Court Tv Michael Jackson

Byline: Timothy W. Maier, INSIGHT

Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, home-craft guru Martha Stewart, one-time Beatles music producer Phil Spector and Baretta TV actor Robert Blake must be breathing a sigh of relief ever since pop star Michael Jackson got nailed with nine counts of child-molestation charges. They were bumped, at least temporarily, from the media spotlight with their respective cases being moved from the banner headlines to the back pages of the entertainment and sports sections. Even right-wing talk-show host Rush Limbaugh's ongoing doctor-shopping/prescription-drug case seems to be all but forgotten.

Legal experts who characterize Limbaugh's case as a nickel-and-dime drug probe suggest that the conservative talk-show host will receive nothing but a slap on the wrist for his illegal purchase of the painkiller OxyContin, better known on the streets as "the white man's heroin." If so, it may spark another debate on whether there is a different set of rules for celebrities when it comes to the criminal-justice system.

While legal experts suggest that Spector's case is dead in the water because of his emotional instability and Stewart could be a goner if she can't convince a jury she is ignorant of insider trading, the cases against Blake, Jackson and Bryant could result in verdicts that further add to the mystique that money buys freedom. In fact some legal experts believe the case against Blake, who is accused of killing his wife, is so weak that a judge could toss it out. Indeed, Blake may not even have to testify, leaving Jackson, Bryant and Stewart as the only high-profile celebrities who will swear to tell the truth before a jury.

Jackson likely will need to explain a documentary in which he admits sleeping with young boys, while Bryant needs to tell his side of the story and Stewart simply has to play dumb. In the Jackson trial, his weirdness may be hard to overcome, but since everyone knows he's different it may not matter, says Jackson family attorney Brian Oxman. When asked if Jackson's friends and family ever told the pop singer to cut out the weirdo stuff, Oxman says, "All the time. They tell him all the time." But Oxman adds: "Michael says, 'I am what I am. I'm not going to change my life for anyone. Because if I did, they would want to know why I changed.'"

The one thing missing in the Jackson case appears to be physical evidence of abuse, although there may be records the prosecutors have yet to reveal. "The physical evidence in both Kobe's and Martha's cases makes their cases the most difficult to defend," says Richard Southard, a former Brooklyn prosecutor who never lost a case in seven years of practice. "The physical evidence doesn't lie."

Bryant's best defense may be in attacking the credibility of the alleged victim. He may have the advantage of what prosecutors frequently call "bad-victim" trials, where the victim of the crime does not have a squeaky-clean past. That appears to be the tactic in the Bryant case, where attorneys continue to fight to open up the medical file of the woman who has accused the Los Angeles Lakers guard of rape. The file reportedly reveals an unstable and emotionally distraught woman who is suicidal.

Jackson's legal team already has uncovered depositions from the alleged accuser saying that Jackson never touched him, which may be a real problem for prosecutors to overcome.

The mere suggestion that these celebrities may buy themselves freedom from conviction naturally has set off angry responses from average citizens who have bombarded talk-radio airwaves and TV town-hall broadcasts with one question: Why is it that these megastars are treated differently from the average Joe? One word: money. They have enough of it to buy the best legal representation in the entire world. Their teams of lawyers force prosecutors to hire public-relations firms and assign additional attorneys to handle the high-profile cases because they don't want the perception that money can buy freedom.

But does it? Many big-money celebrities certainly seem to be walking free on bail that the average Joe could never post and even seem to negotiate deals about when to turn themselves into authorities or to leave the country. If the average Joe is charged with rape or murder or child molestation, does he get a time frame to turn himself in or is he rounded up by police and K-9 dogs and dragged into the booking station to be fingerprinted and jailed? Or better yet, does he get to jet to London while awaiting child-molestation charges, as in the case of bizarre pop star Jackson?

Legal experts say the public fails to realize that much of what is perceived to be special treatment goes on every day even for the average citizen. It's just that these average-Joe cases are not in the papers. "I've had many cases that were not celebrities and the suspects cooperated and made surrender arrangements with the police," says Steve Cron, a nationally renowned criminal-defense attorney and adjunct law professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. Cron recently represented Paula Poundstone, the comic who pleaded no contest to charges of felony child endangerment and was sentenced to five years of supervised probation and alcohol rehabilitation. Cron says it saves money and resources for prosecutors when they allow suspects to surrender on their own terms.

