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Michael Jackson The Trial S01E03 (2026)
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00:06When you become an icon, like an international phenomenon, the jealousy that's involved,
00:14I mean I've seen some serious jealousy, because they've been very, very cruel and mean to me.
00:21If they don't think I hear it and see it, I do. I do.
00:40If people could only see way before any of this crap that they started, and allegations, and all these lies
00:47and stories,
00:49if they could see all the hospitals, and all the orphanages, and all those things that I've done, if they
00:55could see that,
00:56I think they would totally have a different opinion.
01:01But people, they don't want the good stories.
01:15Leave Michael Brown!
01:17Leave Michael Brown!
01:21Leave Michael alone!
01:23Leave Michael alone!
01:26Breaking news once again, so stand by here on Fox News Live.
01:30Michael Jackson, of course, facing seven counts of child molestation,
01:33two counts of administering an intoxicating agent to a child.
01:37He's facing 20 years.
01:39Fans started arriving in the middle of the night
01:41to get a good seat or stand right next to the courthouse.
01:45The famous arraignment. Oh, my gosh.
01:48The entire world converged on Santa Maria.
01:51More than a thousand journalists.
01:56I was there for all of it.
01:59He is fighting these molestation charges, and he is going to do everything he can.
02:04Michael's innocent! Michael's innocent!
02:06I think on my deathbed, certain events will flash before my eyes
02:12because it was that intense.
02:14Michael Jackson is motorcade winding its way to the courthouse
02:19under police motorcycle escort.
02:22It was about four or five miles to get to the courthouse,
02:26and the cops, with their sirens blaring,
02:30there were six motorcycle cops.
02:32Not even the president gets that.
02:35It was a zoo.
02:39What can you tell us outside there, the Santa Maria courthouse?
02:43We heard cheers.
02:45We can hear us.
02:46We arrived about 8.45.
02:48Michael did stop to acknowledge the hundreds of fans.
02:51It was just sheer craziness.
02:55I was there trying to record it with my videographer.
02:59His entourage is coming up.
03:02And Michael was telling his videographer, get that, get that.
03:08Michael Jackson was orchestrating.
03:12There are people out there from all over the world,
03:14so I think it's quite a spontaneous outpouring of support
03:19that is nice to see.
03:23A lot of those fans were bussed up there,
03:26from Las Vegas, from San Diego, from Los Angeles.
03:30So while his attorney called it a spontaneous outpouring of love,
03:34it was actually highly orchestrated.
03:36It shows Michael Jackson's genius at spectacle.
03:44Members of a black separatist group,
03:46the Nation of Islam, flanked the streets.
03:49They are reported to be protecting and possibly advising the singer.
03:54Jermaine Jackson brings the Nation of Islam,
03:57and when they marched ahead of Michael,
04:00it was the most amazing sight I had ever seen,
04:03this show of force.
04:07There is a strategy behind trying to galvanize the black community.
04:13White folks are doing this.
04:14White folks are prosecuting him.
04:15White folks are accusing him.
04:17And he's come to us for help.
04:20We're going to help.
04:21And Michael knew that, and he used that.
04:26As we're arriving at the courthouse,
04:29there were three helicopters flying over, circling.
04:33There were a few thousand demonstrators, literally screaming.
04:37This was child molestation.
04:41He's a 15-year-old kid.
04:43He's a 15-year-old kid who's a cancer survivor.
04:50You didn't see him crying or holding his head down,
04:55because he knew he was innocent.
04:59During his time in court,
05:01Michael would call me at 2 and 3 in the morning.
05:04You've got to go out there and tell people I'm innocent.
05:08Michael feels very confident in his defense team.
05:13And we have a long way to go.
05:16And that's what I did.
05:20Michael Jackson leaving Judge Rodney Melville's courtroom.
05:25We know that Jackson nodded when he asked if he understood the charges.
05:28He said, not guilty when asked for his plea.
