Jackson Scores Court Win – E!Online

Jackson Scores Court Win by Marcus Errico Aug 20, 1999, 12:15 PM PT The King of Pop is reigning supreme in yet another legal tangle. Michael Jackson’s latest victory tour came in a California court last month, as he won a lawsuit filed by the father of the teen boy the singer allegedly molested years ago, it was reported this week. Jacko was officially deemed the winner July 26, when an arbitrator ruled in the pop star’s favor, according to the Santa Barbara News-Press. The lawsuit had its roots in the early ’90s investigation by authorities in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles after Jackson was alleged to have molested a 13-year-old boy at the Neverland Ranch. Criminal charges were never filed, but the boy’s father filed a civil suit against the Gloved One. In 1994, Jackson settled that suit–while the terms were confidential, the amount was estimated between $15 and $50 million. The father (his name has not been released to protect the identity of his son) filed another lawsuit two years later, after Jackson went on ABC’s Prime Time Live and told Diane Sawyer the molestation charges were “lies, lies, lies, lies.” The father said the comment violated the terms of the original suit and damaged his family’s reputation. The arbitrator disagreed and found for the entertainer. Jackson is, of course, no stranger to courtrooms. Last April, he won a $2.7 million judgment against a videographer who claimed he had seen footage of Jackson having sex with a boy. In March 1997, Jackson beat several ex-employees who claimed they were wrongfully fired from Neverland after cooperating with authorities in the child-molestation probe. (Two of the former workers were actually ordered to pay Jackson $60,000.) The singer, who turns 41 August 29, hasn’t done much to bolster his King of Pop status recently. He hasn’t released an album in two years, the last being the 1997 compilation Blood on the Dance Floor, spending most of his time organizing charity concerts for the children of the world and scouting locations for theme parks and casinos. Source:[url=http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,5204,00.html]http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,5204,00.html[/url]