Commentary

Where was the evidence against Jackson?

ALL MY LIFE I have been a fan of Michael Jackson but like many who followed his trial on child molestation charges which ended on Monday, I wanted him to be locked away for a long time, if only to send a signal to Jackson that stupid is what stupid does.

Still, despite my beliefs, when one looks at the evidence and the source of the accusations, the 12 non-black jurors had no choice but to find Jackson innocent of the charges that District Attorney Tom Sneddon so zealously brought against the King of Pop two years ago.

What really irks me though, is that some of the people, who would call themselves journalists and expert analysts in American society, continue to try Jackson in the court of public opinion hoping to get a conviction there. It seems to me that in America, if you are not liked you must be guilty; if you are different you must also be guilty. It is the same kind of attitude that led to public lynchings not so long ago.

Two of the most obnoxious individuals guilty of swaying public opinion on Jackson's guilt long before the jurors came to their final decision Monday and way too long after the verdict was announced on Monday evening, are Nancy Grace of Court TV and Gloria Allred who had wanted the Government to take Michael Jackson's kids away after he dangled his new-born for two seconds over a balcony in Germany a couple of years ago.

Grace, who obviously believes that everyone is guilty until proven innocent, was from day one on about the reasons why Jackson sleeps with 12-year-old boys in his bed. Now, I am not supporting Jackson's actions. I don't get why anyone would want to sleep in the same bed with a bunch of pubescent boys but hey, I'm not Michael Jackson. In fact, none of us are. But, just because Jackson does something that we find strange does not make him guilty.

On Monday night, Grace asked the jury foreman if he thought it was right that Jackson slept with little boys in his bed, this after he explained to her that he did not find the boy or his mother credible witnesses. He responded by saying his beliefs are one thing but there was not enough evidence. Still, Grace pressed about his beliefs.

Before long I found myself screaming at the television set, hoping she could hear the abuse I was hurling at her. If somehow Nancy Grace should ever read or hear of this column I want to make one thing clear to her.

Belief has no place in a courtroom unless there is evidence to support it. Five hundred years ago, the Spaniards believed the world to be flat. We now know that that belief was terribly flawed.

Are we still to believe that the world is flat Miss Grace? The jury foreman may have believed Jackson to be a pedophile, but where was the evidence to support it? Where, Miss Grace, where?

Allred wanted the court to allow into evidence information from the 1993 case in which no charges were brought, where the accuser had given prosecutors information on Jackson's genitals, so that jurors could see that there was credibility to the belief that Jackson is a pedophile.

Allred knows or should know that what happened in 1993 had no bearing on the evidence in this case. But, hey, I am just a layman. What do I know?

If someone committed a murder 10 years ago but managed to get off, does it mean that every time a murder is committed it was committed by that same person?

Many of us may not have liked what happened on Monday - Jackson walking away a free man, from some very serious charges, but like I said before whether you like someone or not, whether you find him strange or different, does not make him the monster you believe him to be; at least not when there is no evidence to support that belief. I rest my case.