05:32Michael Jackson walks out of court, surrounded by his family, surrounded by bodyguards.
05:37And when he's about to get into his SUV limo, all hell breaks loose.
05:43Oh, my goodness. Look at this.
05:44Look at these people.
05:44He's jumping on top of the car.
05:46Oh, yeah. We see him.
05:47He is truly performing for his fans.
05:50Truly performing.
05:51The crowd is just going completely insane.
05:55And he's just turning around and kind of doing a move.
05:59Consequently, what was happening outside court made the headlines,
06:03as opposed to what was happening inside court.
06:06Brilliant strategy.
06:08Pull focus.
06:10Pull focus.
06:22Pull focus.
06:24A lot of people said, hey, that's just disrespectful.
06:27That's not the way you conduct yourself.
06:29You would conduct yourself with decorum.
06:31Any attorney will tell his client, no, no, no.
06:33You show respect.
06:34You don't do...
06:35Uh-uh. Not Michael Jackson.
06:37If you want the world to know you are innocent,
06:42you show your face to everybody,
06:45that you are not afraid.
06:49And that's what he did.
06:57I love the fire and the majesty when you can command an audience.
07:05I love my fans, the loyal ones,
07:08that no matter what, they're there, man.
07:11They're thick and thin.
07:13Whatever you do, they're right there with you.
07:16They love me unconditionally.
07:19I'm like a lion.
07:20Nobody can hurt me.
07:21Nothing can harm me.
07:29I think people believe what they want to believe.
07:33And it's not necessarily based on logic.
07:36I think it's based on emotion.
07:39He had the ability to be able to convince them
07:42of things that are otherwise unbelievable.
07:47And I think that created for him a sense of invincibility.
07:52But from the prosecution standpoint,
07:54we knew we were dealing with a pedophile.
07:56And he was a pedophile who could abuse children
07:58almost with impunity.
08:01And we felt that we had enough cooperative evidence
08:04to be able to win the case.
08:15Michael was feeling frightened.
08:19Pure, plain and simple.
08:21He was scared to death.
08:26He called in the middle of the night, so upset.
08:30Brian, why are they doing this to me?
08:34Because your name is Michael Jackson.
08:38If your name were Smith Jones,
08:41they'd throw this case out in a hot second.
08:45This is a fraudulent scam.
08:50Gavin Arvizu was misrepresenting,
08:54telling fantasies and false statements.
08:58He says, how are we going to win, Brian?
09:01And I said, we have to overturn every stone.
09:05It means subpoenaing and interviewing every witness there is.
09:10And Michael said, do it, Brian.
09:13That's what you're going to do.
09:15I said, you bet.
09:19Another allegation of sexual abuse
09:21was going to bankrupt Michael Jackson.
09:24And they knew it.
09:25They knew what the consequence of,
09:28of a child coming forward
09:30and making another allegation of child sexual abuse
09:33was going to be.
09:34Because of what happened with Jordan Chandler
09:36back in 93.
09:43Pop superstar Michael Jackson
09:45is facing allegations of child abuse.
09:47And Los Angeles police have launched a criminal investigation.
09:50This is the boy at the center of the allegations.
09:5313-year-old Jordan Chandler was pictured with Michael Jackson
09:56on holiday in Monte Carlo earlier this year.
10:05In 1993, I was Michael Jackson's personal chambermaid for his bedroom.
10:14I think he chose me because I was quiet.
10:17And I think he thought that he could keep his secrets with me.
10:38Hold on, let me use the inhaler.
10:41Sorry.
10:43Sometimes when I think of him, I get asthma.
10:46I'm sorry.
10:47Sorry.
10:48I'm probably crazy.
10:49I don't know.
10:58There were always little boys.
11:00Different little boys.
11:01That never led.
11:05Running around the property.
11:10At the theater, watching movies with no parents around.
11:18And I think he'd get a kick out of watching them fight for his attention.
11:28There was one day when Mr. Jackson had come into his bedroom with one of his little friends.
