Posted on 06/08/2005 3:14:42 PM PDT by SkyPilot
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - In an unusual development with jury deliberations under way, the judge in the Michael Jackson case planned to release a statement Wednesday. The subject of the statement and the timing of its release were not immediately known.
The jury in Jackson's child molestation case ended deliberations for the day around 2:30 p.m. They finished and left the courthouse minutes after the plan to issue a statement was announced.
Word that the statement was planned came after attorneys on both sides met in chambers with Judge Rodney S. Melville, said Peter Shaplen, the news media pool coordinator for the trial.
The jury has now finished three full days of deliberations on the child molestation charges that could send the pop star to prison. The panel meets daily from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with three 10-minute breaks.
The defendant remained away from the courthouse Wednesday but his longtime friend, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, came by to advocate on his behalf before the news media.
Rev. Jackson charged that the jury was being subjected to "psychological warfare" because of a television report in which a former Santa Barbara County sheriff showed a jail where the singer might go if convicted and immediately ordered into custody.
"One might call it a kind of psychological warfare," Rev. Jackson said. "With an unsequestered jury, they are saying here is where he will stay."
In the Tuesday report, former sheriff Jim Thomas, a consultant for NBC, appeared at the main jail in Santa Barbara with MSNBC host Dan Abrams. Thomas showed Abrams the outside of the jail and talked about what would happen if Jackson is convicted and taken there. Pool video footage of the inside of the jail was shown.
Asked if the defendant was upset by the visuals of the jail, Rev. Jackson said, "He's not watching television."
Thomas responded to the Rev. Jackson's statements Wednesday, saying, "I think the jurors are quite capable of figuring out where he'll go, if he's convicted, without my help." The jury has been ordered to avoid all news reports on the trial.
Rev. Jackson said he spent four hours with the pop star Tuesday. He said the singer's parents, brothers and sisters were with him at his Neverland ranch.
"I came here as his friend and minister," he said. "I've known Michael since he was 8 years old. When people's backs are against the wall they turn to God."
The 46-year-old Jackson is charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him wine, and conspiracy involving an effort to hold the boy and his family against their will to get them to rebut a damaging documentary about Jackson.
The judge has determined that Michael Jackson will not have to be present for the reading of the verdict due to medical issues, I'm guessing.
Court TV just announced there will be no statement from the court today.
Plea deal?
2:30pm, why does the jury end deliberations so early?
Mind games. They are playing with the networks. I had heard that Jackson's family was on their way to the courthouse to speak which turned out to be not the case.
Strange................
I would love to see him without the wigs and makeup, though.
So that the commentators can prepare their make-up for the evening TV news and talk shows?
"Court TV just announced there will be no statement from the court today."
LOL!
The announcement could be some mundane matter, but tonight t.v. will speculate endlessly.
I don't know if I want that image scorched in my memory....;^)
No. The statement came out. Turned out it was about nothing.
Tom Mesereau put out a statement saying that the Jackson family spokesperson ( a woman whose name is something like Ramone Bain) is not speaking for Mesereau. Apparently she gave a press conference this afternoon saying that Mesereau authorized her to speak. But in the statement Mesereau said she wasn't and that there was a gag order.
I sure wouldn't!
That's what I was thinking--east coast news.
There is definitely some wierdness between Messereau and Ray-Moan!
It's probably an announcement that the jury won't convene tomorrow because of some type of family or medical emergency of one of the jurors. No big deal....
They deliberate six hours a day. That's pretty exhausting. Probably more than most juries deliberate.
Remember Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi?? : )
Thanks--that's strange. Fox News just reported a statement is imminent.
If there isn't a statement, perhaps the judge convinced the jury to go back into deliberations instead of being hung. Who knows right now.
See post #10
Man--if that is true it just shows how springloaded the media is. I posted this because it is the Breaking News headline on Drudge, FOX, and Yahoo.
If the judge is smart enough, he knows that hotel check-in time is usually 3pm......because this jury should be sequestered.
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