Chapter 169169. Michael appears in court and bombards

Today is a big day for the city of Santa Barbara, with media from all over the world focusing their cameras here.

At this time, the Santa Barbara City Court was already crowded with people, conservatively estimated to be several thousand people, and the number was still increasing.

Reporters only account for a very small part of them, and the majority are still fans of Michael Jordan.

They held various cheering signs and slogans, and came here from all over the country even though the weather was hot.

Especially since Tom Schneider's raid on Neverland Ranch recently caused such a big stir, Michael has gained the sympathy of countless people.

So in addition to his true fans, there are also many righteous and caring people who have joined in.

Fearing that the situation might get out of control, the Santa Barbara Police Department dispatched hundreds of police officers to maintain order, mobilizing police forces from almost all districts of the city, and there were helicopters hovering in the sky.

But even with so many police officers deployed, it is still not enough compared to the huge number of people.

“Oh my god, there are so many people!”

Little Elizabeth was extremely surprised to see such a grand scene.

Beside Eric, besides Elizabeth, Gadot also flew over from home.

It was agreed at the beginning that all three of them would attend the trial to cheer Mike on.

"Michael's fan base is so huge. If the trial result is not favorable to him, I'm afraid some fanatical fans will storm the court." Gadot also said in surprise.

Eric nodded. It was indeed a grand scene, which reminded him of the scene when the followers of the Bao Chuanbao attacked the White House.

If Michael Jordan raises his arm and calls for action, I'm afraid there will really be fanatical fans who will do the same.

Of course, with Michael's kind character, this is impossible to happen. He will only persuade his fans to be rational.

"Let's go, there are more and more people, let's go in first."

Inside the courtroom, Eric took two girls, one big and one small, to sit behind the dock and found a seat near the front row.

There were still more than ten minutes before the trial was to begin, and Maikou had not arrived yet.

Meanwhile, in the plaintiffs' seat across from them, Janet Arvizo and Gavin Arvizo were whispering, and standing next to them was Larry Feldman, the lawyer in the 1993 case.

On the other side, the twelve-member jury is now in place.

They are all Santa Barbara residents, from all walks of life, and were randomly selected.

Some wore suits and looked like office workers, while others wore casual clothes and looked like housewives.

This is the difference between the United States and China, the jury system.

Of course, those members selected as juries must undergo certain tests to ensure that they have a certain level of literacy and common sense and can distinguish right from wrong.

In China, when a case is heard, the final verdict is made by the judge, who decides whether the defendant is guilty, what crime he has committed, and how many years of sentence should be given.

In the United States, power is divided between judges and juries. The jury is responsible for deciding whether the defendant is guilty, and the judge is responsible for sentencing.

For general criminal cases, if the twelve-member jury cannot reach a consensus, they can vote.

As long as at least nine people find the person guilty, the charge is established.

As for murder cases, the twelve people must be completely unanimous in their opinions; even if just one person disagrees, it will not work.

If no consensus can be reached after multiple rounds of discussion, a new jury will be selected for a new trial.

The process may take several years, with several juries changing until a unanimous verdict is reached by all twelve.

There is a classic movie called "12 Angry Men" which describes the jury system. China also made a good remake called "12 Angry Men".

So for Mike's case, as long as at least four people think he is not guilty, he can be declared the winner.

OH , after a few minutes, there was a sudden loud cheer outside, and many people couldn't help but look back.

Soon, Michael and lawyer Tom Meserio walked quickly towards the dock in the corridor. He was wearing a handsome new suit today, and his face was calm without any sign of worry.

"Mike!"

cried little Elizabeth, waving her hands.

Hearing the sound, Michael looked over. Eric and Gadot waved at him, and Michael immediately smiled.

"quiet!"

At this time, the judge came out, the clock struck nine, and the trial officially began.

First, both parties took an oath to express their respect for the law, to be responsible for their own statements, and to ensure that everything they said was true.

