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Michael Jackson: The Trial - Season 1 Episode 4 - The Reckoning
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00:00you wish you would know what lies after life yeah what heaven is like I always said if I
00:14had to die I want to be buried right where there's children I want them next to me I
00:20would feel safer that way I need their spirit to protect me
00:30no wonder they're protecting you from I see them as protection I see them as like angels
01:00Michael Jackson is back in court for what could be the most crucial phase of his trial on child
01:11abuse charges a key prosecution witness is expected to testify today we needed to put
01:20Gavin's mother on the witness stand Jen was intelligent not well educated but intelligent
01:28and had a very good memory of events this is someone who was a guest at Michael Jackson's
01:36ranch during the period of time that he engaged in the alleged molestations and they were worried
01:43about her she was capable of blowing a whistle in a way that could be very harmful for them
01:49Gavin's mother is a key witness and some observers believe the outcome of this trial could hinge on
01:56her testimony throughout the trial I had to give Michael Jackson the benefit of the doubt that's what
02:09a defendant has a right to not guilty until proven guilty but I thought when Janet Arvizo got on the
02:18stand she would be convincing enough to make things look bad for Michael Jackson I wanted the jury to know
02:29that when Janet was in Neverland she was very distrusting of what was going on they were
02:34continuously trying to separate her from the children she told the jury that she's relegated to one of the
02:42guest cottages on the property her sons are in the house in his room the front door is locked so her
02:53kids are no longer with her and she doesn't have access to them and you couldn't just walk into his
03:00bedroom unannounced there's a combination lock in the access to the bedroom suite and then you walk
03:10down a hallway and the hallway had chimes in it they were activated by a motion detector so he would hear
03:18chimes going off if somebody was walking down the hallway do you think Janet knew that her son was being
03:25listen I asked her that many times she certainly had concerns it reached the point where she knew she
03:33just had to get out of there and she had to get her kids out of there but she just wasn't allowed to leave
03:39to keep her and the kids on Neverland they were telling her there are killers who want to do harm to
03:48her children you need to stay here Janet told the jury she was compelled to do this video by Michael
03:59Jackson's people because they knew that the Bashir documentary was a problem for him so they had the
04:06whole family sitting in chairs talking about how wonderful Michael Jackson was but it was a tape that
04:14they did deliberately to be able to use in the contingency of this happening where there was an
04:21arrest where there was a prosecution my responsibility of a mother is to make sure that my children are in
04:28safe safety they were controlling her and where she went and what she did and who she talked to you know
04:40they were desperate to keep this under the carpet the stories by these accusers were extraordinarily
04:51convincing Michael what was it like seeing the bus muttering at you I'm sorry I can't comment
04:56sorry I can't comment was she kidnapped absolutely not most false fabrication you ever heard in your life
05:07most of the jurors were really taken aback by what Janet said on the witness stand but I think they were
05:20not totally convinced that the allegation was true none of it computed none of it made sense to me
05:32my family's visit to Neverland coincided with the Arvizo family
05:40we said hello to them and we got to know them and their kids seemed like really friendly Gavin
05:49thank God seemed uh healthy which was a really good thing and I spoke to his mother and she explained to
05:55me the journey they had been on I felt that they were very happy to be at Neverland
05:59Gavin Gavin was completely normal and there was no weirdness with his family so none of this stuff
06:07makes sense I am subpoenaed by the prosecution to testify about what I saw at Neverland
06:22his name is Rudy Provencio he reportedly has kept diaries and logs about some of the weirdness and
06:31things that he thought wasn't quite right I was fearful and anxious but I didn't see anything wrong with
06:41just telling the truth of what I know especially when a child might have been violated in some way
06:46it is a person's responsibility I told the jury I had overheard a conversation that is being told to
06:56the mother that these killers could be out there to get you and you have to be careful you need protection
07:03it was obvious to me that they were worried that the Arvizos were going to talk and make the problem worse
07:11for Michael one of the witnesses that I remember quite clearly was Rudy Provencio I totally believed
