The Trial of the King of Pop

 Did the "King of Pop" molest and sexually abuse a 13-year-old boy?

The Alleged Molestation of Gavin Arvino

In 2000, a young cancer patient named Gavin Arvino was introduced to Micheal Jackson, who wanted to help Arvino while he fought the battle against cancer. Arvizo's father, David Arvizo, who was separated from Arvizo's mother, often asked celebrities for money to support his son's cancer treatments. Arvizo was receiving chemotherapy and required the removal of his spleen and left kidney. Jackson and Arvizo became friends, and Jackson invited Arvizo and his family to Neverland Ranch. After two years of little interaction between the two, Jackson called Arvina in 2002 to be a part of a documentary titled "Living with Michael Jackson." Jackson and Arvizo were seen holding hands and at sleepovers, they had at the "Neverland" property. During the documentary, Jackson insisted that it was not sexual. He said it was a "beautiful thing" and that he had shared his bed with many children, including famous child actor Macaulay Culkin. The documentary caused a lot of backlashes, as many believed that Jackson was a pervert with malicious intent. After these accusations, Macaulay Culkin appeared on Larry King Live to defend Jackson, saying nothing inappropriate had occurred at Neverland Ranch. He said: "Michael Jackson's bedroom is two stories and has three bathrooms. When I slept in his bedroom, you have to understand the whole scenario. The thing is that, with Michael, he isn't very good at explaining himself."

In early 2003, Los Angeles Child and Family Services opened a preliminary investigation. Still, after interviews with Arvinos, they quickly closed the matter due to a lack of evidence and testimony to show illicit conduct by Jackson. But just a few months later, Santa Barbara D.A. Tom Sneddon reopened the case after an interview with Arvizo and his father, mother, and brother Star. Arvizo told police that Jackson had molested him several times between February 7 and March 10, 2003, when, according to Janet Arvizo, Jackson had held the family captive at Neverland. This timeline was revised in the grand jury indictment, which stated that the alleged acts of molestation occurred between February 21 and March 12, 2003 (Alleged that the molestation happened after the release of the documentary). On November 18, 2003, authorities obtained a search warrant to enter Neverland Ranch, where they arrested Micheal Jackson and charged him with four counts of molestation of a minor. He was released about an hour after posting a $3 million bail.

The Trial of Micheal Jackson

The trial began on February 28, 2005, in the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Barbara, California. Santa Barbara County Judge Rodney Melville presided over the trial. Tom Sneddon led the prosecution as they aimed to utilize the testimonies of Arvino, his family, and housekeepers of Neverland Ranch, who all claimed that Jackson had repeatedly molested Arvino between February 21 and March 12, 2003. After learning that the prosecution was planning on using testimonies of Neverland Ranch staff, the defense moved to block them but failed after the judge ruled them eligible. The prosecution hoped to show that Jackson had engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse with boys. They wanted to portray Jackson as a twisted individual who attempted to use his Neverland estate to create a fantasy land that would lure young children for him to prey on. They called on witnesses to describe earlier incidents, including Jackson's alleged 1993 abuse of Jordan Chandler, which ended with a multi-million dollar settlement. The defense was led by famed defense attorney Thomas Mesereau. Mesereau wished to show the Arvino family as a desperate group of con artists attempting to scam Micheal Jackson. They solidified this claim by referring to a case in 1968 where the Arvino family sued and won $152,000 in a lawsuit against J.C. Penney, claiming that their security guards beat them up in the store parking lot. They brought a paralegal, who testified that Janet Arvino (Gavin's mom) lied under oath that the security guards gave her bruises when it was actually her husband. They also summarized Janet's history of perjury and fraud and presented evidence of Janet having committed welfare fraud, for which she was later convicted. The defense also claimed that the former employees of Neverland Ranch testified were disgruntled workers with a vendetta against Jackson. The jury deliberated for about 32 hours over seven days. On June 13, 2005, they returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges. Jurors found the prosecution's case weak and the timeline of accusations problematic due to their claim that the molestation occurred after the documentary broadcast when the media's attention was on Jackson and Gavin.