Michael Jackson: From 'King of Pop' to Court Jester
June 8, 2005 — -- Michael Jackson calls himself "The King of Pop" but he may never be royalty again in the court of public opinion, even if he is acquitted of the most serious of his child molestation charges, some experts say.
"What many people forget is that even if a jury finds you not guilty, it doesn't mean you didn't do anything," said Mike Paul, who is president of the public relations firm MGP & Associates and has taught reputation management as an adjunct professor at New York University. "From a court of public opinion point of view, even if he's acquitted, Michael Jackson may be an alleged pedophile that was found not guilty. Or from a legal standpoint, [if he is convicted of child molestation] Michael Jackson will become a convicted pedophile found guilty by jurors in a court of law. And in America, what he needs to understand is that only thing worse than being a rapist or a murderer is being [an accused] child molester."
Jackson, along with the rest of the nation, awaits the verdict of his molestation trial as jurors enter their third full day of deliberations today. Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a now 15-year-old boy, who is a cancer survivor who spent time at Neverland ranch and appeared with him in the 2003 British documentary "Living With Michael Jackson."
Jurors are considering 10 charges against Jackson that include felony conspiracy with 28 overt acts involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. Jackson has denied all the charges, and his defense argued that the alleged victim and his family made up the allegations in an attempt to get money.
For Jackson, the trial has been a chance to gain some vindication if he is acquitted and perhaps put behind the cloud of suspicion that has followed him since a 12-year-old boy made similar allegations against him in 1993. Jackson was never criminally charged in that case and has always denied wrongdoing, despite settling a civil suit filed by the boy's family for reportedly more than $20 million.
And despite settling another molestation claim stemming from accusations made by another boy in 1990 and allegations made at trial that he molested or behaved inappropriately with other boys -- including former child star Macaulay Culkin, who along with two other alleged Jackson victims, denied the accusations -- the singer has repeatedly denied ever harming children. Doubts were raised about the credibility of Jackson's current accuser and his family, especially his mother, who was portrayed by the defense as a welfare cheat who exploited her son's illness to contact celebrities and live lavishly off Jackson.
However, prosecutors portrayed Jackson as a pedophile who has demonstrated an alleged longtime pattern of showering other boys and his current accuser with lavish gifts and attention as part of grooming and seduction process. Jackson, the prosecution argued, is a heavy drinker who had stashes of adult magazines and videos accessible to the children who visited Neverland. The singer, prosecutors said, took advantage of the current accuser after showing him adult magazines and Web sites and serving him wine, which he allegedly referred to as "Jesus juice."
Popular Reads
ABC News Live