07:25him thought he was telling the truth about how his feelings about the Arvizos and that they were being held at
07:35the ranch Rudy was a compelling witness and not only that we found a tape where they recorded the call
07:47and they told her there are killers who are out there who want to do harm the DA revealed today that
07:54he can actually corroborate some of the points she claimed so a lot of the stories she tells seems to be
07:59true I told Michael I said Michael if you had done this it makes you a freakazoid you it makes you horrible
08:09he says I know Brian Michael said Brian I didn't do those things never never Brian show them it's not
08:18true tell them tell the world I told Michael I would overturn every stone and I did Michael Jackson's
08:28defense team got a hold of every record dealing with the entire family not just Gavin but everyone so any job
08:38application that their mother had ever applied for they were able to get their hands on it medical records
08:45they got their hands on Gavin of course had been horribly sick and undergone surgery they had all of
08:53his medical records as well they had the gynecological records of his sister who at the time was 15 years old there
09:02was no piece of paper that they ever generated that they weren't going to get their hands on there was
09:06nothing in their lifetime that they weren't going to know about
09:13the mother was getting welfare from the Los Angeles County Bureau of Welfare when you apply for welfare you
09:24must do a full welfare application and I sat in my office looking at this going oh my oh my oh my oh my talk about a gold mine
09:36Michael Jackson's defense team gets its first chance today to cross-examine the mother of the pop
09:42star's main accuser the documents showed repeated continuous falsity concealing the money that Michael
09:51spent taking him to day spas getting a bikini waxed buying this and paying that and and and luxury dinners
10:00they concealed it all they lied to welfare and you won't believe what they did before the jury heard
10:10she made previous accusations of sexual assault claiming security guards at this JCPenney store quote
10:16followed them into the mall parking lot and proceeded to beat them and that a tower records security guard
10:22quote joined the fracas sexually assaulted her the family had claimed that they were molested by a security guard at JCPenney
10:32and the guard just said oh you've got to be kidding well JCPenney's parted with a hundred and fifty two thousand dollars
10:40and all of this was concealed from welfare they're just defrauding everybody they can defraud
10:46and when Michael Jackson brought this family into his fold this was a moment of opportunity that they
10:58took to bring down the greatest biggest superstar in the world this was all a scam
11:16the defense was painting the accusers family as grifters as people who went after celebrities for money
11:30what I've learned covering trials is that the best lawyers are good storytellers and if they tell
11:35a story that the jury can picture and absorb and go aha I get that that is damning
11:46they were trying to show that she was just looking for a payday I knew it wasn't true but this was what
11:59Michael Jackson would do discredit the mothers of these children even as Michael Jackson through the
12:06course of the trial was becoming frail and more gaunt and thinner it looked like the chances of him
12:13walking away a free man were increasing with every disastrous prosecution witness
12:31next month wade robson leaves his hometown of brisbane for los angeles where he'll live
12:36with the reclusive millionaire entertainer what's the thing you you most want to do then stay with
12:45Michael forever really all right i understood the importance of being able to locate other victims
12:53and of course um wade robson was at the top of the list because we knew that he had been involved
12:58with michael jackson for years we were absolutely convinced that he was a victim even though he had
13:05not come forward and disclosed it wade robson was a successful choreographer and jackson was
13:13instrumental in getting his career going we reached out to him hoping that he would testify and he said no
13:23there was another young boy from australia brett barnes who traveled with him throughout europe and
13:32south america over a year but he wouldn't testify jimmy saved chuck we believed he was a victim but he
13:41wouldn't come forward either so we needed the cooperation of all of them and we had the cooperation
13:47of none of them but i you know i understand i handled the number of child molest cases over the years
13:56it's a tough thing for kids to come forward and publicly talk about having been victim of sex crime
14:03and they disclose when they disclose and there's nothing we can do to speed up that process
14:09we also understood that it's not easy being an accuser of michael jackson it's not easy dealing
14:20with his fans there are multitudes of them and they can be vicious i was getting death threats on a
14:28regular basis saying i know where you live i know where your children are i know your wife's name