11:36And his little friend was Jordy Chandler.
11:42I was cleaning the stairwell.
11:44And so I kind of glanced.
11:47And where they stood, they couldn't see me.
11:52And I saw Mr. Jackson kissing Jordy on the cheek near his mouth.
11:59And I saw his hand by his crotch.
12:01And I was bothered by seeing that.
12:05Very, very bothered.
12:06I didn't, I didn't, I thought that I didn't want to believe Michael Jackson was,
12:16was a man who had a problem with little boys.
12:23They had been in a jacuzzi.
12:26They changed their clothes and they took off.
12:30It was, it was an awful feeling.
12:32I can't even explain it.
12:34And then, you know, I kept thinking, well, maybe, maybe that's not what I'm seeing.
12:42You know, you start questioning yourself for what you did see.
12:44And, you know, and then you think, well, you can't just call the police over there.
12:50They're gonna think you're crazy.
13:00My detective supervisor says, hey Rose, I have a case that I need you to investigate.
13:07And we have allegations from a young victim that Michael Jackson sexually molested him on numerous occasions.
13:16So I'm like, Michael Jackson, you're kidding, right?
13:19It was almost unbelievable.
13:24The media, they found out right away.
13:27So it was all over the news.
13:32That very same day, we went out to the victim's home.
13:36I introduced myself and then began my interview.
13:41One of the first things he talked about being in Las Vegas with Michael Jackson.
14:02The parents became very comfortable with Michael Jackson and allowed the victim to spend time with Michael alone.
14:16They were seeing, hugging, and touching.
14:23Jackson was talking to the kid and the kid was overwhelmed, according to him.
14:30You know, seeing his star and being able to touch him and say, wow.
14:38This is the grooming process.
14:50That night in his suite, Michael asked him, come on, let's watch a movie.
15:02The movie was The Exorcist.
15:08He was petrified.
15:11Michael said, would you like to stay here? Sleep with me?
15:16And they did.
15:21The victim described the abuse initially began with fondling, kissing.
15:30Later on, it progressed to more aggressive sexual contact.
15:38When mom found out that the child had slept with Michael Jackson, she became pretty upset.
15:46Whenever he was confronted by a parent, Michael would start crying.
15:51He made himself the victim.
15:54You know, how can you think this of me?
15:56Oh my God, I would never do anything like that.
15:59You know, I love children. You have to trust me.
16:07Children, I think, can be very loyal.
16:12A lot of adults, they sell out to what they think people want to hear.
16:18A good child will not do that.
16:20You show them a good time, the next day they're all over you with love and hugs and kisses.
16:27Michael Jackson today refused to comment on the police investigation as he prepared for the first stage of his world
16:32tour in Thailand.
16:35I remember when the allegations came out, the Jackson family, they held a press conference.
16:41We join you here today as a family united.
16:45A family that has struggled from the bottom up.
16:49The family felt like somebody was trying to shake him down.
16:53Michael has been made a victim and cruel, obvious attempt to take advantage of his fame and success.
17:02Most important thing to them was that this image they had to protect.
17:09Certainly in the black community, they were always like, we're the black Kennedys.
17:16We're America's royalty.
17:19Believe me, in 1993, the Jackson family was extremely powerful.
17:24And boy, oh boy, did they ever come to his defense.
17:30Jackson's Mr. Fix-It, private investigator Anthony Pelicano, one of Hollywood's most powerful people, called in to do damage control.
17:38This strategy, it was about protecting the golden goose, number one, but also protecting the family's name.
17:48Now you're seeing him start to take on this victimhood mentality, this victim mentality.
17:56It's not me, it's somebody else who's the bad guy.
18:03Good morning, everyone. The Michael Jackson child sex abuse investigation is expanding.
18:08Authorities are looking into his relationships now with at least four boys.
18:13The names were given by the victim's mom.
18:18She has a list of all the children that they met.
18:25There were a lot of times where we went to locations to interview people.
