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Michael Jackson The Verdict S01E03 1080p
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00:11Mr. Jackson, we're back here after the lunch break.
00:15Did anything occur over the lunch break that would affect your ability to recall or recount information?
00:21No.
00:25Are you familiar with a person named Jordy Chandler?
00:30We're not going there.
00:32Uh, don't answer.
00:34Um, we're not going to get into who he knows and doesn't know.
00:38If you want to ask a question, go ahead and ask it.
00:40But I believe it's beyond the scope of discoverable matters in the case.
00:47Michael Jackson is sitting there smiling.
00:49Of course he knows Jordy Chandler.
00:52Is it your position that you will instruct Mr. Jackson not to answer any questions
00:57that pertain to the issue of Jordy Chandler in any way?
01:03This was the first allegation of abuse against Michael Jackson.
01:08The Chandler case took place about 10 years prior to the case involving Gavin.
01:13I wanted the jury to understand that this guy's done this before.
01:17I wanted to bring in that evidence to show that he has a propensity to commit sex crimes.
01:24It could change the outcome of this case.
01:26The Jackson jury to hear past child sex claims.
01:30This is a critical ruling.
01:33Where there's smoke, there's fire.
01:34It's very compelling evidence.
01:37And every time I have done that on a childless case, I've won.
01:54Neverland.
01:54This fantasy island that he created was a huge piece of property with multitudes of staff.
02:03I believe some of the cleaning staff, the senior staff, the secretaries, the security people
02:10knew what was going on.
02:13I am convinced some of them are complicit.
02:17How could they not have known?
02:20They knew when to stay away and where to stay away.
02:25They understood that, you know, as long as you work here, don't dare ever think about
02:29even mentioning what goes on here to anybody.
02:32There will be hell to pay if you do.
02:37We wanted the jury to know what they saw.
02:42The Michael Jackson trial is back in session today.
02:45The jurors continue to hear testimony about past molestation allegations against the self-proclaimed
02:50King of Pop.
02:55Former employees were going to come and testify that for years, Michael Jackson lured young
03:01boys to Neverland and sexually molested them.
03:04It could be a real game changer.
03:07Each day we're going to hear disturbing details of what people claim that they saw.
03:12Michael Jackson knew what they had seen.
03:15I had interviewed former employees of his.
03:19They'd all talked about misbehavior between Michael and young boys.
03:23None of them came forward until we got them to.
03:28Get into court, you have to answer questions.
03:34I'll just read out of my notebook.
03:38Ralph Chacon, he was a security guard at Neverland.
03:42One night on his patrol by the shower area, by the swimming pool, there was Michael and
03:48Jordi Chandler, both naked.
03:50I saw that Mr. Jackson was caressing the boy's hair and caressing his face.
03:55And Michael Jackson performing oral sex on the boy.
03:59Blanca Francia, a former maid, talks about finding Wade Robson in the shower with Michael Jackson.
04:06Testimony just keeps on coming.
04:09Another ex-employee took the stand.
04:11A former chef from Neverland named Philip Lamarck.
04:17He testifies that Michael Jackson was playing the thriller video game with the movie star,
04:23Macaulay Culkin.
04:25And Michael Jackson's left hand was inside the pants of the kid.
04:31Question, why didn't you go to the police?
04:33Quote, no one would have believed me.
04:36There wasn't a one of them who was able to say that Michael Jackson, to their knowledge,
04:41ever had an adult guest in his room overnight.
04:44Not even a wife.
04:46He was married twice.
04:47It was only adolescent boys who stayed in his room.
04:50Many members of the press started to say,
04:52this is a bigger subject than we thought than just the Arvizo family.
04:56According to witnesses, there was a home alone kid, Macaulay Culkin.
04:59Wade Robson, Brett Barnes, and Jordan Chandler.
05:04It was like this pattern of prepubescent boys.
05:08It's almost like a conveyor belt.
05:09They come in young, they get old, they get off the other side.
05:13Jim, bring me up to date, friend.
05:15Five other children who Jackson allegedly groomed and inappropriately touched
05:20could very well turn this jury against Michael Jackson.
05:26It did make me kind of stop and think, wow, what if they're the same thing that's been
05:32going on with Gavin?
05:34You know, the same M.O.
05:37Five boys, but only one of them is going to testify, correct?
05:41Four of the boys, Jordy Chandler, Rhett Barnes, and Wade Robson, and Macaulay Culkin, none
05:48of them would talk to us.
05:49We were down to one.
05:54Blanca Francia was one of the maids.
05:56She had a son, adolescent son, named Jason.
05:59Now an adult who was cooperative.
06:01And he did testify for us.
06:03You know, when he first walked in, I noticed Michael Jackson look at him and then snap
06:09his head around, and he just looked forward.
06:12Jason Francia, youth pastor, then about eight, nine, ten years old.
06:17Three times he said he was abused by Michael Jackson.
06:21Question, did his hands make contact with your genitalia?
06:24Yes, over the clothes.
06:26How long was his hand there?
06:29Two cartoons worth.
06:34Well, it was very moving.
06:37I had interviewed his mother about these incidents back in 1993.
06:41And here, years later, her son is telling me exactly the same thing.
06:50It really got to me.
06:53His testimony really got to me.
06:57There's witness after witness that say,
07:00Jackson has a pattern and practice of molesting children.
07:04And I'll tell you, the jury's going to look to that,
07:06and they're going to have a difficult time saying that Jackson is not a pedophile in this case.
07:11The prosecution, they said, we got him.
07:14We have a serial pedophile.
07:16Well, what a bunch of junk that was.
07:21The people who testified, Francia, Chacon, McManus, Lamarck, former employees who were angry.
