Lessons from Michael Jackson’s 2005 Criminal Trial and Exoneration
The ordeal and media circus proves that time is a flat circle
One of the most prolific realizations that we have all come to realize is that what we know about history as presented even in the most recent of times can be heavily distorted and even if such events already occurred not that long ago. I am no stranger to such examples as there are attempts to try and downplay the mass hysteria that engulfed our country five years ago. Whether it was race riots, lockdowns over a virus, geopolitical analysis, history or data, our “experts” that either lied or were mistaken back then continued to see their reputations are tanking and elicit scorn from the public.
I am very familiar of such examples within the realm of history. Especially as such activists that past as “professional historians” have made it their mission to defame the deceased from the recent to distance past. To use this example again since it keeps coming up, Thomas Jefferson has been attacked not just for his racial attitudes and slaveholding which were not unique for a late 18th-early 19th century American to have, but for the narrative that he fathered children with one of his slaves named Sally Hemmings. This persists but is starting to be fought back against by M. Andrew Holowchak and his efforts to expose the fraudulent nature of such allegations. This agenda by such groups is to further discredit anything Jefferson did or said with iconoclastic strikes on his namesake or statues. While Monticello still stands, the history presented when thou goest thither will focus more on this alleged relationship or how “racist” he was instead of what significance he contributed.
The figure of today’s essay, Michael Jackson, is another case of one in recent memory. The late King of Pop died almost 16 years ago from a drug-induced heart attack but his legacy is one that has continued to be litigated in the courts of law and of documentaries both pro and anti-Jackson that aim to sway public opinion. The recent documentary Leaving Neverland promoted knowledge about Wade Robson and James Safechuck’s lawsuits against his estate. Both claim that they were sexual abused and gaslit by Jackson after they said in both court testimonies and statements previously given by them saying he did no such thing. They also have argued the estate is liable for monetary compensation for failing to protect them in their lawsuits.
While filed initially in 2013, these cases have been dismissed and appealed with the recent trial date set for November of next year. The original documentary was pulled from HBO following a lawsuit by Jackson’s Estate as part of the settlement in 2024 for breaching a 1992 non-disparagement clause that was still binding. The sequel documentary Leaving Neverland 2 was released a couple months ago which followed these litigation proceedings and was presented in a way that came off as less biased compared to the first one that polarized critics, audiences and was contested by Jackson’s family members for presenting inaccurate information as fact.
This modern whirlwind of hearsay, speculation and narrative battles over what the truth of the matter is continues on. But this is actually smaller in scale compared to how things went when 2 decades ago, Michael Jackson’s criminal trial ended with him being found not guilty of several charges and walking out as free man from that courthouse to the shock of the world which had assumed that he was guilty via the media coverage. This was one of the events that occurred in year 2005 which I pointed out was the final year before what we think of as “The 1990s” as a cultural timeline would be fully eclipsed by the 2000s. Because this happened before the age of social media and smartphones, the ability to quantify the fallout and impact is difficult to put into words.
Given what I have learned about the background of the trial, I wanted to really look at how big it was and to learn about a man that has been misrepresented for quite some time. Many of the same kinds of “experts” in the media that presented themselves as authority figures were wrong about the situation and hardly showed a sense of being humbled for their incorrect statements or positions. Jackson’s trial was a showcase of an overzealous prosecution, tabloid gossip run amok, a defaming attack on his character as well as a scandal on the part of the media who led the public to still believe in these allegations even after he was found not guilty.
The 1993 Allegations, Settlement and Precedent It Set
Civil or criminal trials of high profile celebrities are not recent phenomenons. They always attract huge amounts of attention as intense debates happen the fans or detractors of said celebrity are presented in a court of law. Two of the most recent examples were the Johnny Depp versus Amber heard defamation lawsuit that ended with court in Virginia awarding Depp 15 million dollars in damages after a British one dismissed his case. This lawsuit was known for the clips and exchanges that got millions of viewers since it was televised. The ongoing trial in a similar vein is the criminal prosecution of rapper Sean “P Diddy” Combs who is accused of several crimes related to using his musical entrepreneurial business to front racketeering, sex trafficking, prostitution as well as to dozens of civil lawsuits filed against him by several men and women alleging sexual misconduct at his “parties”.