18:30Anthony Pelicano was there before we were.
18:33First was Wade Robson.
18:37Michael was helping him with his music career that he brought in from Australia because Michael saw the talent that
18:44he had.
18:47When we got there, he refused to open the door at the beginning.
18:52They basically, you know, said, look, Anthony Pelicano was here.
18:58We spoke to him. He says that we're not obligated to speak to the police.
19:01He's working for Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson never abused me.
19:06Wade Robson denied everything.
19:09Then Mr. Pelicano put the children on TV.
19:14I know Michael very well. I know he wouldn't do anything like that.
19:18Has he ever tried to do anything with you that would even be considered questionable?
19:25No, nothing.
19:28With Britt Barnes, it was the same thing.
19:30He's a great man and we don't have anything to say.
19:37When you'd have sleepovers and you'd stay in the same room or the same bed, did that seem unusual to
19:42you at all?
19:42No, because I slept on one side of it, he slept on the other, and that was that.
19:47It was ruthless with, you know, what they did. They really just had absolutely no regard.
19:54They all negated that they were victims.
20:04Things at Neverland changed dramatically.
20:11Michael brought these seven bodyguards back, and they would harass the employees.
20:19They had guns. They'd point them at people. They didn't care.
20:25They'd do whatever they can do to scare you to just shut the hell up.
20:30One day I was in his bedroom when he was standing by his bed, and out of the blue, he
20:35says,
20:35Adrian, you know, if you ever say or do anything that I don't like, all I have to do is
20:43tell security.
20:45They would take care of you, but it wouldn't come from me.
20:49I thought, you're threatening me.
20:56And then I got a subpoena, and I had to give a deposition.
21:02My head was spinning.
21:07I was questioned about what I had seen with Mr. Jackson and Jordy.
21:17I was young. I was scared.
21:20Very mixed up.
21:22And Michael had some kind of control over me.
21:28And I didn't say what I should have said, which was the truth.
21:35And I held it back.
21:40Amid all Michael Jackson's troubles, it finally seemed he'd gotten his family in line behind him,
21:46except, of course, for the renegade LaToya.
21:48Michael is my brother.
21:50I loved him a great deal.
21:53But I cannot, and I will not, be a silent collaborator of his crimes against small, innocent children.
22:02What 35-year-old man is going to take a little boy and stay with him for 30 days?
22:09It blew everyone away.
22:11The family is horrified and angry at the same time.
22:14There's no validity to what she is saying.
22:17It's absolutely not true.
22:20My brother is not a child molester.
22:22LaToya is lying, and I'll tell her to her face she's lying.
22:26LaToya was ostracized for that.
22:30And not only was she ostracized from the family, but fans turned on her in droves.
22:46Michael was raised by a very pious mother.
22:50I mean, any time I walked in on her, she was reading the Bible.
22:53And Michael was raised in that milieu.
22:55He was deeply connected to his mother, who offered unconditional love and acceptance.
23:09All the stuff that goes on about my family and about Michael, it really hurts.
23:15When they were talking about him, about the child molestation thing, it makes me angry.
23:22Because he needed someone to help him to protect him.
23:28The family of a teenage boy is dropping its charge that Michael Jackson molested the boy.
23:34The case was settled, in secret, reportedly for millions.
23:39The resolution of this case is in no way an admission of guilt by Michael Jackson.
23:46I felt the victim was very credible.
23:48But once that was settled, our case was gone.
23:52It was killed.
23:56Case closed.
24:03One afternoon, I was cleaning in Michael's room.
24:06And he came up to me and he said, Adrian, this is for you.
24:11And he handed me an index card.
24:14And he wrote on it, Adrian, thanks for everything.
24:19I opened it, and it was three $100 bills.
24:23I felt like that was a payoff to cover up for him.
24:30Kind of sad, so, I don't know.
24:39Can you guys hold on, because my eyes feel like they're glossy.
24:42Because I feel like stupid.
