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.
-
August 30 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump's role reversal and King George III
-
5 bullseye cartoons about the reasons for mass shootingsCartoons Artists take on gun worship, a price paid, and more
-
Lisa Cook and Trump's battle for control the US FedTalking Point The president's attempts to fire one of the Federal Reserve's seven governor is represents 'a stunning escalation' of his attacks on the US central bank
