ones were signed by Judge Melville. When asked by the host if he would let his girlfriends son spend the night at Neverland, he basically said that its a moot point because hes advised Jackson not to let any of these families into his home in such a way again. He said, however, that the girlfriends son has spent time playing with Jacksons own children and theyre very comfortable with him being around Jackson. __Media: Wrong as usual__ Remember how the collective media thought Jackson was faking his back injury to gain sympathy? Well, Mesereau confirmed to Radio 5 that Jackson was actually in pain. For those without sense, this may come as a surprise. He also revealed that Jackson went to the hospital after the verdict as well. Imagine the arrogant medias shock as they are, yet again, slapped in the face with a truth they cant explain-away. Mesereau also spoke about the time when Jackson showed up in his pajamas much to the feigned outrage of the media. He says Jackson went to the doctor before court that morning. He was kept much longer than they expected. He says it was he who made Jackson leave the hospital and come straight to court because Judge Melville threatened to have Jackson arrested if he wasnt in court within an hour. There simply was no time for him to go home and change. The media never failing to completely miss the mark of course treated the incident as if Jackson planned to show up in his pajamas. One wayward media a$$hole even invoked comparisons to mob boss Vincent Giganti who walked around in a bathrobe in public. Now that was ridiculous even for this media coverage. If I could have physically reached into my television and slapped him in the mouth, I would have. Fortunately for me, the media has been doled out many bitch-slaps. Here are a few just related to the pajama incident. Slap #1: None of the jurors thought twice about Jackson in his pajamas. Only about 2 of them, according to post-trial interviews, even noticed he was in pajama bottoms. Slap #2: Despite the medias chicken-little chiding about this becoming a pattern of behavior, it never happened again. Slap #3: Woops! Jacksons back really was injured. Now they all look like arrogant and mean-spirited fools. The media loves to think they are more powerful and sought-after than they really are. I think its called delusions of grandeur. Yeah, yep. Thats it. Its a common mental disorder in people with paranoia, too. You know, like people who are frantically convinced that a person is obviously molesting a kid if that kid is in a bedroom for more than 2 seconds. __Bashirs disturbing behavior__ Mesereau also commented briefly about Martin Bashir. During the interview, he says he had very little regard for Bashir. Some say this entire situation began with Bashirs chase for American fame and fatter pockets. A number of people think that ABCs albatross is definitely full of crap regardless of how they feel about the trial. But then again, ABC deserves any headaches they get from Bashirs actions. Bashir has a long history of repeatedly being accused of misleading his interview subjects. He was accused of blackmailing at least one person, and accused of forging documents to convince Princess Diana to participate in the interview that made him famous in the UK. The glorified hack, as hes been called, was also censured by the British Broadcasting Standards Commission in the UK regarding his dirty tricks with another interviewee. On the stand in the Jackson case, according to many courtroom observers, Bashir came off as evasive and shifty. Bashir has done at least two misleading, defamatory slam-pieces about Jackson espousing his disturbed stance to the public. He, however, suddenly went mute on the stand under oath. He refused to answer questions by citing the California Shield Law; something that observers say may not have existed for him at the time he did the defamatory documentary. And, as many skeptical Jackson fans predicted, Melville didnt hold Bashir in contempt for refusing to answer questions. Remember, this is the same reporter who did his second slam-piece about Jackson during the actual trial seemingly in an effort to somehow sway public opinion that Jackson was guilty. __Misconceptions corrected__ Correcting the asinine perception of hundreds of children sleeping in Jacksons bed, Mesereau confirmed that there have been very few kids that have actually slept in Jacksons bed. Of course the spotlight is only on those who have because the prosecution attempted to paint a deranged portrait of who Jackson is. Mesereau told Radio 5 that none of these children were allowed to stay in Jacksons gigantic 2 story bedroom without the parents permission. He told the host:
I think you have to understand the context. First of all, there are very few children that had ever been in his bed. And Michael Jackson didnt allow any child to stay in his room without the parents approval, and without the parent having the right to stay there as well. And you also have to understand that Michael Jacksons room was not what you think it was. Michael Jacksons room was a large duplex, bigger than most peoples homes. Michael Jackson never permitted that without the parents coming to him and saying it was OK and without the parents having immediate access to the room, the door being open. And the sisters would stay there, kids would stay there and parents stayed there.
Jackson is the biggest target in the world, Mesereau said when talking about frivolous lawsuits filed against him. He says what many people have come to realize about the 1993 allegation. There were many not all, but many — people around Jackson who were chasing dollar signs rather than worrying about what kind of blueprint a settlement would set up. He told the host:
Basically Michael Jackson had a lot of people advising him who feared that the ongoing publicity in the case could damage his career, and in effect, damage their careers as well.
