Prosecution and the Media

Robin has posted a couple of posts that got me thinking. Hers were more about celebrities and people who are overly affected by the celebrity culture. Or something like that. And as I wrote my response, I thought of Jackson's cases where he was accused of child molestation, which in turn led to thoughts on prosecution and the media.

When he was accused of child molestation for the second time, I wrote him off. I held my judgement the first time—after all, he was my biggest childhood crush, and despite his eccentricities he seemed like an extremely kind human being, something I really admired as a constantly teased kid—but a second time? Come on. There's only so many times you get to play the I'm a Targeted Celebrity card (that is, once). I do still sometimes wonder why someone so savvy in business matters (at least, during his Thriller days and several years after) would be so incredibly naive (to say the least) to put himself in a position to be questioned after what he went through the first time. But who knows? He was on pain medication and possibly drinking a lot. Maybe he just made a bad judgement call.

The thing is, I've since learned only too well what a determined prosecutor can do with little or no evidence. It's not always like on Law & Order, where Jack McCoy realizes he's wrong and shifts gears in mid-stream, and winds up nabbing the real killer. You'll notice, of course, McCoy never had political ambitions. But many prosecutors do, and they're the ones who just blunder right on, no matter what. The so-called Good Guys aren't always good, and they're not always right, either. In fact, I'm astounded at how often they get it wrong. (But kudos to the Jack McCoys and McCoyettes.) When the media is on their side (as they often are), watch out. I can think of two cases off the top of my head where the prosecution and the media got it wrong. One was that Senator whose girlfriend went missing and was found dead. Everyone I knew was sure he offed her, myself included. It just seemed so obvious. But he didn't. It was just some random attack. The other was the rape case involving Duke students. I was only too willing to believe the media reports of stereotypical racist frat boys out of control. But that turned out not to be true, either. Sometimes the truth is wrapped inside an enigma and then placed inside a lie. Sometimes the truth is anything BUT obvious. 

These days I'm not so quick to judge. I don't know whether MJ did what he was accused of doing. I do know, from personal experience, that people don't trust a person who is too helpful and too kind. I now wonder whether it was his kindness that eventually did him in. 

And that is the only post I will make on the matter. I promise.