Michael Jackson trial thread

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Giancarlo
I don't give a **** about the mother. I want Jackson convicted because there is plenty of evidence he did in fact commit these crimes.

Yet you haven't presented any.

The only evidence is the claim of the boy and his family, claims that are very dubious, considering their past record of accusations.

No, you want Jackson convicted because you appear to have some sort of irrational hatred of him. So sad.

[Giancarlo]

I'm not connected with the DA's office.

And no I don't have a irrational hatred of him.

You people are just like the fools who said OJ Simpson was innocent.

[MarkG]

Jackson's double courts attention

The camera ban in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial has proved fortunate for actor Edward Moss, who plays the singer in daily courtroom re-enactments on TV.

Moss performs highlights of the trial for Sky News and Sky One, surrounded by suitably adorned and costumed actors playing lawyers, witnesses, jury members and Judge Rodney Melville.

The 27-year-old from Hollywood admits the role has not been too demanding so far as he has only been required to frown, raise the odd eyebrow and pretend to scribble notes.

"Well I'm not about to hop up onto the table!" he says. "Unless Michael does that in court himself, of course."

Moss has been impersonating Jackson for a decade, having initially been persuaded to mimic the star for an employee talent contest while working at McDonald's.

Professional lookalike

"The first prize was $200, and as I was being paid $4.25 an hour at the time I thought I might as well go for it," he says.

"People had been telling me that I looked like Michael since I was four years old. I'm not a huge fan of his but I decided to put the similarity to some use."

Moss won the contest and embarked upon a career as a professional lookalike, singing and moonwalking along to Jackson's hits for audiences in the US, the Philippines, New Zealand and Japan.

He also played Jackson on spoof horror movie Scary Movie 3 and appeared on US TV in Nip/Tuck, Mad TV and The Tonight Show.

Although he does not reveal how much he is paid to mimic the 46-year-old star, Moss says it had given him "a comfortable life and a great career".

"I'm just glad I no longer have to ask people whether they want to Super Size," he says.

Moss is now expert at transforming himself into the star, a process he completes in just 45 minutes.

First he applies pale make-up onto his naturally olive skin. Then he uses make-up to make his nose appear "a little thinner", draws over his nostrils and eyebrows with black pencil then pulls on a long black wig.

"I've never had any plastic surgery," he says. "I've always said that if I couldn't achieve his look with make-up then I wouldn't do it."

Acting ability

Moss won the courtroom TV role after an audition process which judged his acting ability as well as his appearance.

"It's easier to recreate something Michael has done on stage or in a music video as that gives you a definite reference point," he says.

"Each day we receive the court transcript and I have to imagine how Michael would react. But I know his mannerisms and body language so that's no problem."

Moss says he had no hesitation in accepting the role, despite the nature of the court case.

"This a very serious case based around very serious allegations," he adds.

"People need to know what is going on in court and this a good way of showing them."

He says he has no idea whether Jackson approves of his courtroom mimicry. Moss briefly met the singer in 1997 while he was imitating him in front of Hollywood Wax Museum.

He says the star, who was disguised as a woman at the time, had been watching his performance and told him he was "really good" before disappearing with his entourage.

Moss has signed up for the duration of the court case and plans to continue performing afterwards, whether as Jackson or not.

"I can easily disguise my similarity to Michael by removing the wig and the outfit," he says. "I'm taking my career as it comes but I do see a bright future."

Michael Jackson court re-enactments are on Sky News at 0930 GMT every day and 1430 GMT from Tuesday to Saturday. Sky One shows them at 1330 GMT from Tuesday to Sunday.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Sn00py

There are millions of people far worse than Jackson.

We'll be burning them too, but first "the Joker" has to roast.

[Uncle Sparky]

I bet the defense won't be using the summery line, "Does my client look like some kind of pervert or monster?"

[Dis]

Originally posted by Giancarlo
I don't give a **** about the mother. I want Jackson convicted because there is plenty of evidence he did in fact commit these crimes.

you seem to have a grudge against Jackson.

Is it because he turned you down when you were a kid? It's because you want to have sex with Michael Jackson and you are jealous because these kids seem to be getting more than you?

[Max Webster]

Fez seems to sure take a beating these days.

[Giancarlo]

No I never liked the guy. I think he is a freak and I don't think he should be near kids. I think we also should punish the parents who let their kids go near that freak. I wouldn't even go 100 feet where Jackson is. You're a true stooge, pissy dissy.

I have a boyfriend.. just check the photo thread.

[Dis]

now for the really shocking admission.

I actually liked the song beat it as a kid. And I still kind of like it.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Max Webster


Fez seems to sure take a beating these days.

nah. You can't take a beating from morons.

[Max Webster]

Originally posted by Dissident
now for the really shocking admission.
I actually liked the song beat it as a kid. And I still kind of like it.

Was that song about masturbation?

[Drake Tungsten]

Isn't every song?

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
I didn't believe in burning people at the stake until I saw jackson lately.

Should be easy, I suspect he is highly inflammable

[Dis]

Originally posted by Max Webster


Was that song about masturbation?

It might have been

I also liked She-bop. That song was also about masturbation.

[MarkG]

Sister of Jackson's child sex accuser admits to lying

The sister of the boy who accused Michael Jackson of child abuse admitted in front of trial jurors that she had selectively lied about details of the case.

In testimony that was frequently contradictory, the 18-year-old who had earlier offered a damaging account of her family's stay at Jackson's home, conceded during cross examination by Jackson's attorney that she did not always tell the truth.

She also told jurors that she had previously made a police report in which she accused her father of molesting, falsely imprisoning and making terrorist threats against her -- similar charges to those made by her brother against Jackson.

Lawyer Thomas Mesereau cornered the woman over why she and members of her family had told social workers Jackson had never acted inappropriately with her 13-year-old brother who later accused the star of molestation.

"So you'd lie about certain things and tell the truth about certain things, depending on what you are asked, right?" Mesereau asked the woman. "Yeah," she softly replied.

The girl, along with her mother and two younger brothers, also made a video for Jackson's personal cameraman in which they described him as a loving father-figure to the family and the alleged sex abuse victim.

The accuser's sister told the court, however, that the video had been scripted by Jackson aides who coerced the family to say "nice things" about the star. Prosecutors claim Jackson aides held the family captive until they agreed to make the film seen by jurors Friday.

When Mesereau asked the woman if her mother had lied on the video when she claimed that only Jackson would help them get cancer treatment for the boy who later accused him, she said the star's aides had asked her to lie.

"She was just trying to make it more dramatic. That's what they wanted. We had been given a script," she said.

The girl said she and her mother, painted by defence layers as a financial predator who coached her children to lie in various legal actions, went to police after the father allegedly admitted abusing her.

She said she learned of the alleged admission of molestation when she overheard an argument between her parents, who have since divorced.

"It was just a horrible experience to find out he did that to me when I was young," she told the jury.

The accuser's sister denied her mother had sought money to pay for the medical care of her cancer-stricken brother, as Jackson's lawyers maintain.

Instead, she said, it was her father who had initially sought money, including fund-raising evenings at a Los Angeles comedy club and a newspaper appeal, against her mother's wishes.

The defence claims that the accuser's mother had used her son's illness to raise money even though the boy's medical treatment was covered by the family's medical insurance.

Jackson's lawyers claim that the alleged child sex victim's mother then allegedly used the cash to pay for such luxuries as breast enhancement operations and a tummy-tuck for herself.

The accuser's sister also denied that the family had engaged a lawyer to launch a civil suit seeking cash from Jackson before they filed criminal charge against him.