Michael Jackson has claimed that there's a conspiracy against him. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Rev. Jesse Jackson on his internet radio show, Jackson declared himself innocent of all charges and suggested that he is just the most recent in a long line of 'black luminaries' who have been unfairly accused of crimes, citing the cases of Nelson Mandela and Muhammad
Ali as precedents.
Jackson also spoke about the 'intense pain' that he has suffered from caused by a fall in the shower, which he says accounts for his hospital trip and his pyjama-clad court appearance earlier this month. He also denied rumours that he is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Back to the trial, and Judge Rodney Melville has ruled that the previous child abuse allegations brought against the pop star may be used as evidence in court, saying 'I'm going to permit testimony with regard to sexual offences and the alleged pattern of grooming activity by the defendant.' According to reports, the prosecution want to call five witnesses, which might include former child star MacAulay Culkin – despite the fact that Culkin has always said he was never mistreated.
The most high profile evidence, and the most likely to be the prosecution's focus in their attempt to prove that Jackson is a serial paedophile, is of course the case of Jordan Chandler, who claimed to have been abused by the singer in 1993. That case was settled out of court and the fact that Jackson would not allow it to come to court remains a point of contention. Jackson denied that there was any wrong-doing and later said that he paid out the money simply to avoid the stress of the media circus that would inevitably surround a trial.
Jackson's defence team fought hard to keep the evidence out of court.
'How can you just allow a parade of third-party characters to come in without any victims?' asked Thomas Mesereau, and pledged to stage a 'mini-trial' for any and each allegation, continuing
'You can't stop the defence from putting on a full-blown defence and I mean just that.'