14:33i'm going to kill all of them um i mean it was a horrible there's an absurdity and almost like a cult
14:43like following people who love michael jackson they defended him to the teeth you know they referred to
14:50him more like a god he trained his fans to be his soldiers there's no question his behavior his idea
15:03that that he he was such a victim and and he needed this protection his fans bought it hook line and
15:11sinker and boy oh boy did they ever come to his defense do you feel now that the public is fickle
15:22the loyal ones that no matter what they're there man they're thick and thin they're right there with you
15:29and you feel unconditional love from them yeah they have been loyal they'll fight you about me
15:43it's been a white knuckle ride but now 43 days after it started the prosecution
15:49has rested its case and it's time now for michael jackson to tell his side of the story
15:54the prosecution had said that wade robson was molested by michael jackson
16:06i had called wade he was in australia wade you've got to come and testify brian i have told everybody
16:15it's not true i wasn't molested i'm not coming no i'm not i'm not setting foot anywhere near this
16:21i must have called him at least six times finally he says you're a persistent man i says yes i am wade
16:34the first witness for the defense was wade robeson it's interesting because wade robeson has said
16:40that he declined and then was subpoenaed by the defense but when he did take the stand
16:47he was a very strong witness wade robeson told jurors he first met jackson at age five and shared
16:54a bed with him more than 20 times until he was 14. he got up in that courtroom and he said michael jackson
17:02never molested me michael jackson never put his hands any place that they weren't supposed to be
17:08michael jackson never harmed me michael jackson did not commit child molestation with me uncanny
17:17testimony fabulous
17:21that was a problem for us because we were we were really hammering on the fact that he was a victim
17:27and he's up there saying i'm not um i'm telling you it didn't happen the second defense witness brett
17:33barnes said the same thing adding i can tell you that if he had i wouldn't be here
17:40did they do a good job oh my you betcha
17:52the defense has now presented its witness list and there are some big hollywood heavy hitters on there
17:57when this started a lot of people felt that this was an open and shut case
18:05but it became a soap opera as they say but really a soap opera on steroids
18:14the prosecution was claiming that michael's employee saw michael put his hands up macaulay
18:21calkins pants and play with his privates
18:26okay well what does mac say what does macaulay calkins say
18:31one of the most anticipated witnesses in the michael jackson case took the stand today
18:37macaulay calkin denied it and to this day denies that he was molested by michael jackson
18:42i you know i remembered cross-examining macaulay calkin and and and he's an actor you know and so
18:48everything has a certain flair to it his appearance his fame his celebrity he was
18:55just an extraordinarily effective witness we live in a celebrity driven society
19:02and people are really attracted to celebrities they're mesmerized by them so that certainly
19:10happened at the trial and i'm sure the jury was impacted too
19:12during the trial gavin's mind was completely scrambled and it was heartbreaking they were just
19:27stuck in this apartment for months and months there was a school
19:34out the window and they just look at the kids going
19:37they they just wanted to be in school this was this was really tough on everybody
19:47gavin was by himself in that trial he was literally by himself
19:53and it made it was very burdensome for him it was very challenging
19:58but he was courageous and he never told us i'm not going to do it i can't do it this is just
20:04ruining my life um but he understood the importance of it at 15 he understood his obligation to do it
20:16the trial had raised a lot of doubts in my mind anyway so i wanted to talk to gavin
20:24i wanted to you know get a chance to to talk to him myself you know obviously all was off the record and
20:30um i didn't report it because you know i wanted to respect his privacy he says you know um the world
20:39has me all wrong he says you know i enjoyed my time with him you know i just the things he did was wrong
20:47he hurt me and i just thought wow you know this kid is telling me that this grown man
20:54this international icon heard him i couldn't help but to believe him i had i found no reason not to
21:03believe him
21:07michael are you happy the case is almost over silence will be maintained it's now certain that michael
21:13jackson won't be taking the witness stand in his own defense
21:17just as it seemed that this case was drawing quietly to an end there is word of a possible dramatic
21:25finale months before the trial actually started the police had interviewed gavin