07:30They had an axe to grind.
07:33And we were going to prove it.
07:36Jackson's lead attorney, Tom Mesereau, counterattacked ferociously.
07:39The defense skillfully took each one of these witnesses and put them in one box.
07:45And it was a box of grifters.
07:48Some of these people were paid money by the media for their stories.
07:53The housekeeper reportedly sold her story to hardcopy for $20,000.
07:59He had something on every single one of them.
08:00You got $20,000.
08:03The fact of the matter is, back in the 90s, tabloid television paid people.
08:09I mean, everybody knows that.
08:11Now, having their reputation battered in court, he was masterful.
08:16I mean, he used facts and a tone of voice that made the jury think, oh, boy, these people can't
08:22be believed.
08:24Yeah.
08:25You know, in my opinion, money hungry.
08:29People wanted Michael Jackson's money, no matter how to get it.
08:34I think we cross-examine effectively.
08:36They put on witnesses who were lacking in credibility.
08:38Every one of these prosecution witnesses has their own little axe to grind to some degree.
08:43This is just Mesereau throwing more dirt.
08:46We've had 10 people testify, and he says they're all crooks and liars.
08:50You have to buy that all these 10 people are willing to risk perjury, defamation.
08:55They made a pretty strong case here.
08:57All about credibility and not about physical evidence, all of this is hanging in the air for the jury to
09:01consider.
09:05I think the prosecution needs to pull something really big out of the bag.
09:13As terrible as it looked at that point for the prosecution, what they did next, I thought, was brilliant.
09:19What better person to bring to the stand than the mother of Geordie Chandler, the little boy who got millions
09:27and millions of dollars to shut up.
09:29And so June Chandler came to the stand.
09:36When we discovered that June Chandler was going to take the stand, there was pandemonium, okay?
09:45It came back to haunt us.
09:48To understand how significant it was for the mother of Geordie Chandler to take the stand, you have to go
09:54back 10 years earlier with this notebook right here.
09:58Book number one of my notes on Michael Jackson.
10:02This is the original story that we broke back in 1993.
10:08America is in shock tonight over the scandal surrounding pop star Michael Jackson.
10:12Barry, I don't want to overstate anything.
10:15I try to be a careful reporter, but we could very well be watching the downfall of a superstar.
10:20Sources in Los Angeles say a 13-year-old boy's claim of sexual abuse led to the criminal probe of
10:26Michael Jackson.
10:28It's the LAPD sexually exploited child unit of their juvenile division that is handling this case.
10:38When we first interviewed the victim, it was at his father's home.
10:42His parents were divorced.
10:44The allegations were he had a sexual relationship with Michael Jackson.
10:50The victim became very detailed.
10:52One of the allegations was that they were showered together.
10:55He drew specific details of Mr. Jackson's body.
11:00He drew a picture of Mr. Jackson's private partner, specifically his penis,
11:06stating that Mr. Jackson had markings on his penis.
11:12Because of the details that he was giving to me and to the other officers in the room,
11:18there was absolutely no way that he could make this up.
11:24The Jackson's lawyers had to guarantee that Michael would submit to a police strip search
11:30so cops could see if various parts of Jackson's body matched up with the descriptions.
11:35The body warrant was served to photograph Michael Jackson.
11:40Mr. Jackson was hysterical at the time, yelling, screaming, yelling at his attorneys,
11:46how are you allowing this to happen?
11:48They served a search warrant on me, which allowed them to view and photograph my body,
11:53including my penis, my buttocks, my lower torso, thighs, and any other error that they wanted.
12:01This is the first time the world has seen Michael Jackson deny the allegations of sexual abuse.
12:08In a message carried on live television from his Santa Barbara ranch,
12:12he emotionally described undergoing a recent body search by investigators.
12:17It was the most humiliating ordeal of my life.
12:21From what I understand, some detectives were able to corroborate the sketch actually match the photographs
12:30and the markings that Michael Jackson had on his body.
12:35We knew that we had a good case, but the victim did not want to pursue the criminal case.
12:42The young boy who was the catalyst for this investigation has recently informed us
12:48that he does not wish to participate, that we must decline prosecution involving Mr. Jackson.
12:55I was in disbelief. We don't have a victim. We don't have anybody else who's willing to come forward.
13:01We don't have a case.
13:03The settlement is in, and Jackson's young accuser is now California's newest millionaire.
13:08Michael Jackson understood what this kid was capable of doing to him,
13:12and $23 million was to keep Michael Jackson out of prison.
13:17I did say to him, you know, but that's got to be the end, Mike.
13:21You can never be seen around kids again, ever.
13:28Innocence! Michael! Innocence! Michael! Innocence! Michael!
13:37Innocence! Michael!
13:38The mother of the 1993 alleged victim is the 51st witness to testify for the prosecution.
13:44June Chandler, this highly credible witness, this is the first time the jury's going to hear the truth about what
13:51happened with her son.
13:53Everything short of the actual description of molestation, everything else could come from her.
13:59June Chandler's testimony was riveting.
14:06She said she and her son and small daughter traveled the world with Michael Jackson.
14:14It was a whirlwind existence.
14:25June Chandler testified, it was the end of March 1993, that they went to Vegas.
14:33Jackson came to her crying, you don't trust me, we're a family, why won't you let Jordan be with me?
14:39And she said, he is with you, but why not in my bedroom?
14:44And Michael was trembling and saying, we're a family, Jordy is having fun with me, why can't he sleep in
14:51my bed?
14:51There's nothing wrong, there's nothing going on, don't you trust me?
