Another high profile trial is saturating the news coverage in the US. It seems that now in mainstream media sensational trials have come to dominate news coverage. They consume a very large amount of news time on all the 24-hour news stations, network news and local news shows.
Usually these trials have celebrities or government officials involved but not always as the Peterson case showed. Serial killers and mass killers also earn a wealth of coverage like the recently arrested BTK killer or the Columbine killers.
I feel it may be reasonable to cover these cases but the extent of coverage is just plain overkill in my view. The Michael Jackson molestation trial does not deserve all the news coverage it is getting.
Because of all the coverage I can’t help but form opinions about these cases.
Take the O.J. Simpson case of many years ago. I believe that O.J. is most likely guilty of murder but because O.J. had a jury of his peers (in many ways), lots of money, was in a community that did not have good relations with the police, and an officer lied about his racism (racist views are common for a large percentage of people in law enforcement unfortunately) and the making of racist remarks O.J. beat the rap.
The American justice system is highly flawed as we can see when a person like Peterson can receive a death sentence by a jury of his peers on a purely circumstantial case. While the case is a strong circumstantial case it is still just circumstantial.
A man should not be put to death on mere circumstantial evidence in my view because a certain depth of certainty is missing. There is no solid or conclusive evidence in a circumstantial case.
I do not believe in the death penalty in cases where mostly circumstantial evidence is used. I need scientifically valid evidence like a fingerprint, many eyewitnesses, DNA or something to even consider putting someone to death.
Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson is an entertainer and artist in the music business who has won international acclaim for his music, singing and dancing for decades.
I admit that I am a fan of his music and think he rightly deserve the title ‘King of Pop’. He has made many hits that still hold up to this day. You can dance or sing to a Michael Jackson song from the nineteen seventies or eighties in the year two thousand and five in other words. His music has spanned nations and time and now we come to this.
From what I have read in the press I still tend to believe that Jackson is innocent. The case seems very weak.
It is like a he said/she said situation. It is mainly Jackson’s word against his accusers although some of the accuser’s family members claim to have witnessed some suspicious activities. The key words here are family members.
There is some evidence that the mother of this clan has engaged in gold digging behavior. Jackson might look like the goose that laid the golden egg to this woman and unfortunately for Jackson she may have to wring the goose’s neck in order to extract the egg.
The prosecution has some weak evidence also. They say Jackson owned porn, which he showed to the kid, and that he gave the kid wine in soda cans which is implied he used to help seduce the boy.
The prosecution likes bringing up the fact that the fingerprints of the boy and Jackson were on porn mags that Jackson owned but this is basically a meaningless point. Because fingerprints from Jackson and the boy are on a magazine does not mean that Jackson and the boy were looking at the magazine at the same time or that Jackson authorized the kid to look at the magazine but even if Jackson and the kid were looking at the magazine together it would not be a serious crime.
Jackson would be guilty of showing a porn magazine to a minor without parental consent, which means he would be guilty of corrupting a minor not molestation. The same applies if he gave wine to the kid.
The prosecution is trying to build a case that is predominately circumstantial with the only witnesses being the victim and some in his family.
Child molestation cases have been made out of nothing at all in the past. There was a well-reported case (the name of the case ‘escapes’ me right now. I’ll edit it into this blog entry later or post another blog entry concerning the case) that involved the staff of a family owned day care center. Teachers, custodians, and administrative staff were accused of sexually molesting a whole slew of children.
A psychologist supposedly recovered suppressed memories from children from the day care center that indicated a large percentage of the staff at this day care center were involved in sexual molestation that involved strange (and some said satanic) rituals.
Some of the children recalled elaborate rituals in striking detail about how they and other children were subject to these rituals that culminated in sexual abuse.
Many years later, after lives and businesses had been destroyed it was found out that it was all a big ruse. The psychologists manipulated the memories (and planted memories ) of the young children.
Lets hope that freakish looking and eccentric Michael Jackson does not become the latest victim of some overzealous prosecutor and a gold digging mother.
To be honest the odds are against Jackson. Most people view him like the ‘Elephant Man’. Yes, he is looked upon just like the bent, twisted, and decrepit bones of the ‘Elephant Man’ that it is said he purchased
Jackson is our modern day ‘Elephant Man’. To many Michael Jackson is a freakish creature that preys on ill children. He is a pale-faced black/white animal whose humanity is negated and charity, past and present meant and means nothing (‘no good deed will go unpunished’ as they say).
All I can say is may justice prevail in the Michael Jackson case. May evidence inform the jury's reasoning and not petty human prejudices as often happen.