The template for these kinds of high-profile events started back with the first set of allegations against Michael Jackson back in 1993. At this point Jackson was at a pinnacle of his career; He had several successful albums and was on tour promoting his music after singing the biggest contract deal with Sony at the time. While resting for a break in between the first and second part of the tour in August of that year, that is when the allegations first came from the Chandler family. Michael Jackson was accused of sexually abusing Jordan Chandler by his father Evan and The events of the following months were marked by the intense media coverage, scrutiny of both sides’ statements and the evidence presented not being available to incite Jackson of a criminal trial but settle for a little more than 20 million in 1994. The news of this outcome was overshadowed by the OJ Simpson trial that took attention away from it that same year.
The decision to settle was the wrong call in both the short and long term. In one of several videos the YouTuber Razörfist made defending Jackson, he explained the nature of accusations being a successful attempt at extortion against him but also the consequences of the civil lawsuit settlement. If Jackson had decided to fight this in court, he would have angered his fans, concert promoters, record labels and Sony while losing lots of money canceling the tour to prove his innocence. Not to mention the very intense screening as the police took photographs of his naked body to corroborate the description that Jordan Chandler1 had given regarding his genitalia as his testimony spelled out:
The second option of setting out of court with his insurance company footing the bill was put upon him by his lawyers and business associates as they wanted him to get back onto his tour promoting his album. He took that opportunity as it allowed him to resume his career and the money could be earned quickly given his popularity despite the image and brand damage he sustained.
This decision came back to haunt him as it set the precedent to both get more money from him or his estate after he died. The evidence gathered by the prosecution was not enough for a grand jury to indict him at the time. But when the Arvizo family accusations in 2003 led to his arrest and police raid on his Neverland Ranch estate, the materials from the 1993 investigations would be invoked in the trial under California Law Code Section 1108 for “Prior Bad Acts” evidence in cases of alleged sexual abuse or molestation against minors. Jackson also dealt with lawsuits targeting tabloid writers like Diane Diamond and Victor Gutierrez in addition to a separate lawsuit from Evan Chandler. A web of individuals and groups formed around him looking for the opportunity to take him down.
His declining reputation and being a punchline in the popular culture as portrayed in entertainment certainly helped not with his image at the time for his criminal trial. A documentary called Living With Michael Jackson aired in 2003 (in which Michael released a statement rebutting the distorted narrative it gave and then released his own version which added cut footage) raised enough questions about the King of Pop’s childlike demeanor and his character with regards to helping children and their families led to the very dubiously legal series of raids on his estate, lawyer’s office and the charges against him.
The 2005 Criminal Trial, the Charges against Michael Jackson and Why He Was Acquitted
The trial began on January 31st, 2005 with jury selections before the proceedings started on February 28th. After a lengthy series of events a grand jury indicted him on the following counts:
1 count of conspiracy (The prosecution had alleged that Jackson conspired to keep the Arvizo family hostage for crimes related to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion)
4 counts of committing lewd acts upon a minor
1 count of attempting to commit a lewd act upon a minor
4 counts of administrating an intoxicating agent to assist in the commissioning of a felony
4 counts of providing alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 21
14 charges in total were brought upon him; 10 felonies and 4 misdemeanors. If he were to have been convicted of all charges, the maximum amount of years he would have been in prison could have been between 18 to 38 years. The trial was suppose to last over the course of the Spring into the early months of Autumn but ended on June 13th about 3 months ahead of schedule with Michael Jackson exonerated on all counts. Stunning the media, the people outside awaiting the verdict and the audiences around the world.
I bet thou wast waiting for the reasons for why Michael Jackson was found not guilty on all charges. Worry not, because it is actually not hard to deduce the reasonings for why the jury decided the way they did.
To save thee the trouble so that thou hast no need to read nor watch the videos of the court transcripts, I would recommend that thou checkest out the lectures and various interviews done by Thomas Mesereau, the defense attorney for the trial to get to the what are the most important reasons why he was acquitted.
In mine estimation the first of these reasons for the not guilty verdicts was the overzealous prosecution that based their case on testimonies and certain patterns of behavior but lacked the physical proof needed to solidify their arguments outside of hearsay.