14:54And in the end, she did allow him to sleep with Jackson, and from that point on, he always slept
15:01with Michael Jackson.
15:02MJ spent the night more than 30 times in her Santa Monica house.
15:07Where did they stay? In my son's bedroom.
15:10Question, is there more than one bed in that room?
15:13No.
15:17That just gives me chills.
15:20You couldn't get it out of your mind that this woman got talked into letting her son sleep with Michael
15:27Jackson.
15:28He was 12 years old.
15:30Jackson gave her a very expensive Cartier bracelet, and from then on, every time Jackson and Jordy were together, they
15:37shared a bed.
15:38You got the sense that she sold her son.
15:42And then she told the jury that she hadn't seen her son in 11 years.
15:48You got the impression that June Chandler realized she had done something wrong.
15:53She had allowed access to her son that she now regretted.
15:57I know she was hurting.
16:00I could see that in her face when you talk about Jordy.
16:05They were not able to resume a kind of a normal mother-son relationship after that.
16:13It would be speculation, but I think Jordan blamed her for not protecting him from this abusive relationship, as a
16:21mother should have been.
16:22You get diamonds, I get abused.
16:25That's their understanding.
16:27It was heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time.
16:32I just remember sitting in the room, watching her on the stand.
16:35I just thought, this woman perhaps gave a death blow to Michael.
16:39I'm thinking the jury is going to send him to prison.
16:42It did make me kind of stop and think, wow.
16:47Knowing that Michael Jackson paid off this family makes you wonder, is he guilty?
16:55Michael?
16:56Michael, do you think June Chandler told the truth today?
16:58There'll be no comment.
16:59There'll be no comment.
17:01The pattern she showed was so close to the current case, the jury could really believe Jackson had a way
17:07of going about seducing these kids.
17:09The prosecution is wrapping up the molestation part of its case, moving on to conspiracy, alleging the Arviso family was
17:15held against their will.
17:21Janet Arviso, the mother of the accuser, is on the stand.
17:25He's not dead. He's not dead.
17:27Michael!
17:28Michael Jackson face to face with the mother of the teenage boy he's accused of molesting.
17:33For the prosecutors, Janet Arviso, the mother of the accuser, Gavin Arviso, could not be more important, pivotal witness.
17:43She was going to testify that she had been kidnapped, the family had been held against her will, and then
17:49Michael Jackson had molested her son.
17:53Janet was a very complicated woman.
17:58Three kids, when she was very young, lived in a state of poverty.
18:01They had a one-room studio apartment, married to a man who was violent and abusive, and it had an
18:09effect on how she viewed the world.
18:12Insecure and conflicted and emotionally traumatized, and that's how she presented.
18:18Emotional testimony revolved around the charge that Jackson falsely imprisoned her and her three children.
18:24On the stand, Janet talked about being surrounded by the Jackson team after the Martin Bashir documentary.
18:33They said, we've got to hide you at Neverland, so the media can't get you.
18:38So she did anything they told her.
18:43We discovered fairly early in the case, the video that depicted the entire Arviso family, proclaiming their praise for Michael
18:50Jackson and how much he's done for their family.
18:53He plays with them, laughs with them.
18:57He, uh, lets them win.
19:00At the time that that video was made, Janet had no awareness at all that there was anything going on
19:07that was unseemly, anything that was wrong, anything that was criminal.
19:11She still believed that Michael Jackson was the family savior.
19:14Every door closed on us, and Michael said, all my doors are open.
19:20My home is your home and your children.
19:25I am like their father.
19:28And me, he calls me family.
19:33Michael Jackson telling her that they are now family, that he has a special relationship, not just with her son,
19:41but with her as well, and that he could be counted upon.
19:45Those are the types of things that, uh, that June Chandler testified to as well.
19:50What every prosecutor who deals with sex crimes learns quickly.
19:54A pattern of behavior is repeated over a period of time.
19:58And we believe there is a grooming process that extends beyond the child.
20:03It includes the family of the child.
20:06Pretty consistently with all of these kids that Michael Jackson was involved with, there was no father figure.
20:12That was the case with Jordan.
20:14I mean, there was a divorce.
20:15It was the case with Gavin.
20:17Michael Jackson telling them, I am the father now.
20:20Now, I will take care of you, and I will love you, and you will be cared for, and you
20:24will be attended to.
20:25You have to believe that I have only your best interests at heart.
20:28Now let's go to bed.
20:35From the very beginning, things did not make sense about this family.
20:42Michael Jackson, he couldn't understand, why are they doing this to me?
20:48Everybody has a past, so when it came to Arvisus, who are these people?
20:53Michael told me, that's your job, Brian.
20:56Your job is to find out what really happened here.
21:01I need to find every skeleton in their closet, dirt on their shoes.
21:07You've got to sniff it out.
21:09Did a search, court records.
21:13Bingo.
21:15There's a case against J.C. Penney's by the Arvisus.
21:20Gavin Arvisu went in and stole clothing, and the security guard saw him and caught him.
21:26Janet Arvisu sees what's happening, and a melee ensued, a fight.
21:32They did not get charged with shoplifting.
21:35Instead, Janet Arvisu filed a lawsuit against J.C. Penney's,
21:41saying that the security guard supposedly molested Janet Arvisu in the parking lot.
21:48Wait a minute, they've done this before.
21:51This is the same M.O.
21:53I found out there was $152,000 paid to them in a settlement agreement.
22:02And I said, they've got all this money.
22:05What are they doing on welfare?
22:08They were scam artists.
22:09They knew how to do it.
22:11I found the smoking gun.
22:14But was it enough?
22:19Today at the Michael Jackson trial, Jackson's attorney begins cross-examining his accuser's mother.