Mesereau says had he been Jacksons attorney at that time, he would have taken the case to trial and won it. Prosecutors never filed charges in 1993 because they had no evidence and no cooperating accuser. One question from a Radio 5 listener asked Mesereau what he thought about the prosecution. He definitely didnt mince words. He said, I thought the prosecution was very unprofessional, very malicious, very dishonest and mean-spirited in the way they presented this case. For example, he brought up the fact that there were 70 officers who raided Jacksons ranch; something that they had never done before. According to Mesereau, They did it because they were dealing with a mega-celebrity and they wanted to find anything that they could to try and win the case. Another example cited by Mesereau is that prosecutors had 9 fingerprint experts in this case; something that Mesereau has never seen in his years of trying cases. _A kid and a DA walk into a shrinks office _ One little piece of information that came out during the interview with Radio 5 concerned Jason Francia. Mesereau revealed that Tom Sneddon was at Francias first visit with a psychologist. This is very suspicious particularly in Francias situation. Francia was told all sorts of lies by police when they were first trying to get him to accuse Jackson back in 1993. He was cross-examined about his previous police interviews by Mesereau during the trial. To say that police were on Francias ass to make an allegation against Jackson is a complete understatement. At first, Francia repeatedly denied Jackson ever touched him. It was only after police talked to him some sessions without his mother present that allegations magically appeared. Authorities told the 12 or 13 year old Francia that Jackson was molesting Mac Culkin and that Corey Feldman was on drugs because he had been either molested by or simply was around Jackson. None of this was true (see Suspicious Police Questioning of Jason Francia – Hot doc ). And, from what some observers have said, Francia wasnt the only kid police lied to in 93-94 (see Police Lied to Young Children During 1993 Investigation? ). During the trial, at one point Mesereau quotes from Francias own words during that 1993 investigation:
MESEREAU: Do you remember stating in that interview, They made me come out with a lot more stuff I didnt want to say. They kept pushing. I wanted to get up and hit them in the head? Do you remember that? FRANCIA: No. MESEREAU: Would it refresh your recollection if I show you the transcript of that? FRANCIA: Probably not. But you can show it to me anyway. Official Court transcript 4908-4909 (starting at line 20)
So when it comes out that anyone from the District Attorneys office, let alone the DA himself, is going to therapy sessions with anyone accusing Jackson of anything, it raises more than a few eyebrows. And who knows what shrink he went to or how qualified he/she was. Francia and his mother got their money riding on the negative publicity and terrible advice around the 1993 investigation. Francias mother, Blanca Francia, sold stories to the tabloids and received $20,000 for doing an interview with the defunct tabloid show Hard Copy. __Enough money to fight a false allegation__ When asked what he would say to people who claimed Jacksons money got him off, Thomas Mesereau brought out the fact that the DA had the vast resources and power of Santa Barbara county to go after Jackson. This was far from some country, hick-town with one street light and a gas station. Mesereau says:
They had the FBI involved. They had the entire District Attorneys office involved. They spent millions and millions of dollars trying to get Michael Jackson. So thank God Michael had some resources to defend himself because Santa Barbara County basically went bankrupt trying to convict him.
And indeed the brewing storm may be around the money spent trying to convict Jackson. As it stands, according to recent information, its already been confirmed that the county spent $3 million around this trial ..and counting. Sneddon reportedly obtained over 100 search warrants in this case. A vindictive prosecutor has the power to turn your life upside down and legally snatch your property. Those who dont have access to good lawyers are railroaded into convictions across the country. So when I hear a ridiculous statement about someones money getting them off by some ill-tempered ignoramus, I cant help but to wonder if that person would feel the same way if they were in the same situation. If they were rich and falsely accused, I hardly think they would accept the legal services of an overworked public defender. __The media when will they learn __ The media came up more than once during the course of conversation. When asked about how a lawyer deals with the media in high profile case, Mesereau says that the lawyer has to stay focused: Yes, youre concerned about the media to some extent, but you know that the media is not going to properly report what happens. Expounding on that, he says its impossible for reporters to adequately cover a trial by relaying a few sound bites of what happened. He also criticizes how the media either cant or wont connect the dots. They create daily drama. They have a different agenda. And theyre not responsible for the outcome, Mesereau says. I think the worst thing a defense lawyer can do in a high profile case is get too worried about the media. Youve gotta do your job in court. __Mesereaus advice to Jackson__ Jackson handled himself very professionally during this trial, he says. He also says he does worry about Jackson because he is a perpetual target. Crooks, shysters and opportunists have the idea that when sued, Jackson wouldnt bother to fight in court. Mesereaus advice to Jackson:
I dont think he should be as generous and as kind-hearted as he is. Hes known as a person that, if you get to him with a tale of woe or with a problem, he tries to help you. And I think his home has to be off-limits to families he doesnt really know. He has to just keep in mind that even if hes doing nothing wrong, hes vulnerable to exaggerated claims.
Of Jacksons future, Mesereau says he hopes Jackson makes more music because hes a genius who offers very much to humanity. That sentiment is certainly shared by a number of people, including myself. But personally what I want most is for Jackson to be happy. If he feels like we (the public) are not longer worth his time, energy and creativity, then Ill just have to deal with it. But the world would truly be more dark, stale and cold because of it. -MJEOL