Then we entered the case presentation stage. The whole United States knew about such a big thing, but the procedures still had to be followed.

After the statement is over, the most important stage of court debate begins, where lawyers on both sides ask questions, look for loopholes in the other party, invite witnesses and evidence to appear in court, etc.

This link is also the most critical part that influences the jury's judgment.

"Your Honor, I am done."

Gavin Arvizo finished his speech and the judge looked at attorney Meserio and signaled that he could ask questions.

Meserio nodded, then walked out of the dock and came directly in front of Gavin Arvizo, staring at him sharply.

"Gavin Arvizo, you just said Jackson molested you in the bedroom, but this statement contradicts your previous statements."

"In February this year, after Martin Bashir's documentary slandering Jackson was broadcast, Fox TV interviewed your family. You and your mother said that Jackson had never done anything illegal to you. How do you explain this?"

"Well I was forced."

"Who forced her? Her or him?"

"What?"

"Protest! Mr. Judge, Gavin is only a thirteen-year-old boy and he is easily misled. I suggest that Janet answer this question. This is something they are both involved in." said the opposing lawyer Larry Feldman.

The judge nodded, and Janet spoke quickly: "Jackson forced us to say this. If we don't help him clarify, he will have people beat us up. He also threatened to lock us up in Neverland Ranch forever and never let us out in this life."

"But you were not restrained. You accepted interviews and moved freely in society without any signs of coercion."

"That's because there are media outlets and everyone is paying attention to this matter, so he doesn't dare to do it."

"Then why didn't you say it during the interview, but waited until today?"

"Because... Because I forgot, and Jackson threatened us privately, no one else knows about it, and it may not be of any use even if I tell him." Janet answered stutteringly.

Meserio suddenly shouted loudly: "Then why did Gavin Arvizo say that there was no third person involved in the bedroom molestation? He was the only one who said it. Isn't this the same thing?"

"Or did you deliberately use the child molestation charge because your target was Jackson's money, and Larry Feldman was the plaintiff's attorney in the 1993 case."

Gadot squeezed Eric's hand hard: "Michael's lawyer looks pretty good."

"Haha. Just watch, the big one is behind." Eric said in a low voice.

"Protest! The other party's lawyer is suspected of inducement and misleading. My client just forgot about it, but it doesn't mean that it didn't happen."

Meserio looked ahead and said, "Mr. Judge, I am not saying this to mislead, but only to show that Ms. Janet Arvizo is a woman full of lies and has huge character problems."

"She is a professional litigator with multiple criminal records. Even though Jackson paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their medical expenses, she was not grateful and instead targeted my client's assets."

"No, this is slander, you bastard are slandering me!" Janet Arvizo roared angrily.

Larry Feldman couldn't help but frowned and hurriedly pulled her sleeve, knowing that you didn't even go to high school and your quality is not high.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

But this is not a reason to curse people, especially in front of the judge and jury, as it will lower your impression score.

"This is certainly not slander. I have witnesses."

With the judge's permission, Eric sent people to find some people who had been blackmailed by Janet Arvizo to appear in court one by one.

"Janet Arvizo sued for sexual abuse, and I ended up paying her $15,000, but she couldn't explain the specific origins of the scars on her body."

"It was just an unintentional touch. I swear I had no intention of sexual harassment, but this woman kept harassing me. My family and work were affected. I had no choice but to give her $10,000."

"Yes, I remember this nasty woman. She peed in front of my store. I wanted to stop her, but she wanted to call the police to report me for sexual harassment. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so I had to ask her to leave."

Eight witnesses took turns to testify against Janet Arvizo. Each of them spoke with details and portrayed her as a villain who would do anything for money.

Janet Arvizo's face turned extremely ugly and she kept biting her fingers, but she couldn't refute.

Because several of them have criminal records, this thing cannot be faked.

When the judge and jury see these files, even if a few people did not call the police at the time, but even if only half of them have records, the jury will naturally tend to believe that all the events are true.

