Judge looks at too much Media in Michael Jackson Case

[Michael Harris]

To All:

I am posting this, not for the Michael Jackson angle, but for the lessons in too much media on a case.


Judge to Look at Media in Jackson Case
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

LOS ANGELES - The judge presiding over the Michael Jackson child molestation case faces new decisions regarding media access, with prosecutors calling for a rigid publicity gag order and six news organizations asking that court documents be unsealed.

In a case that instantly became fodder for 24-hour cable news networks and gossip columns because of the celebrity at its center, two separate court filings turned the focus back on the media.

The district attorney's office sought an order that would prohibit Jackson, his attorney Mark Geragos and virtually every person connected to the case from talking to the news media.

The gag order would be similar to one in effect at the Scott Peterson murder trial. Peterson is also defended by Geragos, who called the prosecution's motion on Wednesday "outrageous" and said he would file an answer opposing it by next week.

Meanwhile, news organizations asked Superior Court Judge Clifford Anderson to unseal records related to the search of Jackson's Neverland Ranch, saying the public was not properly notified of a request last month that the documents remain sealed until the pop star's Jan. 16 arraignment.

The documents include the search warrant, an affidavit in which authorities explained their reasons for seeking the warrant, and a list of items seized.

The records were initially sealed for 45 days on Nov. 17, the day before authorities searched the estate for evidence involving the boy Jackson is accused of molesting. Jackson has denied the allegations.

The records were to become public Dec. 31, but Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon and Geragos requested before then that they remain sealed.

Theodore Boutrous Jr., representing NBC, CBS, CNN, ABC, Fox News Network and The New York Times, on Wednesday requested that a hearing on unsealing the search records be held on the day of the arraignment.

In the prosecution's gag order request, Jackson's attorney was singled out for his willingness to speak with reporters and on television and radio.

"Attorney Geragos has not been shy about offering his own opinion about the supposed 'financial motive' of the boy identified as the victim in this case and the boy's family for reporting their concerns to the authorities," the motion said.

The 58-page filing predicted that publicity would abate and frequency of news reports on the case would lessen if Geragos was unavailable to talk.

"It is certainly true that there will be ongoing coverage of the instant case, just as there is of the Peterson matter," said the motion. "But experience has shown that when the 'talking heads' on what could be called 'tabloid television' do not have Mr. Geragos or other lawyers and principals to interview, they interview one another and indulge in speculation. That gets old in a hurry."

The filing also accused Geragos of attempting to taint the potential jury pool with his comments and suggested he was possibly violating the State Bar's rules of professional responsibility regarding public comments on behalf of a client.

Geragos responded that his statements have been responses to the prosecutors, and noted the several public appearances by law enforcement.

"When I first read it, I wondered if the district attorney's office was suffering from short-term memory loss," Geragos said. "I was not the one conducting multiple press conferences with audio and visual displays."

An attorney representing the family of Jackson's accuser has also filed a formal complaint with the county about the leak of a confidential child welfare agency memo, the district attorney's office said in a statement.

The agency memo said Jackson was cleared of misconduct by child welfare investigators after the boy denied Jackson molested him.

[Michael Harris]

To All:

There are two issues here: (1) another case of too much media and (2) a match for Susan Smith (our poster girl for Immorality and Selfishness).


Judge Moves Peterson Case Out of Modesto
By BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press Writer

Scott Peterson and defense attorney Mark Geragos. A judge ruled Thursday, Jan. 8, 2003 that accused murderer Scott Peterson can't get a fair jury in his dead wife's hometown and ordered the case moved out of Stanislaus County.

MODESTO, Calif. - A judge ruled Thursday that accused murderer Scott Peterson cannot get a fair trial in his dead wife's hometown and ordered the case moved out of the county.

Judge Al Girolami said extensive news coverage of the case, including 8,000 articles published worldwide and more than 150 stories in the local newspaper alone, swayed him to agree with the defense that the trial should not be held in Modesto. He did not immediately say where the trial would be held.

"A change of venue is necessary to protect the integrity of the proceeding," Girolami said.

The trial was scheduled for Jan. 26 in Modesto, but will most likely be postponed now that the location has been changed.

Peterson, a 31-year-old fertilizer salesman, is charged with two counts of murder and faces the death penalty in the killings of his wife and unborn son, whose bodies washed ashore in San Francisco Bay several months after Laci Peterson's Christmas Eve disappearance. Peterson denies killing his wife and says he was fishing the day she disappeared.