21:34and i wanted the jury to see it because i think if you watch that it's very hard for somebody to watch
21:41that and say oh yeah they're making the whole thing up he said that he wanted to show me i masturbate
21:48he wanted to show you how to masturbate okay okay
21:55then he said you do it for me okay
22:00and did he do it for you
22:01go ahead kevin it's fine he put his hand in my pants did he put it on the outside inside inside and
22:18and what did he do next he started he started masturbating me okay
22:28i told him i didn't want to do that did he stop i told him not and he kept on doing it
22:37if there was a smoking gun in the whole case that was uh gavin's uh interview with the sheriff's
22:43department i had really been convinced that gavin was telling the truth um others on the jury saw
22:53this as not being the case at all a lot of people in that courtroom were very moved by that video
22:59and so i got to tell you jim i got to tell you a lot of people a lot of people were moved by that
23:03video but a lot of people thought the kid was acting you know i i suppose there's reasonable doubt
23:10that he made it up or he was he was told by janet to uh tell the sheriff's department that he had been
23:20molested it just didn't come across that way to me he absolutely looked believable
23:29michael's innocent michael's innocent after 14 weeks of often lurid testimony michael jackson's
23:41trial is now entering its most crucial phase in santa maria california tonight it's all in the hands
23:49of the jury now eight women four men on the michael jackson jury will decide whether or not he is
23:55guilty of child molestation i was worried about the jury i i had complete faith in everything gavin was
24:04saying and i i there was never a question in my mind as to the honesty or accuracy of his statements
24:13never but this was an international superstar one of the most powerful men in the world and that
24:20changes the equation no matter what humanitarian actions or no matter what joy and entertainment
24:26he brought to the world um if michael was harming children he was a monster but he was not a monster
24:32he didn't do any of those things there are people here from more than 28 countries reporting on the
24:38trial hotel rooms are booked within a 40 mile radius special fences and security have been brought in
24:43and the fan contingent continues to grow as well the fan presence was there from beginning to end and
24:50they were vociferous those are the hardcore michael jackson fans from around the world
25:00michael had encouraged his family and by extension his fans to wear white saying that he was innocent
25:07but i thought at the very least it's going to be a hung jury but they'll probably get a conviction
25:13he could face nearly 20 years in prison if the jury comes back guilty jackson will be off to
25:19corcoran state prison's protective housing unit home to among others convicted murderer charles manson
25:27michael was feeling frightened you're the biggest star in the world you you have magic that nobody else has
25:38and you are scared to death your life is coming to an end and i said to him i said michael we're going
25:46to win do you understand we're going to win he says brian i i'm so scared i don't think so
25:55transmission can you hear me can anyone hear me
25:59edgar they're on the head come with me it's okay
26:01there is breaking news that the jury in santa maria california has sent word that it has reached
26:09a verdict they announced that they had a verdict and it would be in presented in the courtroom in two
26:16hours he drove up the freeway from neverland ranch and the convoy of cars and fans behind him
26:28was unbelievable his motorcade as you see from this helicopter shot live left his so-called neverland
26:36ranch within the past 30 minutes and his winding in the car you had michael in the middle and latoya on
26:43the right and she prayed with him dear lord take care of your child michael jackson
26:51he is your servant lord he does your bidding protect him defend him and michael is stoic
27:04he doesn't say a word outside the courtroom was a zoo i've never seen anything like that before
27:26gavin was not there it felt like too much to take on
27:30if he's found guilty it'll be a journey not back to neverland but straight to prison
27:55we're in a waiting game now
28:00by the way we should point out that the local police department has dispatched a number of
28:04officers trained to watch for potential suicidal behavior on the uh part of some of these fans
28:15brian i'm told he's opening each he's opening each ballot uh one at a time i'm told the room is very
28:22silent
28:29but some train john copeland i'm sorry we have we have to interrupt you because uh we're beginning to
28:33hear a little bit of audio coming from the courtroom
28:37the microphone's on
28:44superior court of the state of california count one verdict
28:49we the jury in the above entitled case find the defendant not guilty
28:57count two verdict not guilty
29:08count three verdict not guilty of a lewd act upon a minor child