As for Janet's lawyer Larry Feldman, he had no idea that there were so many things going on behind the scenes, and he didn't know where to start when he wanted to interrupt.

Meserio continued: "We have also found out that Janet Arvizo is currently engaged in charity fraud."

"Gavin Arvizo's disease has been cured with the help of Jackson, but she still claims that it has not been cured and has opened a donation account."

"Her card number is XXXXXX, and she has spoken out many times on live television and online, asking for donations from the public."

"No, my illness hasn't been cured yet." Gavin Arvizo hurriedly tried to explain.

Meserio immediately threw out the medical record: "Then how do you explain this medical record?"

Gavin Arvizo immediately lowered his head and said nothing. Disease is also objective. If you say it cannot be cured, just check it out.

After reading a series of evidence, not only did the audience shake their heads, but the jury also looked solemn.

Seeing Janet's image as a good mother collapse, Larry Feldman hurriedly said: "Mr. Judge, regardless of whether the other party's witnesses and physical evidence are true or false, Janet's character has nothing to do with whether Michael Jackson violated Gavin. These are two different matters."

The judge nodded. "That's right. Even the worst criminals have human rights. We can't always judge a person wrong just because he has bad character."

"Whether Janet Arvizo's crime is true or false, there will naturally be public and civil prosecutions waiting for her, but this is not within the scope of this court's discussion. Move on!"

Afterwards, both parties continued to invite their respective witnesses to appear in court, and Gavin Arvizo's side were all his family members and relatives.

Although they always said that Gavin was violated, they could not produce even a shred of physical evidence and just kept stirring up emotions and begging for sympathy.

Michael invited the bodyguards, servants, Gavin Arvizo's friends and teachers from Neverland Ranch to come out.

"Gavin is not a good kid. He doesn't do his homework and likes to quarrel with his classmates."

"I asked Gavin why he didn't try to escape from Neverland and he said he loved it there and it was like Disneyland."

"Gavin always told me he was going to get rich, he was going to be a multimillionaire, Michael Jackson was going to pay him a fortune."

"I was always responsible for the safety of the Arvizo family at Neverland Ranch. Michael never spent time alone with the child, and he never slept in the same bed with the child. Only once did he sleep on the floor. I swear what I said is true."

Even Macaulay Culkin, the child star of Home Alone, appeared in court.

"I went to Neverland many times as a child, but Michael never made any advances towards me. He always played with me when my parents were around."

After the debate, although Gavin Arvizo won some sympathy, his character was more clearly seen through by others.

Especially the comments from his classmates, friends and teachers made him a typical bad boy.

Seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable to his side, Larry Feldman had no choice but to use his ultimate move and demanded to summon psychiatrist Mathis.

Mathis submitted a psychiatric evaluation report to the judge and jury, which showed depression.

He said in a sad tone: "This incident has a great impact on Gavin's mental state. You know, in his heart, he always regards Michael Jackson as his father."

"But this man he regarded as a father turned out to be a monster who did the most vile and disgusting things to him."

"Gavin was sexually assaulted multiple times. Maybe he said the wrong number of times, or maybe he acted unfriendly and unsociable. This is all because of the mental trauma he suffered."

"So please don't look at him strangely. He is only a twelve-year-old child. How could such a young child have any bad intentions?"

"Even if there was, it was the sequelae of mental trauma. It was not his intention. He is kind."

"Now he has developed depression. I have seen him crying silently many times. Michael Jackson, you devil, you must be responsible for this!"

Mathis's righteous and impassioned speech directly reversed Gavin Arvizo's character by using a mental trauma that could not be accurately identified.

His meaning was very clear. The child was kind and the reason he behaved badly was all because of depression, and the culprit was still Michael.

Many people at the scene couldn't help but change their opinion of Gavin Arvizo, thinking that he was just a child after all, how could he have any bad intentions?

Seeing that the key figures had finally arrived, Meserio smiled imperceptibly and then took out a cassette from his bag.

(End of this chapter)