The Michael Jackson Trial Of The Century: Day 1, Jury Selection
The NY Times banishes a couple of reporters to the sleepy town of Santa Maria ("population of 85,000, of whom nearly 60 percent are Latino and fewer than 2 percent are black. Many of the residents work in the fields of the surrounding Santa Maria Valley. Per capita income is $13,780, and more than 15 percent of the population lives in poverty."), where the first day of the Michael Jackson Trial of the Century unfolded Monday. Now that the stage is set, it's time to look at the challenges facing lawyers during the jury selection phase of the proceedings:
[Jury consultant Richard Gabriel] said Mr. Jackson's lawyers would try to dismiss jurors with a rigid view of the world and the family. "They're looking for people who are more open-minded about notions of parenting and displays of affection," Mr. Gabriel said.[...]
"There are very few people who don't think he's weird or eccentric," Mr. Gabriel said of Mr. Jackson. "What the defense will want is people who accept eccentricity."
Of course, by "accepting eccentricity" and "open-minded about notions of parenting and displays of affection," they clearly mean, "willing to accept the idea that leisurely sipping some 'Jesus Juice' by the Neverland llama pen, cancer-patient sleepovers in a grown man's bed that may or may not have involved the perusing of porn magazines, and the occasional televised baby-dangling episode are completely normal, non-molesty activities." There should be at least 12 people in the Santa Maria area that fit that profile, don't you think?
Bonus revealing fan quote:
"I wouldn't leave my kids alone with him, but I know he's innocent," said Margaret Buapim, 32, a social worker, standing in front of the courthouse this morning. "He's a decent man; I just know it."