They were permitted to present the past evidence not used in the 1993 trial because of the previously mentioned section 1108 evidence code. But it ended up exposing the poor quality of such evidence when presented to the jury. In one instance, they tried bringing in former employees like security guards with contradictory information to prior testimony. The defense pointed out that they had been fired by Jackson for stealing about 50,000 dollars worth of property and lost a cross complaint during their lawsuit for wrongful termination while highlighting earlier statements by the alleged victims they said they saw be molested when they already stated previously they were not. In fact, Tom Sneddon’s prosecution team went as far as to fabricate evidence in the pre trial motions in addition to many other actions taken prior that taints this case as a biased pursuit against Jackson.
The second but equally important reason was the cross examination process. A reoccurring pattern that happened throughout the trial were these extremely graphic descriptions of the alleged incidents of Jackson’s sexual advances not standing up to scrutiny when the defense found inconsistencies in the testimonies. As a matter of fact, so many witnesses for the prosecution were found to be unreliable for establishing guilt that Mesereau was personally stunned looking back at the amount of people who’s stories collapsed when challenged on the stand. Jordan Chandler, the original accuser from 1993, declined to testify likely in reaction considering the amount of witnesses deemed unreliable in the eyes of the jury. Jackson was going to take the stand early on but never did consider how strong the defenses’ witnesses2 were compared to ones on behalf of the prosecution.
The third reason was the credibility problems with the Arvizo family. Not only did Gavin and his brother Star admitted to either lying under oath or saying that Jackson did not commit any lewd acts upon them, their mother Janet was a terrible witness for the prosecution. Especially her argumentative attitude towards the jury being a very big turnoff. Then other revelations regarding her committing welfare fraud, doubts about a similar case earlier about being beaten up by security guards at a J.C Penny store to get a settlement from the company and improperly using the funds raised for her son’s cancer treatment were some of the biggest mistakes the defense exploited. So much so that the jury had begun to wonder if Jackson was less of a hardened sexual abuser and an attempted victim of extortion.
The fourth was that conspiracy charge so recklessly applied that it started the domino effect of causing the whole case to fall apart. It was put on in reaction to videos made of the Arivzo family thanking Michael Jackson for his time and support while they were there at Neverland Ranch. The prosecution tried to present these as akin to those that made by people who are held hostage. When full footage which included the outtakes of them laughing at mistakes was shown, this notion of Jackson solely masterminding the kidnapping began to sound outrageous to the jury. It also led to various timeline inconsistencies like that earlier piece of tampered evidence of that magazine that had not been printed until months after the family had left.
A combination of a case with evidence that was painfully weak, a sensational amount testimony about Jackson that did not withstand cross examination, the unreliability with the accuser’s family with their history of scams, lack of physical proof to back up many of these claims as well as timelines not matching up with even the misdemeanor charges led to the jury not finding the threshold to establish guilt beyond a reasonable need to convict him on anything. For a trial scheduled to last until late September to early October, it finished after only about 73 days with Jackson cleared of all charges.
If thou wert watching the TV during this time of the trial coverage, thine impression would have been completely divorced from the reality that was happening in that courtroom. Because as we shall see, coverage of the media was giving such a distorted narrative that thou wouldest not be wrong to assume they were working in tandem with the prosecution to convict Jackson in a separate court that was public opinion.
How the Media Mislead the Public and Contributed to Jackson’s Death
The above video is from this article written by which shows the extreme depths of the biased coverage that Michael Jackson was subjected to. It is an understatement to call this a “media circus”. This was more like a cursed media carousel that was larger and spinning around its target faster than an EF5 tornado. When the Mesereau law group points out the sheer amount of coverage, I’m inclined to assume that many people were looking at a “trial of the century” kind of ordeal played out with what we called “fake news” being just as plentiful back then. Despite the gag order that the judge presiding over the case gave to both sides preempting the sensationalism that would come, statements about the testimony would reach the press after the sessions in court.
There was a pattern of hearing the accusers say their piece and it being uncritically reported without the follow up to the defense from the cross examination. One of them most infamous examples was the line of “Michael Jackson sleeps in the same room as the boys.” Macaulay Culkin, who still defends him to this day, has explained that this line lacked the context and pointed out that Michael Jackson’s bedroom was a duplex that housed multiple bedrooms. He had whole families sleep there with all kinds of entertainment to keep their kids occupied. But it did not matter to the media that was banking on the notion that Jackson was guilty. Their willingness to mislead the public except for those who followed the case closely caused people to think that Jackson was able to escape justice because of his status as a celebrity.