29:13the clerk read it not guilty not guilty not guilty not guilty not guilty not guilty
29:29not guilty on all ten counts
29:37i always believed them i would not have came here if michael jackson was guilty of these crimes i believed
29:42in him and i fought for him michael jackson is now free uh this case is over this is an all-out vindication
29:51for michael jackson and his supporters
29:59michael got up
30:02everyone congratulated everyone
30:05didn't say a word turned around and he walked out
30:09there he is the first uh first look at michael jackson uh after his acquittal on all ten counts
30:22clearly this jury did not buy that these people were telling the truth
30:36there's no doubt about it the defense said this family this mother wanted to ride the gravy train
30:44jurors realized that you know in the celebrity land of michael jackson
30:47people do get accused of things that they haven't done uh your reaction to the news stacy
30:56well brian um i'm stunned i i really thought that that there was going to be a couple of um
31:02convictions there he's dodged the bullet
31:07i truly felt that michael jackson was a child molester i i felt that then and i haven't changed my mind
31:14now but the problem was proving it and the jury had a hard time believing the arvizos
31:27we got gavin on the phone
31:31and gab and poor poor gavin i just remember that voice and why didn't they believe me why didn't they
31:39believe me
31:54it was over
32:00we would talk about michael going through the fire
32:03the book of daniel and i said michael you are being tested by fire michael
32:15as it turns out
32:19this trial hurt him it hurt him badly
32:22he never went back to neverland
32:39it was spoiled it was ruined it was defiled
32:44it was no longer the place of dreams
32:52so i think it was three days after the verdict michael gotten his limousine to lax to bahrain
33:08michael jackson turned up at a bahrain shopping mall hiding his face behind a veil and wearing a black
33:14robe traditionally worn by middle eastern women he became what um even his family described as a vagabond
33:22michael and his kids would go from place to place um anywhere he could find a home
33:30he was law michael was lost last night his crown was looking distinctly tarnished
33:36amid the adulation the clear sound of booing
33:43michael hated being hated
33:45he disliked being disliked
33:47he took it very personally he was very fragile in that regard he was used to being loved
33:53but um at that time he really was
33:59very unhappy at how hated he felt
34:06michael jackson finally came back to las vegas
34:09but he was a broken man there was tremendous financial problems and also it's believed that his drug
34:23problems continued to mount
34:28and there were terrible reports i got that michael was using medications
34:33and the family staged an intervention
34:39well no no no i got this under control i'm not addicted i'm not i go whatever michael i tried
34:45i tried to
34:52after the trial gavin was a different person he was very different he was subdued
35:01i would take him out driving we would just kind of process everything that had gone on
35:08it just was tough things were tough they had all changed their names to go back to school
35:18but uh some of the michael jackson fans had discovered their aliases and sort of outed them on myspace
35:28he became extremely depressed it was very very difficult for him to picture a life for himself
35:48so michael believed that if he could perform again that he would gain strength from his fans
36:03because his livelihood and his life was the stage
36:08i love you i really do you have to know that i love you so much
36:21michael suddenly agrees to do 50 concerts see you in july
36:2850. michael couldn't get out of bed in the morning
36:31he was taking all this crap and all these drugs and 50 who ever got him to agree to that the only thing
36:40that was going to do was put so much pressure on him that he would up the drug intake
36:49we were concerned that the phones were being disconnected
36:53mrs jackson had indicated at one point she hadn't spoken to him in 12 weeks
36:57every time she tried calling the line was disconnected well that's the same thing that was
37:04happening to us but i don't think anybody really thought it was anything very sinister going on
37:16when people leave my show
37:19when i heard that i was shocked i'm like that's pure
37:41bullshit somebody took a video somebody took a recording and put it on slow motion that didn't
37:47even sound right
37:55okay how did he he's uh 50 years old sir he's unconscious he's not breathing
38:01yes he's not breathing sir where's he at right now he's on the bed sir but he's not responding to
38:07the cpr or anything
38:08i went i went to the to the emergency room and inside the emergency room was the family i saw them
38:19i saw mrs jackson i saw mr jackson and i was looking through the window
38:26and they and they're in the background they're pumping somebody's chest
38:30i said oh my oh my
38:39michael jackson is dead at the age of 50.
