Michael Jackson may be gone but he made his mark on the world as a superstar in many different ways. Aphrodite Jones is a crime reporter who was asked to cover the Michael Jackson sexual abuse trial in 2005. When Ms Jones took this assignment, she was under the belief that Jackson was guilty of these allegations. Five months later, when the trial was over, she was of the opinion that Jackson was innocent. She also realized she had been brainwashed by the media.
There is a lot that remains a mystery when it comes to Michael Jackson’s life but fans can rest easy in the knowledge that Michael Jackson was acquitted of all charges and, as far as the court and legal system are concerned, he is innocent. “The Michael Jackson Conspiracy” is a fact based book which contains court records and transcripts of testimony at the trial. The book is a must read for all Michael Jackson fans who still have questions regarding the sex abuse allegations made in 1993 and 2005.
When Aphrodite Jones tried to get this book published, not a single publisher would touch it. This is probably due the fact that this book is a story of how the media put Michael Jackson on trial with the intention of bringing him down and perhaps, at the time, no publisher wanted to be involved with a pro Michael Jackson book. This gives the impression that many people still felt that Jackson was guilty, despite a court and jury finding him innocent. What was reported in the media was completely different to what actually went on in that courtroom in Los Angeles in 2005. The story being told by trial evidence was completely different to the lies the press were printing.
Many Jackson fans will find “The Michael Jackson Conspiracy” a refreshing read as the book is completely based on facts and research that Ms Jones carried out in order to write the book. Given that Ms Jones was essentially taking on the media for orchestrating rumours and innuendo during the criminal case in 2005, it would have been crucially important to have all of the facts of the story confirmed. Even after Michael Jackson was acquitted and found not guilty of the ten charges of indecent sexual assault, he was still misrepresented in the media. Jackson said in an interview once that ninety-nine percent of what is written about him is not true.
Tom Meserau (Jackson’s defence attorney) wrote the foreward for the book. There is also a section where Tom Meserau discusses the case and his reasons for agreeing to defend Jackson. There were many things that came out in evidence that were not reported by the media and there were also details regarding the family of Michael Jackson’s accuser that did not get reported. Ms Jones believes that if the media had gotten their way, Michael Jackson would be serving a prison sentence today. It was like the mass media were gunning for Jackson’s demise and it would have certainly been more profitable in selling papers and improving ratings for Jackson to be found guilty. When the verdict was made public, the crowds of reporters were very fast in making their exit from the courthouse.
Gavin Arvizo’s parents, particularly his mother, had a track record of accusing people of sexual and physical abuse. Gavin’s mother, Janet Arvizo, had brought similar allegations against her estranged ex-husband. Janet also accused a couple of security guards at a shopping centre of accosting her in the parking lot, where she claimed that one of guards took off her bra and pinched her nipple. She testified that her son had to help put her breast back into her bra after the attack.
Janet Arvizo accused Jackson of keeping her hostage at the Neverland ranch in order to stop her from running around telling people what he was up to. In actual fact, receipts and security logs proved that she was getting manicures, body waxes and dental treatments which Jackson paid for. She also testified that she got away from the ranch three different times, only she returned to Neverland, which did not make sense.
Gavin’s recorded evidence that he gave police did not add up. He changed the amount of times that he had originally reported Jackson touching him inappropriately. He then claimed he could not remember and also did not appear to be emotionally upset when giving details of the molestation to the court.
Practically all the witnesses that the prosecution put on the stand to give evidence ended up confirming evidence that the defense presented. The District Attorney was furious. Many of these witnesses gave Jackson praise as a remarkable individual. These witnesses included Jackson’s ex wife, Debbie Rowe, who was at the time involved in a custody battle with Jackson over their two children.
Witnesses who testified that there was inappropriate conduct were all proven as having a financial motivation for doing so. Many had sold their stories to the tabloids or had previously sued Jackson for wrongful termination. One maid and two security guards who testified against their former employers had already lost their civil cases against him and were ordered to pay Jackson’s court costs.
Evidence came to light that many celebrities had been the victims of the Arvizo family before Michael Jackson had even met them. These celebrities included Chris Tucker, George Lopez and Jay Leno. The Arvizo family had begged for money for Gavin’s cancer treatments claiming they had no insurance. It came out later that Gavin’s father’s insurance was covering the boy’s treatments. Larry King also testified for the defense.
The previous allegations were allowed as evidence in the trial so the prosecution could show Jackson’s history of behavior with these children. It was claimed by the district attorney that five boys had been molested by Jackson. Three of those five boys testified for Jackson’s defense, claiming that nothing ever happened. Macaulay Culkin was one of the supposed victims; he told the court that the prosecution had never even contacted him advising him of the fact that he was considered one of Jackson’s victims. The two remaining boys had received huge financial settlements and one boy refused to give evidence at trial.
Michael Jackson’s lawyer revealed to the court that Jackson’s business associates wanted him to settle financially with the boys; apparently their advice was “pay to make it go away.” These business associates had money invested in Michael and wanted Michael to direct his attention into making a return on that investment rather than waste time and money defending himself in court.
Janet Arvizo admitted to lying whilst giving evidence in an earlier, separate court case. She invoked the Fifth Amendment when she was accused of welfare fraud as she would have incriminated herself. She was later found guilty of fraud and convicted in a court.
Many pornographic magazines were admitted into evidence. However, they had no relevance as they did not contain porn relating to children, just heterosexual porn which cemented Jackson’s claim that he was indeed a heterosexual male.
The timeline for when these events of abuse took place was strange. It was claimed that Jackson molested Gavin right after he had appeared on ABC where he was filmed holding hands with Gavin. The public outcry that resulted from that program sparked a media storm where all eyes were on Jackson’s life and what he was doing. For someone to molest a child when that kind of publicity was going on did not add up.
The above points illustrate some of the evidence and facts that are in the book. Very little of the above points were released to the public by the press and that goes for much of the other issues and facts that Ms Jones covers in her book. Unfortunately society in America like to judge and pigeon hole everyone within minutes of meeting them. The real truth just gets left behind. The media make their claims and use the term “anonymous insider sources” which is quite often rubbish and Ms Jones sets out to prove this in the book. People will often make up stories just to get some money, and once this awful stuff is out there, it’s very hard to prove what’s being said are lies.
Michael Jackson was an artistic genius and he had an extremely complicated personality. Given his lack of a real childhood with being a performer since he was five years old, it is understandable that he would want to hang out with children. Spending time at Neverland with the children was his way of getting to be the child that he never was. However, Michael was naive when it came to dishonest people who were out to blackmail and cheat him. He wanted to believe the best in people. The great thing about “The Michael Jackson Conspiracy” is that the book is written based on what really happened and is backed up with solid evidence, court transcripts, records of trial testimony and absolutely no opinions or gossip is anywhere to be found.
For more information visit Aphrodite Jones’ Website