Michael Jackson

[House of Mustard]

Right.  Several of the jurors have said that they do believe he was guilty of sex crimes, just (1) not with this particular boy, or (2) there was not enough evidence to convict.  The American legal system never declares anyone innocent -- just not guilty.

[Fellfrosch]

That being said, Entropy has a point when he says that these people are far more informed than we are, and have seen a lot more evidence, and it seems a little out of place to chafe at or decry their verdict based solely on hearsay.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

who's  chafing and decrying? I just think he shouldn't be aroudn children. I didn't say that this jury should have had him strung up

[House of Mustard]

I'm not decrying the verdict, just echoing what the jurors said -- that he's probably guilty, but they couldn't prove it.

Child abuse cases are very difficult to prove because they're essentially he-said, she-said -- and jurors are statistically more likely to side with adults than with children.

[Fellfrosch]

That because children are statistically more likely to be evil. Have you ever seen a horror movie with a possessed adult--it's always a kid.

[Entsuropi]

That's because the adults are always either dead, or willingly in league with the Evil Powers That Be (EPTB).

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

the similarity is this:

celebrity minority getting off for a crime they probably did commit

I don't think hobo murder trials would get nearly as much air time. When was the last time you heard more than a single sound bite on a hobo murder?

I get the connection, I just think that because of the publicity this case was given, despite the similarities with the OJ case, I think that it is more suitable to compare it to the Martha Stuart case for my motives, the connection there, of course, being a celebrity under trial for committing a crime and then getting far too much media coverage.

As for the hobo thing, you wouldn't see a hobo's murder trial televised, most likely, but you would be more likely to see a murder trial televised than a rape trial televised, and that was my point.  Replace the word hobo with middle-class blue-collar worker if it makes you happier, I guess.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

But you don't. The only reason OJ was televised was because he was a celebrity. *NOT* because of the severity of his crime.