The total character assassination the media did on Jackson was a major contributing factor to his death. It made him dig deeper into a drug addiction problem3 which added to his paranoia regarding his long dispute with Sony Music over his ownership of the vast music catalog and how the two entities were at odds. Many of Michael Jackson’s fans make a case that Sony deliberately made moves to weaken his financial position that further pushed his mental health into a darker place so he would be privy to selling. The late Lisa Marie Presley, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey almost one year after his death, mentioned how Jackson was wary of being assassinated for that music catalog. In addition to the drug problem that he had kept hidden from her until a hospitalization from a collapse at a rehearsal revealed it. Despite the nasty divorce, she defended him from accusations of pedophila up to her death in 2023.
Jackson also continued to be haunted from the experience despite being exonerated. He never returned to Neverland Ranch and lived abroad for a bit. No longer allowing families or their children close to him as not to repeat the same circumstances that allowed any kind of accusations to reemerge. In 2021, his heirs were awarded tax relief after the IRS overvalued his worth by the time of his death. The judge in that ruling noted that for three years after that trial, his net worth dropped from the inability to find sponsors or merchandise sellers despite planning a comeback tour just before he died.
The Lessons and Future Legacy
Michael Jackson left this world just as he was about to reenter into the musical scene that he revolutionized. Leaving behind his family, his estate, the musical innovations he brought and millions of his fans that still jam out to his songs. While the legal battles continue with Robson and Safechuck’s lawsuits, A biopic about the pop star’s life is slated to be released in two parts that will cover his life up until just before his death. A rather funny sequence of events occurred last year in which the aforementioned Razörfist “ratioed” the Culture Crave account giving a somewhat accusatory description of the biopic into deleting it:
Thou mightest be wondering why I felt the need to go into these depths to clarify why I am inclined to believe that Jackson was innocent of any wrongdoing regarding child abuse from my perspective. If thou allowest me to elaborate on a more personal level, it came from me growing up not totally buying into the hysteria but still being suspicious given Michael’s behavior. He passed away two days before my 13th birthday back in 2009 and something about it really struck me. Especially after I saw the world wide condolences, crowds and coverage of the funeral for what thou wouldest assume to be a head of state’s death.
Over the years I started to do some digging and came across many notable pieces of history and started to uncover the truth. He might have had divergent opinions about politics or themes than I have, but that does not mean that I would want to see him be subjected to such a brutal media environment in violation of his privacy and constitutional rights. I should note that none other than Donald Trump stuck by him during those years of accusations and trial. He would certainly know a thing or two about media manipulation, assassination attempts and biased investigations given what has happened since that day he came down the golden elevator to announce his presidential candidacy.
I understand whence thy suspicions of him could come from. But when uncovering the context, thou wilt realize that his behaviors stemmed from being robbed of the childhood that I figured that thou yearnest for also when feeling stressed about today’s events. He was thrusted into the spotlight at a young age by his father for the Jackson 5 band and never got the chance to grow up normally. Thus a desire to get back the years he lost from a strict upbringing that some outsiders would consider abusive manifested in ways like wanting to entertain kids and provide them and their families aid and comfort. It certainly did not help that his vitiligo that caused his skin to lose pigmentation and his sensitivity to sunlight gave the uninformed random person something to poke fun of.
It is easy to assume he was secretly a dangerous predator because of his out of the ordinary mannerisms and his appearances. But putting him into a situation whither he had no normal senses and could not speak of himself without getting emotional is missing the important context. In many ways, he was someone trying to be kind to everyone and was exploited by bad actors using his character flaws to get favors from him or ruin him in the court of public opinion. Lest we forget that he was still a musical genius and very smart businessman when doing what he did best. Thou shouldest take note of what Corey Feldman said about being abused by predators in the entertainment industry with his knowledge and experience of their vileness. As a matter of fact, one such musical artist that was convicted on said crimes was Robert “R” Kelly who matches the description of what Corey had painfully spelled out.