22:24Now, the defense came into play.
22:27Michael, are you looking forward to the cross-examination of this witness?
22:32Tom Mesro's cross-examination, it was surgical, never explosive, but devastating.
22:38He flipped the narrative.
22:39He made the Arvisus, the aggressors, the predators, and Michael Jackson, the prey.
22:45The welfare fraud was so powerful, it resulted in her claiming the Fifth Amendment.
22:52He allowed Janet Arviso to effectively hang herself.
22:57There was a palpable reaction in the courtroom.
23:02It did bother me.
23:04To me, it was just a farce.
23:08You know, she just, she just was out for money.
23:11Out for money.
23:15At every opportunity, the defense absolutely excoriated her.
23:20The whole notion that they're a family of grifters looking for a quick buck is nonsense.
23:25There was high drama in the courtroom of the Michael Jackson child molestation trial.
23:29She witnessed Jackson licking her son's face, and she actually did a reenactment of that,
23:34which must have been incredibly bizarre.
23:36She shouted, quote, Neverland is all about booze, pornography, and sex with boys.
23:43She was rambling.
23:44She was incoherent.
23:45She was emotional.
23:47She was on the stand several days in a row.
23:50Every day, she appeared as a different person.
23:54Once very meek, and then the next day very mad, and then the next day very sad.
23:59You just never knew what you were going to get with Janet Arviso.
24:02All I know is sitting, you know, six feet away from her, she was pointing at the jury.
24:07Put yourself in my shoes.
24:09Don't you judge me.
24:10Talking about being kidnapped in a hot air balloon.
24:14I called her Janet from another planet.
24:16Sorry.
24:17But, you know, I mean, that's just how she acted.
24:23It's a normal reaction for a mother who realizes that their child has been exposed to harm.
24:30And she was somebody who psychologically didn't have the ability to deal with it.
24:34I'm not sure I would have the ability to deal with it.
24:37I had a fairly normal upbringing.
24:40Today, we went from Neverland to Fantasyland.
24:44This witness was a disaster.
24:48She was the worst possible witness you could have imagined for a prosecutor.
24:54It was an extraordinarily pivotal moment in the case.
24:57She was, at the end of the day, what the defense needed, and that was walking, talking, reasonable doubt.
25:07I think it was a really important moment for Michael Jackson.
25:10The case was going very well for him.
25:16Michael, are you pleased with the way the cross-examination was going?
25:20It's going well.
25:23Michael was real excited and jubilant, as a matter of fact.
25:29It made it a good day.
25:33I cherished those days, the good days, because most of the times were extremely stressful throughout the trial.
25:43He was deteriorating mentally and physically, you know, because he was just paralyzed with fear and anxiety.
25:50At times, you would see him just in thought, and I'd see tears come down, you know, because it was
26:01destroying him.
26:02A key prosecution witness is expected to testify, Jackson's ex-wife.
26:06The singer's ex-wife, the mother of two of his children, set to take the witness stand.
26:11Just knowing that Debbie Rowe is on the prosecution's side, that was problematic.
26:19Debbie, Michael Jackson's ex-wife, now she's going to be a witness.
26:24I'm thinking, oh, man, what's going to happen?
26:27Debbie Rowe gives Michael Jackson what he's always wanted, his own children.
26:32Not one, but two.
26:33And she agrees not to be part of the children's life.
26:37She gave up her parental rights so that the children were all his.
26:43But she changed her mind.
26:46Rowe is locked in a custody battle with Jackson over their children and is reportedly upset because the singer has
26:52not paid alimony for more than a year.
26:54She told the prosecution she hadn't seen her children in two and a half years because Jackson wouldn't let her,
27:00and she called him a sociopath.
27:02What a coup for the prosecution to get Debbie Rowe.
27:15The night before, I was at a steak joint where we always ate every single night, and there was Debbie.
27:23Debbie Rowe, she's with the prosecution, and they're huddling, and they got their heads down, and they're taking notes, and
27:29she's being very animated, and who the heck knew what she was saying, but I knew it wasn't good.
27:36Sparse could fly later today in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial with the singer's ex-wife.
27:42At this point, we had a battle.
27:45We had to pull out all the stops.
27:48Debbie Rowe, she had information that was relevant.
27:51You know, critical of him and what he did with children.
27:55Now, could we get her to deliver that information in a way that was effective and was received well by
28:01a jury?
28:02She didn't demonstrate any hesitancy in doing so.
28:06Could be potentially devastating for this defense.
28:08I think she's going to be given instant credibility because of who she is and what she may know.
28:13Well, Debbie Rowe was going to appear as a prosecution witness was a heart-stopping event.
28:21Randy, Jermaine, LaGioia, Mr. Jackson, everyone in the defense talk about people's blood draining from their face and their heart.
28:31People were going to believe she had the inside story.
28:39There she is, Debbie Rowe, right?
28:42And she looks at Michael.
28:44He looks at her.
28:46And there was a moment when I saw her flip.
28:53Something happens in a courtroom that it overcomes people and their emotions come out.
28:59And her emotions came out.
29:01Michael, I think the world of you.
29:04And she said so.
29:08What she testified to and what she told us were two very different things.
29:13Yeah.
29:14If I was expecting her to say something along the line of,
29:19I was very concerned about his behavior and his association with children,
29:23she certainly didn't say that on the witness stand.
29:28There's a limit to what you can do to neutralize something like that.
29:31You just have to live with it.
29:34It was pretty devastating.
29:36The prosecution cut her testimony short.
29:39They realized she's flipped.
29:41She's not going to tell us what she told us behind closed doors.
29:45Michael was numb the whole time.