Prosecutors argued that news coverage of the case is so widespread that moving the trial would be pointless.

But defense lawyer Mark Geragos said in court papers that Peterson has been demonized and that the prosecution's argument "can be boiled down to the old adage, 'Sure we can give him a fair trial, then we will take him out and hang him.'"

The judge said a number of other factors also influenced his decision. He said that though the population of Stanislaus County has grown significantly from its rural roots, there are still 15 larger counties in California where it would be easier to find jurors who know less about the case.

Girolami said coverage of the case had raised Scott Peterson from a regular citizen to a notorious one, while simultaneously heightening the celebrity level of Laci Peterson.

He referred to more than 100 people who gathered outside the Stanislaus County Jail to await Peterson after his arrest last year, and contrasted it with blood drives in honor of Laci Peterson and the 3,000 people who attended her internationally televised memorial service.

In addition, thousands of people fanned out across Central California to search for her, and there has been talk of naming a park for her and the boy the couple planned to name "Conner."

Girolami had several options: Keep the case in Modesto; move it out of the county; or select a jury in another county and bus them to Stanislaus County every day.

Geragos said surveys showed there was less bias against Peterson in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Alameda and Santa Clara counties.

He cited numerous examples of the hostility against Scott Peterson. When he was brought in for booking, a crowd of more than 100 people waited outside the jail, some shouting "murderer." Peterson's house was vandalized twice. And T-shirts have been sold with Peterson's likeness and the motto: "Modesto, a killer place to live."

"The depth of pretrial animosity ... is obvious to any breathing human being in Stanislaus County," Geragos wrote.

Prosecutors blamed much of the publicity on Geragos' "media grandstanding" and said he was trying to inflame the court by hurling invective and accusations.

[Doreen Payton -]

Michael

You have started an interesting discussion here. I for one am not the most enlightened even though Mr Peterson lives less than 100 miles from my door.

I am human and I find it difficult to not prejudge with all of the media coverage. There seems to be no boundries the media will not cross to get the story. Just look at all of the 'rags' at the grocery store checkout counters.

I appreciate the public being involved enough to volunteer their time and efforts and caring. Not only when searching for the missing but also in attending court proceedings for the accused. But I don't appreciate when people attack the accused, his or her property, family and character before there is even a trial. Is there a happy medium?

[Tanya Wyche]

Sometimes I get sick about all of the attention bad people get. Too bad people who do good deeds don't get as much press. I know some do - but the bad get more - by far.
I think part of it is because people are intrigued by what makes an individual behave in such a bad way.
Inquiring minds do want to know about the horrible crimes. Almost like a drug or sickness in itself. I find myself trying to analyze cases such as these and others - even though it sickens me.

[Michael Harris]

Doreen,

My purpose was to stimulate discussion or at least some thinking on the part of the forum members.

I tend to get more involved with mid-Atlantic issues, e.g., Capitol Beltway Sniper. :(

[Michael Harris]

Tanya,

I have said (often) that we remember the bad and their deeds and forget the good.

My favorite story is about Carlos Vest. The case happened in Herndon, VA (well-to-do suburb of DC) in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The story takes place on the day after a heavy snowfall.

Carlos Vest lived on a cul-de-sac in Herndon and one of his neighbors brought out his (the neighbor's) lawn tractor with a snowplow blade on it and cleared the cul-de-sac. The good neighbor had left a little snow in front of Carlos' drive. Rather than calling the neighbor to clear the snow in the drive, Carlos called the police.

The police would not have been able to enter the cul-de-sac if it had not been cleared by the scofflaw (i.e., the good neighbor). The neighbor was arrested and charged with unlawful road maintenance.

The name of the good neighbor is lost. The name of the bad neighbor lives on in infamy - Carlos Vest :(

[Doreen Payton -]

Michael

I applaud you for your efforts and opinions. Stimulating conversation can be hard to find. :)

[Michael Harris]

Doreen,

Thank you for your encouragement. :) :D :cool:

[Dragos Sfinteanu]

Michael,

For most of Californians, the Petterson case is 99.99% clear (the 0.01% includes the "risk factor" - see O.J. Simpson). Doreen, who lives approx. in the same radius from Modesto, as I do, could confirm .... or not.

[Michael Harris]

Dragos,

Sometimes the media can damage even the best prosecution.

