Finding the 'Ideal' Michael Jackson Trial Juror

Jan. 31, 2005 — -- If you're a devoted Michael Jackson fan or a news junkie, your chances of serving as a juror in "The King of Pop's" child molestation trial may be slim.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys face a challenge in finding a fair and impartial panel as jury selection begins today in Santa Barbara County, Calif., in Jackson's molestation trial. Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a now-15-year-old boy who spent time at his Neverland ranch and is believed to be a cancer survivor who appeared in the 2003 British documentary "Living With Michael Jackson." The pop star has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges that include felony conspiracy with 28 overt acts involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.

A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a legendary career that has spanned more than 35 years, Jackson is perhaps the most recognizable celebrity in the world. He is also one of the most controversial. It would be hard to find a person who hasn't heard of Jackson or isn't at least aware of his legal woes.

"If I'm a prosecutor, I wouldn't want any die-hard Jackson fan. You have enough to contend with in proving your case, I wouldn't want to have to compete with that, with trying to bend over backward to win over a Jackson devotee," said Steve Cron, a California-based defense attorney. "As a defense attorney, I would try to avoid someone who is a cable news junkie, someone who is likely to have heard about all the reports and leaks not favorable to Jackson. The more reports you have heard, the more likely you have formed an opinion about the case."

The Juror 'De-Selection' and Stereotyping Problem

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys, experts say, will try to select a fair and impartial jury by "de-selection." Jury selection is generally a process of elimination in which both sides try to whittle a jury pool down to a panel they believe can put personal beliefs or opinions aside and fairly judge a case. Laws vary from state to state but each side has a number of peremptory strikes to eliminate a juror picked by their opposition.

"We often think of jury selection as selecting jurors to serve, but I often think of it as de-selection," said Neil Vidmar, a professor of social science and law at Duke University. "The pool is supposedly randomly called. Then some members of that pool will be dismissed after initial questioning. What you're really asking a judge to do is to dismiss part of the jury pool with peremptory challenges. You're not selecting so much as you're getting rid of others."

Lawyers, Vidmar said, often have preconceived notions of the type of jurors they believe will favor and hurt their cases. However, he said, they fall into a trap when they rely too much on a formula to impanel jurors in certain cases. There is no prototypical juror for any given case, and juries can be unpredictable.

"Suppose you have a rape trial where the defendant is a 46-year-old and the [alleged] victim is 18 and female," Vidmar said. "One might think what the defense might want to do is get older males who would say she was probably looking for it. But what if these men have a daughter that's the same age? And some of the harshest critics of victims in these cases have been shown to be women in their 50s.

"We often fall into the trap of stereotyping jurors, having ideas of what would make a good juror, but we can't break it down by gender or age," Vidmar continued. "What you're really trying to do is find jurors who can truly recognize that they may have read about a case but believes they can still be open-minded. You're looking for someone who's flexible and believes they can look at the evidence and believes they can be fair and impartial. ... When you stereotype jurors, you fall into trouble. There have been cases where jurors admit they came into this case thinking one way and then changed their minds during the course of the trial."

What Makes an 'Attractive' Jackson Trial Juror?

Still, to an extent, Jackson prosecutors and defense attorneys will have to rely on preconceived notions as they impanel a jury.

"If you're a D.A., you want someone who knows something about this case, who has heard about the publicity of the case," said Cron. "The more they [prospective jurors] have followed the case, the more likely they will be inclined to have a bad feeling [toward Jackson] in the case."

The defense may also want to avoid jurors who have heard about the 1993 case in which a 12-year-old boy accused Jackson of molesting him. Jackson has always denied any wrongdoing in that case, and prosecutors did not pursue charges against him after they said the alleged victim refused to testify. "The King of Pop" settled a civil suit filed by the boy's family for a reported $20 million.

Although he was never charged, Jackson has never been able to erase the stigma from the scandal. Right now, it is unclear whether jurors in his criminal trial will hear testimony about the 1993 case or any past alleged Jackson sexual misconduct. Prosecutors want to present the testimony to illustrate an alleged pattern of behavior by Jackson, but the judge has yet to make a ruling its admission.

Still, Jackson's past statements about having innocent sleepovers with children -- and finding nothing wrong with sharing a bed with a child -- may also have an effect on how potential jurors view him.

"If I'm a defense lawyer, I'm looking for people who don't have kids -- for men who don't have kids, men who don't like kids. Men who have kids would see the [alleged] sexual behavior [of Jackson] as so much, so unorthodox, it would just be too much," said Cron.

However, Cron believes jurors who are mothers could be more skeptical of the prosecution's case and the alleged victim and his mother, whom Jackson's defense alleges have made up the allegations to extract a monetary settlement from him.

"Women who have kids might be more skeptical because they may believe that kids can make things up," Cron said. "Many might put themselves in the [alleged victim's] mom's position and wonder what kind of mom would let their kid stay at Neverland, especially considering Jackson's history. The defense is going to focus more on the mom than on the kid, and some jurors may wonder whether there was some other motive there [in allowing her son to spend so much time with Jackson]."

Avoiding Jurors Who Seem Overeager

Vidmar warned that both sides should be wary of prospective jurors who categorize their answers during jury selection, seem hesitant to admit the extent of their pretrial exposure to the case and may seem overeager to serve as a juror.

"Both sides might want to beware of people who minimalize their level of knowledge of the case. People who say, 'Oh, I've only read a little bit about this case. I've only seen a couple of things about this case,'" Vidmar said. "People who say this tend to know more about the case than they're letting on."

Presiding Judge Rodney Melville has said 12 jurors and eight alternates will be seated in Jackson's trial. Jury selection could last weeks.

An estimated 750 prospective jurors, Melville said, will appear initially over a three-day period to tell the court whether they can serve on a trial that could last five months. After Melville excuses panelists who say they are unable to serve for hardship reasons, the remaining prospective jurors will be expected to fill out a questionnaire. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will agree to eliminate more panelists based on their questionnaire answers and the remaining panel will then return to court for more questioning.

The prosecution and defense in Jackson's case will be looking for different kinds of traits in their jurors. But both sides will have to determine which panelists are honest and which ones are tailoring their answers to either get on the jury or avoid serving on the case.

"There's no truth serum," said Cron. "Sometimes you can tell by body language. I've always gone by my own instincts about people. ... You have to go with your gut."