29:48He kind of just looked at me.
29:50Okay, that's my Debbie.
29:52I love her too.
29:54Debbie Rowe was touted as the prosecution's bombshell witness,
29:57but she appears to have exploded in their faces.
30:01As she left the stand, Debbie Rowe took this long, beseeching look.
30:07Like, look at me, would you please?
30:09He, as I recall, just kept his head down.
30:12The moment she got in the courtroom, took the witness stand, took one look at Jackson,
30:16she melted like an ice cube.
30:20Did she still love him?
30:22Is that why she did it?
30:24One theory.
30:25If she would testify favorably for Michael Jackson,
30:28there was this backdoor agreement that he would let her see her children.
30:32I don't think anybody really knows except Debbie Rowe.
30:35Michael, was it good to see Debbie again?
30:38Michael, what was it like to see Debbie Rowe?
30:40No comment.
30:41No comment.
30:42The one person who has a right to hate Michael Jackson doesn't.
30:45What does that say about Michael Jackson?
30:47How could they put this witness on the stand?
30:49How could they not know what she was going to testify to?
30:52It's bad.
30:53It's especially bad because it's so late in the case.
30:55You know, the defense is about to begin.
30:57You want to start strong and end strong.
30:59Well, this is both the end of the prosecution case
31:02and the end of the prosecution case.
31:0845 days and 85 witnesses later,
31:11the prosecution and the Michael Jackson case arrested.
31:15The prosecution made so many mistakes,
31:20Martin Bashir being one of them.
31:22Debbie Rowe.
31:23Oh, my goodness.
31:25But we, we were still in trouble.
31:28Public opinion.
31:29Very important.
31:3270% said he was guilty.
31:34Oh, man, we were getting killed.
31:37Since when do that number of Americans agree on anything?
31:41Could we move that needle back where it belonged,
31:44on the defense side?
31:46Can't wait till it's over.
31:47If I have to see him in his pajamas again,
31:48I don't know if I'm going to get through.
31:50It's close to presenting its side.
31:52Let's meet our panel again and go to your calls.
31:54Hi, Larry.
31:55Go ahead.
31:56Do you think they should let Michael get on the stand?
31:59If I were defending him, absolutely not.
32:07After 10 weeks of taking pot shots at the state's case,
32:11the defense kicks off.
32:14Now it's the defense's turn.
32:16The defense have this big master plan,
32:20polish up Michael Jackson's reputation.
32:22So who do they call?
32:24Wade Robson.
32:25They call Brett Barnes,
32:27who the prosecution said that Michael Jackson
32:29groomed and sexually molested.
32:31But guess what?
32:32They also called the movie star Macaulay Culkin.
32:36The Home Alone kid always said glowing things
32:39about Michael Jackson.
32:41What happened at the house?
32:42That's what all these things are concerned about.
32:44You know, that's what's so weird, you know.
32:45What did happen?
32:45Nothing happened, you know.
32:47I mean, nothing, really.
32:48I mean, we played video games, you know.
32:50Macaulay Culkin, he's a neat guy.
32:52I called him up and I said,
32:53Mac, they're making all these accusations
32:56against Michael about you.
32:58And Macaulay Culkin says,
33:00from what I'm seeing going on in this courtroom,
33:02Michael is in deep, deep trouble.
33:05I'll be there for him, Brian.
33:06I'll come in, I'll testify.
33:08I'll told him a thousand times.
33:09I'll tell him again.
33:13The jury looked like they were a little starstruck.
33:16There was the Home Alone kid right there,
33:19you know, feet away from them,
33:20swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
33:22He asked this jury to believe him.
33:25If you trust me,
33:27Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin,
33:29you should trust Michael Jackson.
33:31Michael Jackson stared at him
33:34for a moment.
33:36He smiled.
33:36And it was a moment between two megastars
33:41when the world could have stopped
33:44and the two of them just sort of shared a moment
33:48with each other.
33:49He categorically denied that Michael Jackson
33:52had ever molested him
33:52and had ever inappropriately touched him.
33:55Culkin called the allegations absolutely ridiculous.
33:57The second defense witness,
33:59Brett Barnes, said the same thing.
34:00Horeographer Wade Robson told jurors
34:04he first met Jackson at age five
34:05and shared a bed with him more than 20 times
34:08until he was 14.
34:10Wade says, no, Michael never touched me.
34:13He never did anything
34:14that was even remotely associated
34:17with these accusations.
34:20Wade was very convincing,
34:22made me feel like he was telling me the truth.
34:27It's really hard to kind of lie to somebody
34:29when you look directly at him,
34:31you kind of would look away
34:33or look, you know, distracted,
34:35but he didn't do any of that.
34:37It was a trio of home runs for Tom Mesereau.
34:43All three of those young men
34:45said their time at Neverland
34:48was magical, safe.
34:51Did you always sleep with Michael Jackson
34:53when you were there?
34:54Yes.
34:55And nothing bad ever happened?
34:57No, nothing bad ever happened.
35:00I was hearkened back to 1993
35:03when Wade Robson as a nine-year-old
35:05and Brett Barnes as a nine- or ten-year-old
35:08were brought out by Team Jackson.
35:11Have you slept in the same bed with him?
35:14Yeah, I've been.
35:15I was on one side, he was on the other.
35:17It's a big bed.
35:19Yeah, you know, there's been different times
35:20where it'll just be me and Michael.
35:22Then there'll be other times
35:23where he has other friends over, too.
35:25It's just a snowman party.
35:28We just have a lot of fun.
35:29And there they were years later
35:32testifying as grown men to the very same thing.
35:34Yes, they slept in bed with Michael Jackson,
35:36but nothing ever happened.
