Year: 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.

Illegal Leaking of Grand Jury Transcripts, Shady Pros. Witnesses – MJEOL Bullet #237 Someone has broken the law by leaking sealed grand jury transcripts to a subsidiary of Court TV and to ABC News. All this while more information is revealed about the past of certain witnesses who prosecutors are relying on for their “other victims” theory JAN 17 2005 — Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson “case” seem to have gone into a tailspin, leaking sealed court documents in an effort to poison the jury pool with their one-sided version of events before the Court can seat and possibly sequester a jury. Chasing their quicker, entertainment based competition, ABC News took it upon themselves to only broadcast the prosecution’s side of the “case” based on the illegally leaked grand jury transcripts. Despite the numerous contradictions in this version of the story the accusing family told, the report could hardly have been described as a balanced presentation of “fact” around the “case”. In what I’m sure they may not have expected, ABC’s Primetime Live, which featured these illegal leaks, was selected as a rating’s loser by Mediaweek.com, coming in a distant 3rd with only 6.2 million viewers. That’s compared to CBS’s 18.72 million for Without A Trace and NBC’s 18.48 million viewers with ER on the same night (see Primetime Live featuring Jackson “Special” a Ratings Loser – Mediaweek.com). I guess the Jackson-bashing has finally taken its toll on an exhausted public; some of whom can’t believe the trial still hasn’t started or isn’t over with already. Or maybe they don’t take kindly to these types of transparent poisoning expeditions the prosecutors, with the eager help of the media, seem to be engaged in. Some observers—a number of whom were squarely behind the prosecution until they started to hear some of the specific details of the allegations—have now began to question the validity of the story. As those who were on-the-fence pointed out a year ago, the devil will be in the details. And the more details added to try to make the story believable, the more gaping the holes in the story have become.

Massive Prosecutorial Misconduct during Grand Jury Process? – MJEOL Bullet #162 REPOST 3 Part Series about the Defense’s 995 Motion and what they allege prosecutors did during the process JULY 8 2004 — There are shocking new details today (July 8 2004) in the Michael Jackson “case”.  Apparently there was massive prosecutorial misconduct during the grand jury process.  Prosecutors were bullying witnesses, became involved in personal arguments between witnesses and vouched for their version of events to grand jurors while accusing other witnesses of lying.  Witnesses were also told not to talk to the defense by prosecutors.  In addition, sources say prosecutors didn’t allow grand jurors to ask certain questions and denied their request to have certain witnesses called back for further testimony.  This is massive prosecutorial misconduct which can be corroborated by the grand jury transcripts.

In a scathing 127 page motion (995 Motion) filed by Jackson’s defense team asking for the indictment to be tossed out, his attorneys highlight situation after situation where prosecutors engaged in what can only be termed as misconduct.  From the motion, we lean that the grand jury proceeding spanned from March 29 – April 21 2004 but there were only 12 days of testimony.  It also produced a 1900 page eight-volume transcript filled with information—much of which is inadmissible at trial, says Jackson’s attorneys.