The commentators on the news channels are going wild, anticipating the announcement at 4:30 ET.
On Fox News, they're speculating about how Jackson will react if he hears a guilty verdict. He's 5'11" and he started the trial weighing 120. He must be down to 105 by now. He's very frail. A spider bite put him on crutches. An ambulance standing by at the courthouse. They expect him to be taken out of the courtroom on a stretcher.
On CNN, they're showing the crowd of Jackson supporters outside of the courthouse. We see a sign reading "Stone Cold Innocent."
MORE: Drudge is running two revolving sirens. I can't remember seeing that before.
MSNBC is summing up the evidence, with commentary on how strong the prosecutor's case was. The news anchor breaks in to report that a "large plane" has crashed into a residential neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale. And back to speculation about the Jackson verdict. Fox and CNN are staying with the Jackson verdict.
UPDATE: I'm glad Michael Jackson was found not guilty. As everyone on TV is saying, there was reasonable doubt. I loved watching the press conference with the jurors. It's quite inspiring, how solid and smart and diligent ordinary people are. Quite beautiful, really.
June 13, 2005
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11 comments:
Let's just hope that, if acquitted, he doesn't get on top of the defense table and moonwalk.
I think he'll pass out or cry whatever the verdict is. I better get to a tv.
5'11 and down to 105? Weird. Really weird. But we all knew that already.
My almost 14 year old daughter now out weighs him, and hasn't hit 5'11 yet.
The Rocky Mtn News today had an article on the prison he is likely to attend if convicted. It houses such notables as Manson and Sirhan. Fairly safe, and low stress, for a prison.
But I loved the last line, that it really wasn't all that great. It was hot, airless, and populated by a bunch of very weird people. Jackson would fit right in.
I should add that I am a fraction over 5'11, but haven't been 120, let alone 105, since probably fifth or sixth grade. By 13, when I hit my growth spurt, I was already 135. In other words, I haven't weighed that little since I was probably under 5' in height, almost 45 years ago.
Personally, I think the guy is a nut, but I think he is an innocent nut. I think his accusers smell money and that's what they are after.
JLP
Not guilty!
Looks like my gut was right.
JLP
AllThingsFinancial
Well, the next time someone cries wolf...
Tom Sneddon presented a weak case, one that depended on the word of a family that appeared to have attempted extortion of several celebrities. Whether they did so or not, the prosecution's case depended on their credibility. Obviously, the jury didn't buy it.
One can only hope that Jackson won't regard the verdict as a vindication of his questionable lifestyle and that he will, in the future, refrain from inviting children into his bedroom.
Prosecution:
Overcharged, overtried and underperformed.
Defense:
Lost the motion battle. Won the witness and the PR battles, won the war.
I agree with you, Ann. He was found not guilty fair and square. Why he chose to include the counts that required the mother's testimony is a mystery.
I have heard the word "ennobling" applied to the experience of being a juror, and again it is proven true.
People might use this trial to criticize the US but I think the opposite is true. Police from around the world report that defendants routinely ask for their constitutional rights when they're arrested--demanding that they live up to American standards they learned from cop shows.
When I worked in court, a lawyer told me all his immigrant clients would ask "how much to throw the case my way." They would look shocked when he gave them the answer: we don't do that. What a country!
I agree with Wandering Mind. Read what the jury members have said and you'll find they, like many other juries, didn't base their decision on the merits of the case. Whether or not the plaintiffs are grifters is not the point. Do any of you deny that MJ has done wrong repeatedly for years on end?
This is not a victory for the American court system.
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