38:52what i felt was absolute infernal rage you stupid stupid man michael michael what have you done
39:15you've orphaned your children i think it took a few hours for the rage to wear off and then terrible grief set in
39:28are you afraid of death yes we all want to see what that other side look like though don't we
39:35do you think there are children playing in heaven oh god i pray that that's what it's like
39:42like adam and eve where they're yeah yeah like adam and eve it's just a happy garden a perfect peaceful
39:49place just a pure innocence i pray that it's like that
39:55that's what it's like that michael's favorite word was innocence because michael was robbed of that
40:06childhood innocence he said to me i never had innocence i my life has been a constant effort to
40:14reclaim lost innocence like a return to eden a return to paradise
40:25there's new global backlash tonight following the bombshell documentary leaving neverland the
40:32accusations made by wade robson who's now 36 and james safe chuck now 41 are quite similar
40:39both were befriended by jackson when they were young boys and both were brought to his neverland ranch
40:44where they claimed the abuse began so what are you alleging that he actually did
40:48he sexually abused me from seven years old until 14. i've lived in silence and denial for 22 years
40:58and i can't spend another moment in that
41:05i was appalled i was shocked wade robson told the jury under penalty of perjury it didn't happen
41:13and then he does this film and says oh yeah it happened well the two don't jive it tells me that it's false
41:26i have never seen the documentary but i think these are cases of people coming out and saying
41:33horrible things long after anything is provable when there's a lot of money at stake
41:39that michael jackson i knew was a really really sweet kind-hearted person
41:49i don't know why i get so protective it doesn't make any sense do you think he's innocent
41:56after everything you've seen do you still think he's possibly innocent
42:01the world will say what what it will say and perhaps only god knows the truth
42:11could i believe that he was a pedophile absolutely categorically not
42:20but how do you know how do i know that he wasn't he wasn't a pedophile
42:24oh i i i don't know i can only say based on all the evidence all the trials and my personal
42:30knowledge of him he was absolutely incapable of harming a child
42:37i remember him putting my hands on his head when he was down there
42:45i don't forget the the um the feeling of his hair the way they painted the picture of um inappropriate
42:58behavior sexual molestation it moved me i i just thought oh my gosh if you saw that documentary
43:06you have to have some compassion for wade and james i think i was just like kind of wincing and
43:15i was asking him not to do it but he did it and he said oh you'll like it
43:22it was so powerful so powerful i was the biggest michael jackson fan as anyone
43:28did it but that documentary showed how this man manipulated not just those boys not just their family
43:44michael manipulated the entire world
43:47i believe that the outcome could have been different if jimmy safe chuck and wade robson
43:58have been able to talk about what had happened but i don't blame them i i'm not angry i may be a
44:06little frustrated but i'm really not angry i'm glad that they have come forward now i think it's helpful
44:12it's helpful for gavin i think it's helpful for the rest of the country to understand
44:17what actually happened a lot of folks did not want to believe gavin they wanted to believe their hero
44:27their idol we're talking about the king of pop and we don't want to believe that such a phenomenal talent
44:39is dangerous we just don't want those two things in the same place it's very difficult
44:47i'll be the first one to tell you because i love his music i love what he created but gavin
44:57his story has never shifted and we would know by now if the reason they had done this was money
45:05there's been no exchange of money in regards to any of this for the arvizo family so maybe we need to
45:12ask ourselves is that body of work worth the price of james wade gavin
45:26is that a fair price
45:31gavin is doing extraordinarily well i'm just i'm magnificently proud of him
45:36gavin is doing this for him but he's fought for it he's fought hard
45:46yeah it's hard to talk about
45:58so
46:07so
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