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Author Topic:   Jackson trial - Jurors Criticize Accuser's Mother
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posted June 14, 2005 10:44 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jurors Criticize Accuser's Mother
They Also Fault Prosecution's Timeline of Events
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (June 14) - The jurors who acquitted Michael Jackson of child molestation had harsh words for the accuser's mother, who made them uncomfortable during her jumbled and volatile testimony.



AP

Jury Statement:
"We the jury, feeling the weight of the world's eyes upon us, all thoroughly and meticulously studied the testimony, evidence and rules of procedure presented in this court."

On Their Decision:
"We all came in with our personal beliefs and some of those did differ but we spent a lot of time really seriously studying the evidence and looking at the testimony."

On the Media:
"I think by the time we got to deliberations we had all been so conditioned to the media attention that it didn't make any difference anymore."

On the Celebrity Factor:
"One of the first things we decided was that we had to look at him just like any other individual, not just as a celebrity."

On the Accuser's Mother:
"I disliked it intensely when [the accuser's mother] snapped her fingers at us.''

On the Experience:
"You've seen it on TV all the time now you actually see it up close and personal and it's like, 'wow.'"

Watch Broadband Video: Jury Press Conference


Sources: AP, CNN, usatoday.com

Jurors said they were especially put off when the mother snapped her fingers at them while on the stand. "I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us. That's when I thought 'Don't snap your fingers at me, lady,' said juror No. 5, a retired widow.

Jurors spoke Monday in a tightly controlled news conference in a spare courtroom outfitted to look more like a TV studio. As a condition of their willingness to participate, they were identified by number, not by name.

Later, several used their names during interviews with the news media, including Juror No. 1, Raymond Hultman, 62. He told The Associated Press in an interview at his home that he believed Jackson may have molested at least two boys - but not the accuser.

He said he voted to acquit Jackson in the current case because he had doubts about the accuser's credibility. "That's not to say he's an innocent man,'' Hultman said. "He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with.''


More Jackson Coverage


· Jackson Won't Share Bed
· Quiet in Court, Jubilant on Web
· From Pop Star to Punch Line

Talk About It: Post | Chat

The foreman, later identified as Paul Rodriguez, said jurors made a plan from the start of deliberations that they were going to treat Jackson like any other individual and avoid being star-struck. After that, "we were able to deal with it just as fairly as we could as with anybody else.''

They also found no "smoking gun'' in the evidence.

"We expected probably better evidence ... something that was a little more convincing, and it just wasn't there,'' said juror No. 10.

They also had trouble with the prosecution's timeline of events. Prosecutors said Jackson molested the teenage boy while trying to deal with the fallout from a television documentary that prompted outrage over his sleepovers at Neverland.

"The timeline was really a concern,'' said juror No. 3, a 50-year-old woman.

Juror No. 10, a 45-year-old woman with one adult child and two teenage sons, discussed the panel's feelings about the 46-year-old pop star sharing his bed with boys.

"What mother in her right mind would allow that to happen? Just freely volunteer your child to sleep with someone. Not so much just Michael Jackson but any person for that matter. That's something that mothers are naturally concerned with,'' the juror said.

Rodriguez indicated he felt the mother singled him out because he was a fellow Hispanic.

"The mother, when she looked at me and snapped her fingers a few times and she says, 'You know how our culture is,' and winks at me, I thought, 'No, that's not the way our culture is.''

The mass of about 2,200 credentialed media representatives who gathered for the verdict surprised jurors. But juror No. 1 said, "By the time we got to deliberations, we were all so conditioned to the media, we didn't pay any attention.''

The foreman said the jury took only two votes. They divided up tasks and used their copious notes to follow the timeline of events.


06/14/05 01:11 EDT

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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