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It is not the most important story, but it is getting a huge amount of attention nevertheless
No, this story has nothing to do with peace in the Middle East, controlling the price of oil or resolving the problems in Thailand’s deep South. For many ordinary people, it’s much more important than that. Like it or not, the activities of superstars make news. And when a superstar is as eccentric as Michael Jackson, the coverage can be a bit overwhelming. So it is that virtually every major television station and daily newspaper, including the Bangkok Post, are giving day-by-day coverage of Jackson’s trial in Santa Maria, California. Since the proceedings may last up to six months, that may taper off slightly for a time, but you can still expect to see a lot about the man dubbed as Jacko (rhymes with “wacko”) for the foreseeable future. Jackson is accused of sexually molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient two years ago, giving the boy alcohol and attempting to hold him and his family captive. Chief prosecutor Tom Sneddon told jurors in his opening statement that Jackson had manipulated the young boy by giving him wine and vodka and showing him pornographic magazines. Altogether, there are 10 charges and if he is convicted of all of them, Jackson could face more than 20 years in prison. This is not the first time Mr Sneddon
has investigated the singer for sexual abusing a 13-year-old boy.
The first instance ended in an out-of-court settlement in 1993 with
no admission of guilt, but suspicions have surrounded Jackson ever
since. They were heightened by a 2003 British television documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, made by Martin Bashir in which the pop star admitted that he shared his bed with boys to whom he was not related. In that documentary, Jackson is seen holding hands with the boy, who also rested his head on the star’s shoulder. The prosecution’s case will rest heavily on the testimony of the boy himself and his sister and brother who claim to be eyewitnesses to Jackson’s misconduct. So far, things have not gone very smoothly for them. Jackson’s very aggressive lead attorney, Thomas A. Mesereau Jr, has caught the boy’s two siblings in potentially serious contradictions, possibly even lies. Both have blamed memory loss and nervousness for their mistakes. The boy’s mother, too, will have a lot of explaining to do. Jackson’s lawyers will claim she has a history of making false claims in order to extort money. Ultimately, the case will be decided by a 12-member jury, consisting of eight women and four men ranging in age from 20 to 79. There are no African-Americans on the jury, but there is one Asian, an Indonesian-American who has lived in the US for about six years. Interestingly, one of the jurors actually visited Jackson’s ranch, Neverland, when he was a 6-year-old child.
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