Posted on 08/05/2005 8:32:23 AM PDT by SkyPilot
LOS ANGELES - Jury deliberations in Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial were allegedly tainted by shocking misconduct that included smuggling in videotaped Court TV shows and secretly communicating with the pop star's mother, the Daily News has learned. Author Stacy Brown revealed the stunning jury room shenanigans he heard from two jurors who consulted him for help with tell-all books they plan to write.
"From what I've heard, the whole trial was a waste of taxpayers' money and time. That jury would have acquitted him even if they had a videotape [of the alleged crime]," said Brown. Brown says the two jurors detailed a laundry list of misconduct during the pop star's trial, including:
Ray Hultman
A juror sneaked a forbidden video of Court TV broadcasts featuring the prosecution-friendly Diane Dimond and Nancy Grace into the jury room, but a faulty VCR prevented a sneak peek.
Juror Eleanor Cook says she smuggled a medical text into deliberations to show "Jackson fit the book's definition of a pedophile to a T." Other jurors later held it over her head to "intimidate" her into voting for acquittal, she says.
Eleanor Cook
Cook admits she frequently winked at Jackson's mother Katherine in court and "exchanged wardrobe tips" with the entertainer's mom, which resulted in them wearing the same colors on certain days. "She [Cook] intimated that she communicated with Katherine Jackson, in some manner, during the trial," said Brown.
A gang of three female jurors were such rabid Jackson fans that they cooed, "Not my Michael . . ." when the panel discussed the felony charges against the pop idol. Both Cook and juror Ray Hultman "said these three women formed a bond, and their minds were made up about one-third of the way through the trial," Brown said. Brown, a former Jackson family friend who co-authored "Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask" with the singer's ex-publicist Bob Jones, was asked by Cook and Hultman to help them write books about their time in the jury room.
Both Cook, 79, and Hultman, 62, say they now believe Jackson was guilty.
After talking to Cook and Hultman, Brown says their explanations for voting to acquit Jackson while believing he was guilty "just don't add up," and it's "very unlikely" he'll help either pen a book.
"If they really felt Michael Jackson was guilty, they had the opportunity to send that message with their vote," said Brown, "They could have hung the jury - if they really believed a pedophile was going back into their community. . . . I think they are trying to sell books."
Brown said he is especially suspicious of Cook's motives because she fervently supported the verdict immediately after the trial and ridiculed the accuser's mother for snapping her fingers at the jury. "Don't snap your fingers at me, lady!" the feisty grandmother declared in explaining why the panel didn't believe the boy's mom.
And since the verdict, Cook has chatted with Jackson's mother by phone, Brown said. Bringing the Court TV video and the medical book into deliberations were violations of court rules because only trial evidence is allowed in deliberations and jurors are barred from considering outside materials, especially media reports.
Brown said Judge Rodney Melville never found out about the medical book, but a bailiff reported the video incident. Still, the judge did not boot the rule-breaking jurors.
According to Cook, the jury was so pro-Jackson they would have acquitted him within minutes if she hadn't protested, Brown said. "Elly [Cook] claims there would have been no deliberation at all if she hadn't said she thought he was guilty," Brown said.
Hultman and another unidentified juror apparently joined Cook in an early vote, leaving the panel split 9-3 in favor of acquittal, Brown said.
He also said Hultman claims he ultimately went along with the "uneducated" majority because he didn't think he could persuade them to reconsider. Cook has said she was "intimidated" into joining the crowd. It's unclear what swayed the third juror.
"Does California seem to have more wackos per capital than any other state or what? Does the sun bake their brains or are more nutcases just attracted to the west coast?"
As my dad would say: "California, land of the fruits and the nuts!"
if you're a black celebrity you get special treatment.
Reverse racism allows black thugs to get away with murder.
The irony is that if I were ever accused of a crime, this is exactly the kind of jury I'd want for my trial -- especially if I really DID commit the crime I was accused of committing.
Maybe.
Isn't this more than enough to declare a mistrial?
Um, with all due respect, there was no "black celebrity" involved. The defendent was Michael Jackson who used to be black.
Juror Eleanor Cook says she smuggled a medical text into deliberations to show "Jackson fit the book's definition of a pedophile to a T." Other jurors later held it over her head to "intimidate" her into voting for acquittal, she says.
That my friends is jury intimidation. It doesn't matter if it was committed by fellow jurors.
I don't know what the law is in California, but in other states, jury intimidation is a class one felony.
I wounder if they would relinquish their children to sleep overnight in Jacko's bedroom.
Oh, I don't know. I think it's nationwide. We spent five years in California and then moved here to Colorado. I haven't seen any decrease in the number of nutcakes per square mile.
I am not a lawyer, but I doubt it. If it had come to light during the trial, then absolutely yes. Now that it is over, I believe they cannot try Jackson again because of double jeopardy.
Think of the hypocrisy though. The police officer who were acquitted in the trial in Simi Valley of assaulting Rodney King were put in double jeopardy. They were retried under Federal Civil Rights violations and found guilty.
Pathetic.
What is it with kalifornia juries?
yep, if he was found guilty I believe they could look at this.
Maybe it's like another poster said, they are just more high profile in California.
"I think they are trying to sell books"
I think that's about right. What a sham a jury trial has become. Can't they prosecute these people?
There is no law in California.....it's all play acting.
It's the wild west out there with an ongoing invasion from the south.
Too bad...it's a beautiful state.
What a joke California's legal system has become.
-----
"I want justice!"
"How much justice can you afford, sir?"
"but I'd say fully 75% of jurors don't want to be there, they're just too stupid to know how to get out of it"
That, or they have menial jobs w/ gold plated bennies and they just prefer getting out of work for a few weeks.
The last time I got called it was for a grand jury. Here in Ohio, that means you go for something like 1 or 2 days a week for 6 months (I forget the exact terms). For most people, this is going to be a real pain. My company pays a max of 10 days / yr for jury duty.
Luckily, before they got down to me they filled the box w/ retirees and gvt employees who get payed no matter what.
Some representative sample, huh?
I hope I am wrong, but I do agree that - no, there will be no legal redress. Too much to hope for, but I do pray that either the ill got gains of whom ever is paid, gets spent on folly-quickly. Failing that, a civil lawsuit, even if counted frivolous, might keep these utterly fatuous persons from giggling all the way to the bank.
The final jury, those members of the general public,irrespective of their private reservations, is us. A quiet disgust will suffice- if they are not too thick skinned to recognise it.
Thank God Jackson bought a house in Bahran.(spel?) He should have plenty of child victims at his disposal living there. God help the children.
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