35:38It was a mantra.
35:40Nothing happened.
35:41Nothing happened.
35:42Absolutely nothing happened.
35:44How much stronger can you get for the defense?
35:46And you have to wonder
35:47why the prosecution brought these three cases up
35:50to begin with.
35:51What we had to overcome
35:52was something that was almost devastating.
35:54We had presented to the jury
35:56our belief that Wade Robson was a victim.
35:58We had a witness who saw
36:00that he was being abused by Michael Jackson.
36:03He insisted he was not.
36:05That's very difficult evidence to overcome, right?
36:08Now, it's my task to cross-examine him.
36:10I was inside the courtroom.
36:12At one point, the prosecution was so frustrated
36:15on how well he was doing for the defense.
36:19He leaned on the podium,
36:21like out of frustration,
36:23like, we can't break you.
36:24And he said, you know,
36:26maybe he did these things to you
36:29and you were asleep.
36:31The audience just gasped
36:32because it was like, you're that desperate?
36:35It was hard to get past that.
36:37You know, it's hard to convince a jury
36:39when the subject of the act itself
36:42says it didn't happen.
36:44I had decided that the most effective way
36:47to be able to deal with that
36:49was to simply do a presentation
36:51of some of the materials,
36:52sexually graphic material that we had seized
36:55from Michael Jackson's home.
36:58Two books introduced by the prosecution.
37:02One of them is Boys Will Be Boys
37:04and one, I'm going to cover up the cover photo
37:07called Simply the Boy,
37:09a photographic essay.
37:11In these books, you will see naked boys
37:13sprawled on rocks,
37:15naked boys eating bananas,
37:17naked boys touching each other.
37:19And suddenly, you saw Wade Robson,
37:22who sat stock still in the witness chair,
37:25slumped down.
37:26His whole demeanor changed.
37:29And you could see these books affected him.
37:33And I had to wonder,
37:35had Michael Jackson shown him these books?
37:39Ron Zonen, the prosecutor,
37:40did an absolutely magnificent job
37:42of taking this witness
37:43and turning him to his own witness.
37:46My goal was to make this jury
37:49as uneasy as possible.
37:52I want the jury to sit there and think,
37:55I sure wouldn't want my child
37:58in bed with a man
37:59who found this kind of material
38:01to be fascinating or enticing.
38:06I frankly felt like I was hit
38:08by a two-by-four in the stomach.
38:10It was only about two hours of testimony,
38:11but it was tremendously powerful, Nancy.
38:14The prosecution did score some points.
38:17Was it enough?
38:18Well, that was up to the jury.
38:22For the next two weeks,
38:24Tom Mesereau took the jury
38:26through every piece of evidence
38:28that was critical,
38:29every witness that was important.
38:31They took 50 witnesses
38:32and put them on in over two weeks.
38:34There were so many ridiculous aspects
38:36to this trial
38:37that I think our witnesses
38:38blew them out even more.
38:40Jackson lead attorney Tom Mesereau,
38:42he simply said,
38:43the defense rests.
38:48Michael Jackson admits
38:50to sleeping with children,
38:51but is the 46-year-old pop star
38:54a child molester?
38:55It is now up to a jury
38:57in Santa Maria, California
38:58to answer that question.
39:00After more than three months
39:01of testimony,
39:02the jury in the Michael Jackson
39:03child molestation trial
39:05began deliberating the case
39:06on Friday.
39:07I was nervous.
39:15The first thing we did
39:16was we took a poll.
39:18It was almost kind of equal
39:20of people thinking he was guilty
39:22and people thinking he was innocent.
39:24What has to be proven
39:26is beyond a reasonable doubt.
39:29Can you doubt that happened?
39:34They've been in the deliberation
39:36now for three days.
39:37The longer it goes on,
39:39it could mean that they're basically
39:40locked on some issues.
39:43Emotions were high.
39:44There was yelling
39:45and crying and screaming.
39:48The people outside
39:49could hear us.
39:51All over the world,
39:53everybody was watching.
39:54and the media was all up in it.
39:56That's a lot of pressure.
39:58Something that is resonating
40:00through the African-American
40:01community right now.
40:03They do not believe
40:04that Michael Jackson
40:05is being treated fairly.
40:07Michael Jackson,
40:08in front of a jury
40:09of mostly white,
40:11conservative Santa Marians,
40:13was probably going
40:14to be found guilty.
40:16Go back to the mugshot.
40:18Go back to dancing
40:20on the roof of an SUV.
40:21There are 10 counts
40:23against Michael Jackson.
40:24Go back to all of the charges.
40:27I think for the prosecutors,
40:29the key is looking
40:30at the big picture,
40:31saying,
40:31there's a pattern here.
40:33This is not just about this boy.
40:35This is the M.O.
40:37Facing the kind of charges
40:38that he was facing,
40:39the odds were against him.
40:42The jurors,
40:43I mean,
40:44they're right in that room,
40:45right back there.
40:46They have to reach a verdict.
40:47And I don't think
40:48it's going to happen
40:48anytime soon.
40:49This is a pretty complicated case.
40:51Day after day after day,
40:52more and more
40:53of the fans would gather.
40:55Dinos, it's on fire!
40:57We don't need the water!
40:59Let the bench face work!
41:01It got really tense
41:04in that parking lot.
41:05Stop child predators!
41:07No problem, Izzy.
41:08What came out of his mouth
41:10about sleeping with boys?
41:12What came out of his mouth?
41:13I don't know
41:14what kind of kids you raised.
41:15That does not mean he did.
41:16You're going to hell,
41:18possibly,
41:19with Michael Jackson.