24:47Just dumb mistakes you make in life that, you know, you shouldn't do sometimes, and I did it.
24:52But you live and learn.
24:57Is that restroom open?
25:00Sure.
25:01Okay.
25:02Let me just stop, because I don't want, I don't want that to open.
25:13Back in 1993, George Chandler became one of the wealthiest 13-year-olds in America, overnight, with the settlement of
25:21that case.
25:23Did I feel the justice wasn't done?
25:25Sure.
25:26But their piece of family was very different.
25:31They were determined that they weren't going to take money.
25:35Gavin was going to testify.
25:48I'm very different.
25:50I don't follow a trail, I make the path.
25:53I'm an innovator, a pioneer.
25:56But have you had to pay a price because of love?
25:58Yes, I have.
25:59Terrible price.
26:01Terrible price.
26:03Racism, jealousy, just hate, just evil.
26:07But I'll never lose it, because it's, um, it's where my heart is.
26:19After five weeks of jury selection, the trial of the singer Michael Jackson will begin in California later today.
26:25Celebrity justice correspondent Jane Velez Mitchell has been following the case, she joins us from Santa Barbara.
26:30This is a Shakespearean tragedy.
26:33It's an American tragedy.
26:34It's a human tragedy.
26:36There was a certain sense of privilege of being able to cover it.
26:40What do we know about the 12-year-old?
26:41The story today is he's a cancer survivor.
26:44There was so much media there, you would have thought it was like a national political convention.
26:48Michael Jackson arriving with his mother and brother Jermaine was greeted by both cheers and jeers.
26:54The entire world was focused on whether Michael Jackson is or is not a pedophile.
27:03This was the most expensive prosecution in the history of Santa Barbara County.
27:09And Michael Jackson's word against theirs.
27:14They say he exposes kids to alcohol, porn and strange sexual behavior.
27:19He is very serious, subdued.
27:21He came in, he waved briefly to his fans.
27:23He came in with Jermaine, his brother, and his mother who were in the...
27:26He was elaborately dressed, sort of a legal thing.
27:30He also wore a band, and I guess the significance of the band was for him saying I'm innocent.
27:36From everything I've seen, and I've heard, and I've followed, he's in his...
27:40There's no way.
27:41He's guilty, you know.
27:43Michael!
27:44Michael!
27:46The sale of his records soared.
27:49I said, Michael, your records are selling like hotcakes.
27:52Your fans believe in you.
27:54And I am going to prove you innocent.
27:59The jury in the Michael Jackson trial will hear two very different stories when opening
28:04statements begin today.
28:05The defense is expected to describe Jackson as the victim of a money-hungry mom who coached
28:10her son to lie for cash.
28:12The prosecution, on the other hand, will paint Jackson as a wicked pedophile who got
28:16a sick boy drunk to molest him.
28:18Did I ever feel that we had it in the bag?
28:21No.
28:21Not at all.
28:22Not at all.
28:24I knew that ultimately, for a jury, it would be very easy for them to absolve themselves
28:30of any of the responsibility of him going off into prison.
28:34That was my biggest fear.
28:36Now it's all up to them, the jury.
28:39Four men, eight women.
28:41You're very conscious of what you're doing and what the magnitude of your participation
28:47is.
28:49It's Michael Jackson's legacy up for grabs.
28:53Is he going to be remembered as this person that just loved children or one of the world's
29:00greatest entertainers who was a child molester?
29:05It was Martin Bashir's documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, which prompted an investigation
29:11which led to this trial.
29:13When people hear that children from other families have come and they've stayed in your
29:19house, they've stayed in your bedroom.
29:22Well, very few.
29:24But, you know, some have.
29:26I thought that that was good, compelling evidence for us.
29:28It's the admission that he sleeps with kids.
29:31Is that really appropriate for a man, a grown man, to be doing that?
29:36How do you respond to that?
29:37I feel sorry for them because that's judging someone who wants to really help people.
29:42Why can't you share your bed?