Jackson family attorney Oxman also notes courts have allowed even defendants who were facing murder charges to leave the country. "For the judge to allow Michael to go to London, that's not an unusual situation," Oxman says. "You have to have a special showing." In this case, he says, Jackson wanted to go to London to promote his latest CD, which is No. 1 in Europe. "It's not unusual at all. The accused killer of the ex-wife of Tito Jackson [Michael's brother] wanted to go to China before his trial, and the judge granted it in exchange for raising his bond," Oxman notes. When Donald James Bohana returned from his trip, he subsequently was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

The concern, of course, is whether the accused will return or willfully surrender as promised. Or will they run, as was the case nearly 10 years ago when O.J. Simpson attempted to flee? His attempt apparently was cut short after Simpson realized there was nowhere to run because his face was known all over the world. He and his companion in the famous slow-speed Bronco chase finally led police to Simpson's residence where he eventually surrendered to authorities. Needless to say, the judge refused to grant him bail. But in the case of the recent celebrity busts, where can they hide? Jackson's and Bryant's faces are known all over the world. They pose little flight risk, attorneys charge.

But not everyone is given that opportunity to surrender on their own terms. Take, for example, what happened to Blake's handyman, Earle Caldwell, the wrongfully accused accomplice in the Blake murder case. When police arrested Caldwell, dozens of cars came up to him with red lights blaring and a helicopter circled over him, says Caldwell's attorney, Dana Cole. In contrast Blake was simply asked to turn himself over to authorities. "I think they did it for dramatic impact to convince Earle he would be much better off cooperating," Cole says, "but they eventually dismissed the charges. He didn't have to cooperate, but he gave them a full statement. But it wasn't the statement that they wanted."

However, Caldwell was not a media darling, a circumstance that often separates these cases from the run-of-the-mill criminal docket. Former prosecutor Southard argues that the media attention can be a good tool for democracy because it holds the legal system accountable. "The D.A.s [district attorneys] are forced to spend money because of the media attention," he says. "They can't leave any stone unturned. They don't want the appearance that money buys freedom. They don't want the public to think a felon beat the case because he had a high-powered attorney."

Southard cautions that the district attorney in the Jackson case might be bending over backward to the media because Jackson's attorneys have pulled out the race card. Oxman charges that Jackson's $3 million bail is outrageous when compared with the lesser amounts that those charged with more serious crimes have had to pay so race well may be a factor. Southard says there will be trouble if the prosecutor is making decisions to allow Jackson to fly to London based on media perception of his performance in office. "That's improper, if that's the case," he says. "As a former prosecutor the main point is to keep the integrity of the office. If the motivating factor is because of the media attention, then that's wrong."

Cole believes the biggest difference between celebrity cases and low-profile cases is the standard of proof that juries seem to require before convicting a superstar. "I think juries tend to favor the high-profile defendant," Cole says. "And too often jurors are looking for that free trip to the Today show or Good Morning America. The chances of having that trip are enhanced with an acquittal as opposed to a conviction. They are thinking, "Gee, if I acquit, maybe I will be invited to the defendant's house for dinner." The bottom line, Cole adds, is that "Most celebrities are not convicted unless the evidence is significant. There is just a higher standard of proof that jurors hold the prosecution to."

But money certainly can play a role in such cases. Celebrities can afford to hire a battery of attorneys and investigators and prolong trials. Cases that normally would be tried in three or four days may take months or, as in the O. J. Simpson case, a year. Is that fair? Legal experts say it shouldn't matter how long it takes to try a case the only thing that matters is whether justice has been served. It remains to be seen whether justice will be served in any of the recent celebrity cases. The lawyers frequently say among themselves that the public doesn't get it. It's never about guilt or innocence it's about winning the case.

Timothy W. Maier is a writer for Insight.

COPYRIGHT 2004 News World Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Get Skiing &Snowboarding Packages. - Sponsored Link
Ad - View Package Specials &Book Now!