41:20Stop, stop, stop, stop.
41:22I won't use the word anxious.
41:24I will use the word prayerful.
41:26We have faith in the jury.
41:28We're going to let them handle it.
41:29Michael's innocent, Michael!
41:31Sure or later,
41:33somebody has to come out
41:34of that room
41:34with some kind of an announcement.
41:36We had the bailiff tell the judge,
41:38you know,
41:38we're at a standstill.
41:40What are we supposed to do?
41:42The judge says,
41:43no,
41:44we ain't doing no mistrower.
41:46You're going to sit there
41:46and you're going to work it out.
41:49The heart of this case is,
41:51do you believe the boy
41:52is making these accusations?
41:53And do you believe this mother
41:55that they were all confined
41:56at the Neverland home?
42:00It's the biggest story
42:01of the century,
42:02so we've got to cover this.
42:05What we want to know is,
42:06where's Gavin?
42:07We are basically on Gavin.
42:09He doesn't know we're there.
42:10It's long lens work.
42:13On the face of it,
42:14it's just a picture
42:14of Gavin and his brother Star
42:16buying some snacks.
42:17It looked like
42:18it was going to be movie night.
42:19And as they're leaving the store,
42:21you start seeing them
42:22look up at the TV
42:23mounted on the ceiling.
42:25Breaking news,
42:26the jury in Santa Maria
42:27has sent word
42:28that it has reached a verdict.
42:30There's a verdict
42:31in the Jackson case.
42:32This is how he saw it.
42:34We were there at that moment.
42:37It's not a happy picture.
42:38He looks scared.
42:40They jump on their bikes
42:41and they pedal home
42:42as fast as they can.
42:46There is a verdict.
42:47I am told there is a verdict.
42:49All right.
42:49So it is now official
42:50that at 1.30 p.m. Pacific time,
42:55a verdict will be announced
42:57in the Michael Jackson case.
42:58Everybody was like,
43:00whoa.
43:00My heart is beating real fast.
43:03A jury of 12 men and women,
43:05if one of them
43:05expresses reasonable doubt
43:07on any one of the charges,
43:09he is acquitted.
43:10The sheriff said,
43:12I just want to let you know
43:12that when your friend
43:14is found guilty,
43:15we are going to rush
43:17his ass out of that courtroom
43:19so fast
43:21that your head's going to spin.
43:22And I'm like,
43:25this guy knows something
43:27I don't know.
43:28Like, Michael Jackson
43:29is going to be found guilty.
43:31The jury verdict is to be read
43:33when he arrives
43:35at the courthouse.
43:36His motorcade,
43:37as you see from this
43:38helicopter shot live.
43:42Michael's life hinged on
43:43what these jurors
43:44are going to say.
43:45And he's like,
43:46just in shock.
43:48I found a scripture
43:50in the Bible,
43:51Isaiah 41,
43:51and I gave this
43:53to his mother,
43:54Catherine,
43:55and I told her
43:56to read this.
43:58So do not fear,
44:00for I am with you.
44:01Do not be dismayed,
44:03for I am your God.
44:05I will strengthen you
44:06and help you.
44:07I will uphold you
44:08with my righteous right hand.
44:10All who rage against you
44:12will surely be ashamed
44:14and disgraced.
44:15For I am the Lord,
44:16your God,
44:17who takes hold
44:18of your right hand
44:19and says to you,
44:20do not fear,
44:21I will help you.
44:23Wow.
44:31One moment,
44:32wow.
44:33This is taking me back.
44:37This is taking me back
44:39to that very moment.
44:43Michael Jackson
44:45is a few moments away
44:46from hearing his fate.
44:48It's been over 60 days
44:50of evidence,
44:52of testimony,
44:53of late to the court moments.
44:55In the next 50 minutes or so.
44:57Live outside.
44:58The jury will release
45:00its judgment.
45:02You see there
45:03Michael Jackson's team
45:05arriving here
45:06at the courthouse.
45:07So many fans,
45:09media,
45:10all just in a crush.
45:15This could be the last time
45:17that Michael Jackson
45:18is a free man
45:19for a long time.
45:20I just remember
45:22seeing his face.
45:24I just like,
45:25like, wow,
45:26you know.
45:29The slow walk,
45:31it was almost like
45:32a death march,
45:33you know,
45:34blank look on his face.
45:36No emotion whatsoever.
45:39It's almost like
45:40he's a zombie
45:40just existing.
45:44A live audio feed
45:46which the judges agreed to
45:47and we will be hearing
45:48it all at the same time.
45:49The jury is making
45:51their way
45:51into the jury room.
45:52Diane Diamond,
45:54row one.
45:55Every muscle in my body
45:56was tense
45:57because
45:58after all these months
46:00finally
46:00it's going to be over.
46:03Whether you supported him
46:04or whether you
46:05were against him
46:07you could see
46:08everybody nervous.
46:11All lawyers
46:12standing up.
46:13Michael Jackson
46:13standing up
46:14waiting for the verdict
46:15to be read.
46:22We're all in listening mode here.
46:25First word,
46:26first audio
46:27we hear from
46:28inside that courthouse.
46:33The microphone's on.
46:35The people of the
46:37state of California
46:37plaintiff
46:38versus Michael Joe Jackson
46:39defendant
46:40count one verdict.
46:42We the jury
46:43in the above
46:43entitled case
46:44find the defendant
46:45not guilty
46:46of conspiracy
46:47as charged
46:48in count one
46:48of the indictment.
46:49Count two verdict.
46:51Not guilty
46:52of a lewd act
46:53upon a minor child.
46:55Count three verdict.
46:57Michael Jackson
46:58is now free.