29:44The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone.
29:49You know?
29:49You really think that?
29:50Yeah.
29:51Martin Bashir's reaction to it, I thought was the reaction a reasonable person would
29:58have.
29:58How do you justify having children in your bed?
30:02What other adult man do you know anywhere in the world who does that other than a pedophile?
30:08Who would you be willing to let your children sleep with in terms of an adult man?
30:14And the answer is nobody.
30:16The defense set out to undermine Martin Bashir's credibility, bombarding him with questions,
30:22most of which he refused to answer, citing a journalist's right to protect his sources.
30:28Jackson and Gavin had a very emotional connection.
30:36When they first met, Gavin was recovering from cancer.
30:39He had been horribly sick.
30:40And Michael Jackson was there to offer support.
30:46Gavin said, Michael would do things that would take down inhibitions.
30:52And then it escalates into increasingly sexual language.
30:57So he's desensitizing kids.
31:02He makes them feel like they're culpable.
31:06He uses the word, we.
31:09We're doing this.
31:11We'd be in trouble.
31:13He incorporates the child in all of the misbehavior.
31:21You're already in trouble for drinking alcohol, watching porn.
31:27Like, there's already a million things your mom can never know about by the time you're abused.
31:34Michael Jackson's public persona was the person who just loved children.
31:39And what he was trying to convince people of was that he really was the modern-day Peter Pan.
31:46But there's no such thing as Peter Pan.
31:51What he was always doing was looking for a child that he could eventually get into his bed.
31:56And, of course, it was Gavin who was the target of his attentions.
32:02For Gavin, it was worse than getting cancer.
32:06Which, how can you say that?
32:08How can anybody say that about anything?
32:13I know Gavin.
32:14And Gavin's just, he's just a very truthful person.
32:20He isn't the person that wants to hang on to a lot of baggage.
32:26He's just going to confront what this is and deal with the repercussions.
32:30Hey, little guy.
32:37The key witnesses in this extraordinary trial whisked into court this morning through a side entrance.
32:44Gavin, Michael Jackson's accuser.
32:47It's the big moment of the trial.
32:49The accuser is taking the stand.
32:52The heart of the testimony is going to be delivered by the accuser on this day.
32:57I was standing right there outside the courthouse waiting for Michael Jackson to arrive.
33:02And that is the day that Michael Jackson doesn't come to court.
33:06His face etched with anxiety, Michael Jackson's lawyer waits for a client who's gone missing.
33:13The judge says,
33:15You better get to court within the hour or I'm going to arrest you.
33:20We're just waiting on pins and needles.
33:22Literally staring at where the car is supposed to show up.
33:26Everybody's like,
33:27Is he going to show?
33:28Isn't he going to show?
33:29What on earth is going on here?
33:33There was this giant motorcade.
33:36Helicopters above as Michael Jackson raced from the hospital to the courthouse.
33:42They were driving up the 101 freeway at 110 miles an hour.
33:48Because the judge said,
33:49If you're not here in an hour, I'm forfeiting your bail.
33:52Somebody was going to get killed.
33:53I was furious.
33:54Judge, you have to understand this man's life and the people surrounding him.
34:00Nope.
34:01An hour.
34:01That's it.
34:05It was like watching a movie unfold, but you're part of the movie.
34:12A strange day was just about to get even stranger.
34:17After a while, he shows up and he gets out very slowly in his pajamas.
34:29All the focus shifts to outside court, not to the little boy waiting in the wings to testify and accuse
34:38Michael Jackson of molestation.
34:41Imagine what he was going through.
34:44A couple of ways to look at this.
34:46First of all, he really was hurt and needed to get to the hospital.
34:49The other is that maybe it's just a ploy to drum up some kind of sympathy from the jury.
34:53A cynic would say, brilliant orchestration to destabilize the accuser.
34:59I mean, this guy knows how to direct the attention to him and away from what's happening inside court.
35:08And he did it over and over and over again.
