Category: MJEOL BULLET

Part 2: Astonishing Jackson Trial Discussion w/ Mesereau – MB#290 Part 2 | Part 1 DECEMBER 7 2005 — Discussed in Part 1 of this special MJEOL Bullet was attorney Thomas Mesereau’s comments at Nov 29 2005 Harvard Law School discussion panel about the Michael Jackson trial. Aside from his stunning information about the 1993 accuser, he also criticized the media coverage of the trial. The criticism was not taken well by the rather peevish TV host Dan Abrams (MSNBC). When he wasn’t rocking back and forth in his chair as if dispensing the wisdom of the universe, he was making some of the most asinine comments I have ever heard, probably spurred by the way Mesereau blasted the press in general. Had the media accurately and thoroughly covered this trial there wouldn’t have been a need for the MJEOL Bullets which you, dear reader, have been reading since the Nov 18 2003 invasion of Neverland.

Astonishing Jackson Trial Discussion w/ Mesereau – MB#290 Part 1 | Part 2 DECEMBER 6 2005 — “You can’t be

Stunning Revelations about 1993 Accuser via Mesereau – MB #289
DECEMBER 2 2005 – There were astonishing revelations from Michael Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau about the 1993 accuser ( Jordan Chandler ). Appearing at a conference at Harvard University’s Austin Hall to talk about the Jackson trial, Mesereau was asked a question from an audience member about alleged “prior bad acts” (1108 evidence) and if it was possible to make the first 1993 accuser testify at the past trial.

LeGrand Testimony Raises Qs about Ex-Associates’ Intentions – MB #288

NOVEMBER 29 2005 — In light of the most recent attempts of ex-associates to get into Michael Jackson’s pockets…again….MJEOL wanted to take a look back at court testimony from attorney David LeGrand.

Two clients of attorney Howard King are suing Jackson: Dieter Wiesner and Marc Schaffel. Wiesner (or ‘Weizner’ as it appears in court records) is currently suing Jackson for $64 million dollars. No one ever sues Jackson for a reasonable amount of money. It seems that everyone always wants to sue him for a gazillion billion dollars. But I digress.

Schaffel is suing Jackson as well. But Jackson is countersuing him for fraud, for concealing, commingling, and misappropriating funds. Schaffel’s also being sued for charging expenses for matters unrelated to the agreement between Jackson and him, for keeping false books of account, and for keeping $250,000 worth of paintings and statues that were to be delivered to Jackson.

Howard King Determined to Try Weak Case in the Media? – MB #287 UPDATE #2 Another lawyer getting his face on television while using Jackson to do so NOVEMBER 23 2005 — Surprise, surprise. Another civil attorney chasing after Michael Jackson’s pockets decides to attempt to try Jackson in the court of public opinion. We’ve seen this before. Five Neverland employees once sued Jackson claiming they were wrongfully terminated and wanted $16 million. He countersued. They lost their suit and lost the countersuit against them. They ended up owing Jackson over a million dollars in legal fees and compensation from the theft and sale of his property. They also had to file for bankruptcy because they couldn’t pay the judgment. King is representing former outed pornographer Marc Schaffel. Now another ex-leech who was tossed from the Jackson gravy train has hooked up with the same lawyer in an effort to extract money from Jackson: the alleged crook, Dieter Wiesner Instead of King trying his case in court, it appears he is trying it in the media. He released what some have called heavily edited and incomplete tapes of what seem on the surface to be private Jackson phone messages.

CBS Producer Gets Nailed in ‘Jesus Juice’ Scandal – MB#286 UPDATE NOVEMBER 10 , 13 2005 — As if we needed more disgusting proof of the type of bias from the people who were covering the Michael Jackson trial, we just got more courtesy of ‘CBS Evening News’ producer Bruce Rheins. From the what-the-hell-were-you-thinking file comes word that Rheins and wife Dawn Westlake trademarked the name “Jesus Juice” with a picture of a figure with long hair on the cross being crucified, wearing a single glove, a fedora and loafers. I’m not kidding. I would be the first to liken Jackson’s treatment by vindictive Santa Barbara law enforcement and money hungry media bosses to a modern day crucifixion. But what Rheins and his wife have done is infuriating to Jackson supporters and religious persons all over the world. What is ridiculously insidious is that this blatant behavior was from a person in the position of making decisions on which stories and angles got covered and which ones didn’t get coverage during the Jackson trial.

