Santa Maria, Calif.
California prosecutors unveiled their case against Michael Jackson this week, accusing him of fondling a 13-year-old cancer victim after plying him with wine concealed in soda cans marked “Jesus Juice.” In his opening statement, prosecutor Thomas Sneddon Jr. said the pop star once stood “stark naked” before the boy and his brother, 10, and declared, “It’s natural, it’s okay.” Sneddon said Jackson tried to imprison the victim’s family at his estate, Neverland Ranch, to keep them from talking. Defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. sought to shift the focus to the credibility of the boy’s mother. In the days that she was supposedly being held captive, Mesereau said in his opening remarks, she spent $3,312 on cosmetics and spa treatments. She fabricated the abuse claims to extort money, Mesereau said, adding: “These charges are fictitious. They never happened.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Russia’s ‘cyborg’ spy pigeonsUnder the Radar Moscow neurotech company with Kremlin-linked funding claims to implant neural chips in birds’ brains to control their flight, and create ‘bio-drones’
-
Political cartoons for February 8Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include going down the drain, American history, and more
-
Touring the vineyards of southern BoliviaThe Week Recommends Strongly reminiscent of Andalusia, these vineyards cut deep into the country’s southwest