35:12What's this kid have to say?
35:14Well, I'll tell you, he comes across as a very believable, articulate and sympathetic witness.
35:18This boy has been waiting in the wings for this moment and his moment has come.
35:24It's kind of strange.
35:26You know, here we said, you know, 20 years later, and I'm still remembering how I felt.
35:36He absolutely looked believable to me.
35:40To me, he appeared to be a child that was going through this really terrible struggle to admit that, as
35:56a boy, he had been molested by a man.
36:01Now you have to tell your story in front of the world, talk about all these things that you did.
36:06You know, that's really hard to do.
36:10It's the worst thing that a boy would ever have to say out loud.
36:15It's why most men go to their deaths with these secrets.
36:26And now the race is on.
36:29Can Jackson's defense sufficiently discredit a child witness over the next few days without upsetting him?
36:35We went to trial with the molestations that took place in the three-week period after the Bashir documentary.
36:42We believe that he was molesting Gavin prior to that as well.
36:46But I think that the bulk of the molestation and all of the charged counts of the molestation occurred during
36:53the three-week period.
36:56Why would he do it with that focus of attention?
36:58The answer is he can't help himself.
37:00He was a pedophile.
37:01Michael Jackson's lawyers are taking aim at his accuser.
37:05Jackson's lawyer's clear intention is to paint this boy as someone whose word the jury simply cannot afford to trust.
37:12We asked the prosecution when it was that Michael Jackson molested Gavin Arvizu.
37:18One incident was February 21st, they said.
37:22The family was at the ranch.
37:24Gavin was in bed with Michael.
37:26And Star, the brother, came up the stairway.
37:29And Star saw Michael masturbating the boy in bed.
37:33I said, really?
37:36I have here an article from the Palm Beach newspaper, February 22, that the day before, Michael Jackson was seen
37:44shopping in Palm Beach, Florida.
37:47Now, how was it that he was at Neverland Ranch on the 21st?
37:52Bingo.
37:53I got him.
37:54Michael was telling the truth.
37:55These accusers were not.
38:00It's a tough thing for kids to come forward and publicly talk about having been victim of sex crime.
38:07Very often, the victims of sexual abuse can't say with certainty the details of what had happened on this occasion
38:14or that occasion or the next occasion.
38:16It's just the nature of the phenomena.
38:18This isn't a whodunit where there's clearly a crime and one or more victims.
38:22This is a, did it really happen?
38:24Everything about this case is, um, confounding.
38:31There's the innocent explanation and the sinister explanation.
38:36Is Gavin the accuser credible?
38:39Is Michael Jackson credible?
38:41You decide.
38:49The defense in the Michael Jackson trial suffered a big setback today.
38:53The judge said he will allow the prosecution to present evidence that Jackson has been accused of molesting children before.
39:01What we were able to bring in with regards to past bad acts was that a number of years earlier,
39:07Jordan Chandler walked away with millions of dollars.
39:12The jury looks at that and they think, come on, how's this going to happen twice?
39:16It's a huge blow to Jackson, uh, and it's great news for prosecutors.
39:20They essentially get a second chance to make a first impression.
39:23And, uh, the whole case has changed.
39:25It's a, a new dynamic.
39:31What happened ten years ago is irrelevant.
39:35You have to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on what they did now.
39:44Not what they did before.
39:45Oh, you can besmirch the defendant, you can make the defendant look bad.
39:51That's not evidence.
39:53That's character assassination.
39:59When I left Neverland and walked out of that job, me and a lot of the employees, we sued Mr.
40:04Jackson for the treatment that we got.
40:07The things that we saw, Michael with kids and stuff.
40:12There were a lot of different counts and there was molestation in there, but the judge ruled that we could
40:17not bring up molestation.
40:20We lost our lawsuit.
40:23So when I got called for his trial, I didn't want nothing to do with Michael.
40:28I didn't want to, I didn't even want to look at him.
40:32Former Jackson maid Adrian McManus is now on the stand.
