Posted on 06/04/2005 6:55:35 PM PDT by CHARLITE
MICHAEL Jackson's family wants the judge in the pop legend's child molestation trial to bend the rules and let them gather en masse around him for the fateful moment when jurors deliver their verdict.
Family aides said today they were hoping that Judge Rodney Melville will give Jackson more than his allotted six seats for family members in the courtroom. "The family wants to be with Michael when the verdict is read ... everybody wants to be there to give support," Jackson family lawyer Debra Opri told reporters.
Opri said she hoped special dispensation could be made for Jackson to have more than six tickets "but we will leave this to Judge Melville".
Jackson's mother Katherine has mounted a faithful vigil every day of the four-month trial, usually joined by his father Joe, and the 'King of Pop's' siblings take turns with remaining seats.
Sisters Rebe, Janet and LaToya were in court today, the day the judge handed the case to jurors. Brothers Jermaine, Tito and Randy have also been there during the case's final days, said Jackson's spokeswoman Raymone Bain.
"We hope when the jury delivers the verdict, the judge allows for the family to be in (the court) because that will make him very comfortable," Bain said.
Katherine Jackson was moved to tears in the final stages of the marathon trial, which could see her son jailed for more than 18 years on 10 charges of child molestation, conspiracy and plying a minor with alcohol.
She sobbed as defence lawyers showed video excerpts of the documentary Living with Michael Jackson in which her son relates the painful loneliness he suffered as a child prodigy.
She also cried as prosecutors played a video in which his then 13-year-old accuser tells a detective that Jackson molested him.
"She cried for Michael," Opri said.
Oh good gravy!
Tito and Germaine can't find out on CNN like the rest of the poor schlubs in the world who care about this crap?
My apologies to Jermaine for my spelling mishap. He's so SPECIAL, I should have known his name would be a variant.
I doubt he will be convicted of any of the serious charges - but if he is, expect the family to run outside to the mics and start screaming "racism".
I bet you call it.
The guy with the umbrella should give up his seat to a family member, it's the right thing to do. I think Janet can handle that job.
Maybe, just maybe, if Katherine and Joe would have been a little more attentive as to who their adult baby boy was taking to bed, they might not have to worry about how many seats are available for the family at the trial verdict? Just a thought?
I wonder if they will all wear matching outfits. They are no doubt getting their duds together even as we speak. I hope they don't go for nipple pasties like Janet did that time. Maybe they will throw in an armband for modesty sake. I wonder if the Style Channel will have special programing?
I cringe everytime I see that pedophile with an umbrella toting fool behind him. I will bath in his misery if he is sent to prison.
I suspect a trick. If the verdict is "guilty" they'll cause an uproar, and in the confusion Latoya and Michael will switch places. By the time the authorities discover they have the wrong Jackson, Michael will be on a plane to Brazil or Thailand. (g)
i just wish the bill n' hill clintons, the michael jacksons, the jesse jacksons, the dan rathers, baba streislands, baba boxers, ... et al would go away and not come back.
thanks.
It seems to me that with Michael Jackson's many health problems which send him to the hospital on a regular basis, issues, that there might be an underlying issue yet to be addressed:
Possible HIV?
I say they should get their seats....as long as they are roped off and the judge charges admission to see that collection of freaks.
"What did you do working for MJ, dad" I held the umbrella son. How embarrassing.
Thailand - The peds paradise.
heh-heh...guy with umbrella...heh-heh.....
It would really bum LaToya out if the authorities failed to discover they had the wrong Jackson.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1503453/20050603/index.jhtml?headlines=true
If Convicted, Michael Jackson Can Wear Makeup In Prison — But No Long Hair
06.03.2005 3:16 PM EDT
Singer would probably be sent to the same prison as Charles Manson and Robert Kennedy's assassin.
Single cell in Santa Barbara County Jail
Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
With closing arguments in the Michael Jackson trial completed and the case in the hands of 12 jurors, music fans worldwide are pondering the once-unthinkable image of the singer wearing the denim pants, long-sleeved blue shirt and workboots mandatory
for inmates in the California Department of Corrections.
What, exactly, will happen to Michael Jackson if the jury returns with a guilty verdict? According to California Department of Corrections officials interviewed by MTV News, Jackson would likely be handcuffed and driven to the Santa Barbara County Jail in the company of deputies from the county sheriff's department. Jackson would remain there while awaiting sentencing by Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville.
Ultimately, the 46-year-old superstar could find himself housed in the secure Protective Housing Unit (PHU) at Corcoran State Prison — California's most secure facility — which holds such infamous murderers as Charles Manson and Robert Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. But first, he would be sent to a reception center.