In cases where the prosecution has pictures or audio or video of the gruesome crime, if the evidence is shown to the jury more than once or twice, they end up ignoring the evidence and let the accused go. :(

[Doreen Payton -]

Dragos
Yes, it is pretty certain that Scott Petersen is guilty but what we 'know' and what can be proven can have two different outcomes.

Michael, you lost me on that one. Are you saying that the gruesome pictures/videos are evidence or override evidence?

Pictures are worth the 1000 words but pictures can be misinterpreted or misrepresented and manipulated. But then so can words.

Sheesh I am glad I am not a lawyer or judge. I'd rather be in the world of the physical and not so much in the world of thought and conjecture. Though, I guess the two aren'y mutually exclusive.

[Richard Greiner -]

I haven't be follow the Petersen Case much, but I have been following the Michael Jackson case for one what kind of Parents would let a Man sleep in the same room with an adult who has had a past of Sexual Molestation Charges or even hang out with him? and what in the H is wrong with this man even admite sleeping in the same bed with these young boys and say on TV "Yes I admite I sleep in the same room with the boys, because they ask me too and there parents say it's ok". Know I am not saying he did it, which down inside I know he did. But he is innocent until proven guilty.

[Mary A Young -]

You know, I get very deeply concerned with the circus the media allows cases such like this to create. They do it for business reasons as it buys viewers/listeners.

Our media is way out of control. I've been fortunate to have heard the first female journalist on Jerusalem television address this issue twice. She refers to CNN as "Certainly Not The News" because as a resident of Jerusalem, it just isn't the way it gets depicted there.

Its obvious which side they are on in so many issues.

I realize that we live in a free country. But with freedom comes responsibility and I don't see it in our media most of the time.

Mary, whose hubby used to be in broadcasting locally

[Dragos Sfinteanu]

Originally posted by Michael Harris

Dragos,

...In cases where the prosecution has pictures or audio or video of the gruesome crime, if the evidence is shown to the jury more than once or twice, they end up ignoring the evidence and let the accused go. :(


Michael,

It is a very serious issue. Why should they ignore an evidence? (even if repeatedly presented). Can you give an example (or more) in this matter?

[Dragos Sfinteanu]

Originally posted by Doreen Payton

... Yes, it is pretty certain that Scott Petersen is guilty but what we 'know' and what can be proven can have two different outcomes...


Doreen,

"What we know" we know. :cool: What we do not know yet is "if it can be proven". :mad: The two outcomes belong to very different parties. :(

[Doreen Payton -]

Dragos-
Knowing isn't enough. It must be proven at least to the extent that 12 hopfully unbiased jurors see the 'truth'

Unfortunately the only things about the Petersen case that I 'know' I read or see as portrayed by the media. I haven't gone to see the trial in person to be able to judge for myself and so must be discriminating about what I am shown. But the media can't just tell the story, they have to sensationalize everything. As if the story of the deaths of a pregnant mother and her unborn child isn't flashy enough.

[Dragos Sfinteanu]

Doreen,

We have already agreed but we are expressing it in (slightly) different languages.

[Doreen Payton -]

Dragos-

That is what makes it interesting. Someone else's perspective.

Glad to have yours. And glad that we agree.

[Dragos Sfinteanu]

Doreen,

I am not so glad.... Agreeing could end the pleasure of discussing with you.

[Doreen Payton -]

Alright Dragos.

I challenge you to start a posting that I can disagree with you in.

But lets make it something that doesn't include Michael Jackson. He is getting way too much press already.

[Dragos Sfinteanu]

Doreen,

Please, don't. It would be one of the last things I would like to do.

With regard of Michael Jackson, you are right. A (last) remark only. He seems to be a liar: the bruise on his arm was far away from the wrist, where the hand-cuffs are applied. :cool:

[Debra Lewis -]

didn't the OJ trial set a precedent regarding the media being allowed to cover a famous person during trial?
ie:no gag order

[Robin M Ellefsen]

We are a nation of feasting on other peoples shortcomings. We enjoy when the mighty fall. The public for the most part (not everyone) can't get enough of the likes of Martha, Michael, Grasso, Enron, Kobe, OJ, Tyson, "Barretta", and the list goes on and on.

There's much worse things happening right in everyones back yards that noone will ever hear about. Theres a lot of GOOD that is going on that we never hear about because there is little interest from the media about those stories because it doesn't sell.

I don't like it, it's unfortunate, but thats the way it is. Maybe someday...........

[Diane DeJong]

I believe in 'maybe someday' also