40:36She is talking about the parade of young boys who came through Neverland.
40:41When I walked in there, he looked at me like, oh, Adrian, where have you been? I've missed you.
40:49That angered me because I could see the games through him.
40:53You know, I saw what he did to me. I saw that he only cared about himself.
40:58I said what I had to say about what I saw with Mr. Jackson and Jordan Chandler and what I
41:05had seen.
41:06And Michael just turned his face.
41:09He would not look at me again.
41:11And I thought, good, I am free from you now.
41:14You don't control me.
41:21I truly felt that Michael Jackson was a child molester.
41:26I felt that then and I haven't changed my mind now.
41:29I still feel that way.
41:31But I had to give Michael Jackson the benefit of the doubt.
41:36You know, he really didn't do this or whatever.
41:38That's what the jury was supposed to do.
41:41What should have been a damaging account instead fizzled after Tom Mesereau dismantled her on cross-examination,
41:48getting her to admit she tried to sue Jackson and lost and lied in an earlier deposition.
41:56They destroyed us.
41:59So, and that's, like I said, I get angry that, you know, a lot of people, especially the jurors, right
42:07away they were like,
42:08um, oh yeah, these people, um, they just want money.
42:12They just want money.
42:14It was really, it was a tough situation dealing with that.
42:20The problem that we had was that a number of the people who worked for him brought a lawsuit against
42:26him and lost
42:29and ended up with a judgment against them for expenses, um, a judgment that they never paid.
42:37And it seriously affected their credibility and their ability to be able to talk about what had happened.
42:44It really hurt us.
42:49There was another witness that really, to this day, sticks with me, was Jordan Chandler's mom.
42:59The latest twist in his trial, a claim that Michael Jackson begged a young boy's mother to allow the youngster
43:07to sleep with him.
43:08That allegation was made by June Chandler, who said she was showered with jewelry by the singer as he swept
43:15her family off on trips to Monaco, Florida, and Las Vegas.
43:20I remember her taking a stand just 10 years after Jordan's situation.
43:28And she said she was a horrible mother.
43:30And her exact words was, I sold my son to Michael Jackson.
43:37She said that she hadn't heard from her son.
43:40And she understood why.
43:42I just thought, oh my gosh, it moved me.
43:47I can't understand how it would not have moved any jury.
43:54I thought it was very damaging testimony, particularly the moment where she says that Michael Jackson, crying and shaking and
44:02trembling, begged her to allow her son to sleep with him.
44:07And basically said, we're family.
44:10Well, they're not family.
44:12Why should a mother be asked to trust a middle-aged man to be entitled to sleep with her son?
44:20I thought, oh my gosh, what kind of grown man would cry because this mother decides she don't want to
44:28bring her little boy to have a sleepover with you.
44:31And I thought, he's going to lose this thing.
44:35What possessed a mother to allow her son to share a stranger's bed was never made clear.
44:42But asked by the prosecution as she concluded her testimony whether she regretted placing her trust in Michael Jackson, June
44:50Chandler replied, very much so.
44:54The message was kind of clear to me.
44:57The parents didn't protect their sons because they were groomed as much as the kids were into thinking that everything
45:05was going to be okay.
45:07They were as awestruck with Michael Jackson as the kids themselves.
45:17This was what Michael Jackson would do.
45:20He was able to win over the loyalty of the mothers of these children by giving them lavish gifts and
45:27treating them to a lavish lifestyle.
45:30We had Jordan Chandler's mother in there.
45:32We had the proof that there was a settlement.
45:35We had the proof that he had to spend an endless amount of time in bed with him.
45:39I've won cases with no more evidence than that.
45:45There's witness after witness that say Jackson has a pattern and practice of molesting children.
45:51And I'll tell you, the jury is going to look to that and they're going to have a difficult time
45:55saying that Jackson is not a pedophile in this case.
45:58We'll see you next time.
45:59We'll see you next time.
46:00Bye.
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