When it came to the time Michael Jackson actually did something illegal it was done in a way that was different from what he was accused of. His troubles with sleeping after all he endured caused him to engage in doctor shopping with fake IDs and use his status to strong arm doctors like Conrad Murray to give him huge doses of the drug propofol. He was able to get away with it until the reports came out after he died. While Murray took the fall and was sentenced to four years in jail (being let out after two years of time served) for giving him the lethal dose, Michael could have also faced some repercussions like fines, mandatory rehab with maybe a sentence to community service or up to a felony conviction. But alas, he paid the price for it with his life shortly before he was about to launch his “This Is It” comeback tour.
In the years since his death, we have had multiple events that have resulted in a much more negative outlook on the entertainment world. Harvey Weinstein’s arrest spurred the “MeToo” movement, social media is now a double edge sword that can both call out the mainstream media or cause even bigger frenzies, exposés like Quiet On Set documenting the abuse that child actors went through and overall a much worse perception amongst people that there is something inherently rotten about today’s news and entertainment.
It would be easy for one to jump at the chance to hop on one of these bandwagons against particular people or groups. But the loss of due process or “innocent until proven guilty” as a default can be very dangerous. Recklessly accusing people of predatory behavior or trying to imitate professional sting operations can lead to innocent people being targeted or ruining investigations. Convictions of people like Billy Cosby can be overturned on accounts of unfair trials even when thou couldest be convinced that he was guilty of the crimes he was accused of. It probably has not helped that a heighten sense of “Normie Sadism” against those accused of such heinous crimes gives permission for the average citizen to forgo rational judgment in place of a vicarious sense of justice.
It is also within our interest to note that the FBI released documents on the investigations related to Michael Jackson that turned up nothing incriminating. Some of those same jurors were interviewed more than a decade after the trial and would still vote “not guilty” if it were held today. So I am confident in saying he was never an abuser of kids at this point. Just because he might have come off as a bit odd or creepy at times does not mean that he was automatically guilty. Especially 20 years following his trial that both embarrassed the media “experts” counting on a convictions and the fans who stick with the late King of Pop to this day. Especially to people like Razörfist that showcased many of the sources I cross referenced for this write up. He was also subjected to accusations that he had to both defend himself from and counterattack against in which the experience over the years defining Jackson certainly help.
So let us finally give Michael Jackson the peace he was wrongly denied in his time on earth and set the record straight with this essay of mine. As a final thought, I also found a surprising connection to my next topic covering the Sonic franchise. It turns out that he helped with the soundtrack of third mainline 2D game and his looks and celebrity persona were an inspiration for Sonic character in addition to his Moonwalker Arcade Game that was published by Sega back in 1990. If only we lived in a world whither Jackson decided to also make more videogame music as the sound quality improved with each generation of consoles. I could only imagine his reaction to seeing Dante from Devil May Cry 5 dancing like he did as an homage.
May thy memory be eternal, Michael Jackson. Thou wast too kind in a world that was cruel and underwentest one of the worst cases of trial by media which contributed to thine untimely demise. Let his example be for those seeking justice for legitimate crimes show what happens when they are mislead by a media who sought to influence an outcome. An important lesson of how mistaken and unapologetic such “experts” can be as well in the fact of their tomfoolery. Justice is blind, but people are not.
Until next time everyone.
What can I do but bring forth the talent that God gave me? That's all I want to do; to share the love and gift of entertainment. That's all I want to do. I don't want to hurt anybody." -Michael Joe Jackson (1958-2009)
This evidence was not submitted during pre-trial hearings in 1993 after the descriptions given by Jordan were not matching. The family also declined to testify or cooperate and thus, no indictments came.
Some of these witnesses included famous celebrities like Jay Leno, Chris Tucker, George Lopez, Macaulay Culkin, Quincy Jones, Diana Ross and Wade Robson who maintained at the time that Michael Jackson never inappropriately touch him. According to Mesereau’s partner Susan Yu, during the trial they had almost 500 witnesses ready to take the stand if needed.
This addiction came about from the painkillers he took to cope with the 3rd degree burns on his scalp he received while filming a Pepsi commercial on January 27th, 1984. Eerily enough, this happened exactly on the halfway point of his life.