Michael Jackson’s trial has entered its final phase and it is widely believed that he will either be acquitted of the most serious charges against him or there will be a hung jury.
The accuser’s testimony has been shot full of holes; his brother and mother have been blown out of the water by revelations that they lied on the stand; and at least two of the celebrities who he was accused of molesting when they were children totally and completely denied it. Macaulay Culkin’s testimony was devastating to the prosecution, as predicted, and the prosecution has failed to produce credible witnesses. How could a prosecution go so badly off course?
This case was so screwed up from day one that an acquittal will be a relief. If, by some stroke of luck that the jury convicts Jackson, there will be appeals for years to come. If there's a hung jury, we may have to go through this entire strange drama again.
This case is still very disturbing, and only highlights that there is a difference between celebrity justice and the ordinary criminal justice system. It shouldn’t be that way, but there it is. OJ and Robert Blake escaped jail time; it looks like MJ will too (unless everyone’s misreading the signs.)
It should be noted that OJ lost the civil suit that followed his acquittal in the criminal case against him; a civil suit just got underway against Robert Blake and he isn’t faring too well; the accuser’s mom in the MJ trial has made hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits against companies and will likely attempt to score big against MJ despite having no credibility whatsoever.
The clock is winding down fast; we’ll know shortly what will happen. Once the jury gets the case, there are two strong possibilities: either they will decide quickly, or they will deadlock and will stay that way. That's ThunderFerret's prediction on the matter.
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