ABC Draws Fire After Naming Bashir and McFadden as Co-Anchors of Nightline – MB #285 Decision to front Nightline with a trio of reporters, one of which is Bashir, has been roundly panned OCTOBER 25 2005 – As if independent researchers, analysts, non-conformist reporters and real investigative journalists needed more reasons to create “blogs” and fire up their podcasts, ABC just provided them with yet another. As I was perusing more drivel – this time from the Los Angeles Times in relation to Jackson’s charity single — I came upon the news that Martin Bashir and Cynthia McFadden along with Terry Moran were named as “co-anchors” of the “new” Nightline. Nightline is considered one of the last bastions of real journalism and is anchored by Ted Koppel. But the switch to turn it into a half hour copy of damn near every other ‘quick-hits’ magazine show, with the addition of a trio of anchors, has drawn the ire of many long time viewers of the show.

Steepleton Whining about Jackson Song Timetable – MiniBullet #21 …and the media wonders why we think they’re full of it. OCTOBER 3 2005 — Scott Steepleton is bitching…again…about Michael Jackson’s charity song to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. If he’s not careful, one may begin to think Steepleton is so vain he probably thinks Jackson is taking his time simply to anger him. In yet another cry-baby/whining commentary for the Santa Barbara News Press, he complains about the amount of time Jackson has given to the production of his charity song. At a time when so many people involved around the Jackson trial have gotten caught up various legal entanglements, what does the public get from Steepleton? They get peevish commentary about a charity single which he will probably complain about…again…once it is released. Apparently, he wants Jackson to simply throw together a song with a gaggle of celebrities – each with their own busy schedules and individual relief projects. I guess Jackson should be able to wave a magic wand and force them to appear at his time schedule and where he wants them to all at the same time. None of this seems to have factored into Steepleton’s complaint, however.

Jackson Schemers Have Legal Problems of Their Own – MB#284 September 25 2005 – The months after Michael Jackson’s acquittal have brought many interesting developments concerning those who schemed against him, tried to benefit career-wise from his legal trouble, or sought to falsely imprison him around this past trial. People including Tom Sneddon, the flip-flopping Ray Hultman, former “Jackson family friend” Stacy Brown, Janet Arvizo, Chris Carter, Ron Zonen and the XtraJet owners have all had legal problems of their own. And tabloid Diane Dimond, apparently hired specifically for the Jackson story, has been driven from Court TV and had to settle a lawsuit based on a harassment allegation which she started. All of the aforementioned people seemed to have plotted, schemed and/or taken advantage of their positions for the betterment of their own bank accounts and public notoriety. Some have brought situations on themselves that are mildly amusing given that they all participated, in their own ways, in attempts to either profit from Jackson or tried to convict Jackson. Sneddon is caught up in a $10 million prosecutorial misconduct lawsuit. Carter was allegedly involved in a robbery where he was caught on tape. The XtraJet owners are in major trouble with the feds. Arvizo’s in trouble with Los Angeles County. Brown’s caught up in a plagiarism allegation from the flip-flopping Ray Hultman. And Zonen has apparently broken the law in a non-Jackson related case.

Part 2: Tab Reporter Gets the Ax Amidst Criticism of being Unfair and Unbalanced? – MB #283 Dimond’s 2003-2005 Jackson coverage isn’t the first time one-sided reports have hit the air SEPTEMBER 14 2005 In Part One of this special MJEOL Bullet, we discussed Dimond’s recent departure from Court TV and some of her pro-prosecution reporting on the Michael Jackson “case”. Also mentioned was the way in which she seems not to understand why some observers hold the view that she is less of a “reporter” and more of a commentator who has taken a specific side in this fight between Jackson and his detractors. And I’m not going to even get into her NY Post commentary with titles like “’93 mystery victim might emerge to sink jacko” and “Wife No. 2 will zing the King of Pop”! Remember, this is the same Dimond who publicly claimed she was distressed that Geraldo Rivera was “skirting the line” between being a reporter and being an opinion columnist when he correctly called the Jackson “case” a sham (Crier Live, Feb 4 2005 telephone interview). She chided him, claiming “This is not how a journalist acts”. Ha! She also had the audacity to ask if Rivera was trying to influence the jury selection; a question which wouldn’t be so laughable if it weren’t coming from her.