"If Mr. Jackson is convicted," said Margot Bach, spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections, "he, like any other inmate, would go first to one of the state's 11 reception centers, most likely in the Central Valley of California" (Santa Barbara County's new commitments are customarily sent to Wasco State Prison). There, he would be strip-searched, photographed and have a DNA sample taken.
Bach said that Jackson could spend anywhere from six to eight weeks isolated from the reception center's general population while authorities weighed such case factors as his age, criminal history and specific crimes. He would be dressed in the reception center's mandatory orange jumpsuit and be assigned a correctional counselor who would recommend the prison facility best suited to Jackson's needs. He could remain at the reception center for up to 45 days.
"Given what we've discussed with people in the classification-services unit," Bach said, "if Mr. Jackson is convicted on 10 counts of California Penal Code 288 (a) — lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14 — he would receive a sentence of close to 20 years." She added that the 1994 changes in California sentencing statute — commonly known as the "three strikes law" — make it mandatory for an individual convicted of a sex crime to serve 85 percent of his sentence.
It's likely that Jackson would be classified a "high-notoriety" inmate, meaning that his fame and wealth would make him a target for extortion by other inmates. Moreover, prison officials say that those guilty of child-molestation are generally considered to be at the greatest risk of violent attack by other inmates. Thus, it is unlikely that Jackson would have a cellmate, and Bach said the most probable destination for him would be the Protective Housing Unit at Corcoran, where Manson and Sirhan have lived in isolation for years.
Life for Jackson in Corcoran's 24-unit PHU would be one of near-solitary confinement, according to Terry Thornton, a public-information officer at the California Department of Corrections' Office of Communications. He would rise at 6 a.m. every day and live alone in an 8-by-10-foot cell with a metal toilet, writing desk, and a concrete bed with a thin mattress. Inmates are allowed trips to the law library and a minimum one-hour daily exercise period, but such excursions are always accompanied only by staff; inmates occasionally interact with other prisoners in the exercise yard, so it is possible that Jackson could meet Manson or Sirhan.
Inmates are allowed to shower at least three times per week; more, if they are assigned a job that causes them to get dirty (and yes, Jackson could be assigned to one of Corcoran's inmate-employment positions).
Unlike typical prison settings, where fellow inmates prepare the food, the convicts in Corcoran's PHU have their meals prepared only by staff. They receive three meals a day; breakfast is eaten in the inmate's cell, while a "sack lunch" can be eaten in the prison yard, if the inmate desires.
Visitation is on Saturday and Sunday, and visitors must have prior approval from prison officials. Anyone can write to inmates in the PHU, and if they desire to visit in person, the inmate can apply to add their names to his or her approved visitation list.
Inmates are allowed to attend religious services, including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Native American.
Jackson would have very limited access to luxury items. If he has money in his inmate trust account, he could order a small TV set and certain appliances through the approved mail-order supplier. No recording devices are allowed.
And what about Jackson's unusual grooming regimen? He would be assigned a light-blue chambray, denim pants, a denim jacket, white boxer shorts, white T-shirts and gray sweats. Inmates are expressly forbidden to alter their appearance, so no wigs, weaves, hairpieces or hair dye is allowed, barring medical necessity. Facial hair is also forbidden, and Jackson's hair could be no more than three inches in length.
But somewhat surprisingly, Bach explained, the regulations are not as strict on the issue of makeup, which is not considered contraband.
"Female inmates are allowed to wear a certain amount of makeup," she said. "And we do have male inmates who are transvestites — not that Mr. Jackson is a transvestite — and they are allowed to wear a certain amount of makeup as well. Men who choose to do it can do it."
The widely rumored issue of Jackson's nose being in part a prosthetic attachment, owing to the effects of repeated cosmetic surgeries, is a bit of a gray area for the California Department of Corrections. Bach said that inmates who come into the prison system already undergoing medical treatment — whether for chronic asthma, heart disease or a sex-change operation — are allowed to continue receiving such treatment.
"But you cannot have any sort of cosmetic surgery while incarcerated," Bach said.
MTV News will have live coverage from Santa Maria on-air, online and in Overdrive when a verdict is handed down.
For full coverage of the Michael Jackson case, see "Michael Jackson Accused."
— Douglas Century, with additional reporting by Ritesh Gupta
Nice ploy. "Your honor, we ask that a mistrial be declared because the defense is not able to seat all the family members who insist on being here when the verdict is rendered."
I haven't kept up very well with this freak show trial but one reporter was telling one of our local radio jocks that Jackson weighed 108 pounds at the time of booking and is probably under 90 pounds now. That's hard to fathom about a grown man who is not dying of starvation/AIDS/some other malady.
The reporter also said that Jackson is broke. He has assets but his debts are well beyond what he could raise if he sold it all.
I don't know if any of this is true, just repeating what this reporter was saying.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.