47:00Count ten verdict.
47:02Not guilty
47:03of providing
47:03alcoholic beverages.
47:05Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
47:07Not guilty
47:07on all counts.
47:08Michael's vindicated
47:09and acquitted.
47:10I told you so.
47:11Michael Jackson
47:11was persecuted
47:12for grains.
47:13He didn't come up.
47:14I was proven
47:14in that court of law today.
47:17I mean,
47:18they're roaring out there.
47:19We could hear it
47:20inside the courtroom.
47:21I lost it.
47:22I couldn't stop crying
47:24because it was
47:25just so emotional.
47:28I remember tears.
47:30I'm jubilant
47:32but can't physically
47:33give any more.
47:35I completely pass out.
47:37I end up
47:38on the scratcher.
47:40At the end of the day,
47:41Michael was always innocent
47:43and he is low.
47:50It was tough.
47:52Not guilty.
47:53It doesn't say innocent.
47:54It says not guilty
47:56of the charges
47:57brought against him.
47:58I did come away
48:00at the end
48:01thinking that the state
48:03had kind of blown it.
48:06I think the state
48:07made the case
48:08so complicated
48:09by adding
48:11the conspiracy counts.
48:14The man's innocent.
48:16He always was.
48:17Defense attorney
48:17Tom Mesereau said
48:18if you have reasonable doubt
48:20about this family
48:21accusing Jackson,
48:22you must acquit
48:24and they did.
48:25If there are ever
48:26two words
48:27you never want to hear,
48:28it's not guilty.
48:29It's the worst moment
48:31you could have
48:31as a professional prosecutor
48:33to ever hear not guilty
48:34but it is what happened
48:36and we are professionals
48:37and it's not guilty.
48:39The jury has spoken.
48:40That's it.
48:41We're done.
48:41I'm looking at Michael Jackson.
48:43He didn't look excited
48:45or happy.
48:46He turned to Tom Mesereau
48:47like,
48:48what happened?
48:49And Tom Mesereau
48:50had to whisper in his ear
48:51like, hey,
48:52you know,
48:53we won.
48:54I turned around
48:54and looked
48:55and Michael Jackson
48:56looked right at me
48:58and he went,
48:59thank you,
49:01bowed his head down to me.
49:03I'm like,
49:04just doing my job.
49:08I went over to Michael.
49:10Congratulations, Mike.
49:11You know,
49:12you did it.
49:13And he kind of
49:14looked right through me.
49:16What a trial
49:17this was for him.
49:18Moments of total humiliation,
49:20total anguish,
49:21embarrassment,
49:22physical pain.
49:23This isn't exactly a day
49:24you want to just,
49:25you know,
49:25throw your hat up
49:26and have a party.
49:29We put him in the car
49:31and it was
49:32relatively quiet.
49:34I saw him
49:35lean back like this
49:38and exhale
49:39and I think it kind of
49:41set in that,
49:43wow,
49:43I am done.
49:44You know,
49:45I am going home.
49:47You know,
49:48I'm a free man.
49:53I had this idealized
49:55romanticized notion.
49:58Now he's going to get
49:59his life back.
50:01The one person
50:02who disabused me
50:03of that notion
50:03was his manager,
50:04Frank DeLeo.
50:05He turned to me
50:06and he said,
50:07you don't get it.
50:09I said,
50:09what?
50:10He said,
50:11this is life ruining
50:13for Michael.
50:15He will never recover
50:17from this.
50:19That just hit me hard.
50:21You know,
50:22I mean,
50:22I was like,
50:23oh my God,
50:24he's right.
50:25Michael,
50:26he knew that there
50:27were a lot of people
50:28who felt that he was guilty
50:29no matter what the verdict was.
50:33The key core part
50:34of the case
50:35is the testimony
50:36of the boy,
50:37his younger brother,
50:38and the mother,
50:38and clearly the jurors,
50:39all 12 of them,
50:40rejected the testimony.
50:42The main thing
50:43that Gavin kept repeating
50:44is that
50:45they didn't believe me.
50:47Why didn't they believe me?
50:50You know,
50:51he just,
50:52that's how he is.
50:53He felt like he had failed.
50:55Why didn't they believe me?
50:57I've entitled case
50:58by the defendant
50:59not guilty of conspiracy.
51:01People continue to question.
51:03Was he guilty?
51:05Was he not guilty?
51:08While this was a trial,
51:09clearly,
51:10about Michael Jackson,
51:11and molestation charges,
51:13the trial was also
51:14a trial about America's
51:16and maybe the world's
51:18most fragile obsession.
51:19Michael Jackson
51:20has set the music world
51:22on its ear.
51:23The album is still number one
51:25after 57 weeks
51:27on the charts.
51:27Our obsession with fame,
51:30celebrity,
51:31and status
51:33balanced against
51:34suspicion of our icon.
51:36He's a little weird.
51:38And all of those things
51:39came colliding together
51:41in this trial.
51:42The most well-known
51:43and controversial people
51:44in the world
51:44is in the fight
51:45of his life.
51:46Rumors fueled
51:46by a tabloid frenzy
51:48and obsession.
51:49Every time we watch
51:50a tabloid show,
51:52every time we read
51:52a tabloid magazine,
51:54that was the kerosene
51:56placed onto this
51:57slowly burning embers
52:00of Michael Jackson.
52:02And we had to make
52:03a value judgment.
52:05What do we believe?
52:07And what don't we believe?
52:10And in the end,
52:11it left us looking
52:13in the mirror,
52:15and I'm not sure
52:15that we like what we saw.
52:18young peopleook
52:44and everybody
52:46on the back of the
52:46moon.
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